A Firsthand Account of my Secondhand Year

An experiment on buying the very best quality someone else’s budget can afford.

I’ve always been a bit weird about my wardrobe. I have a certain look I’m aiming for, best described as “aging rock chick turned suburban mom with professional job trying to avoid looking like she’s trying too hard”. I’m not sure if I ever quite nail it. I make my purchase decisions based on estimates of cost-per-wear: if I expect to wear the item enough times to bring the CPW down to $10 or less, I allow myself to buy it. And I think of my closet as a rotating one, with items coming and going frequently. I try to fund my new purchases out of my Poshmark closet sales. I love sharing funky clothes with people who appreciate them, something you’ll know if you’ve been to my home and had me force clothing on you as you’re leaving.

All Saints Spitalfields dress purchased at Consign-It-Couture in Walnut Creek, now for sale in my Poshmark closet

Towards the back end of 2016, a rough year for me in many respects, I started thinking about taking on a challenge for 2017: not buying any new clothing. I find new clothing very wasteful, I’m super cheap, and I enjoy shopping consignment and thrift stores. Why not give it a try for a full year? It might allow me to feel some sense of control in an otherwise out-of-control environment. I carved out socks and underwear from the challenge (because ew), did one last mini-spree at the now-closed Tart Outlet, then settled in to see what life would be like as a secondhand first closet owner.

Here are 5 things I learned.

1. It takes a LOT of time to make secondhand-only work

You have to learn to embrace recreational shopping — shopping when you don’t have a purpose. If you’re browsing through a consignment store, and spot the perfect outfit to wear on a first date in sub-freezing temperatures when you expect to have to walk a lot — grab it. Even if you’re married, live in California and don’t go on dates. Because I guarantee that when you absolutely need that outfit for an upcoming trip, the chances of finding it in your size the day before are nil. And you’ll need to dry clean the secondhand clothes before wearing them, so last-minute urgent shopping becomes a thing of the past. Which is okay, maybe — if you have time on your hands. I was
“funemployed” for much of the year, so I was able to swing it, but it can get tedious to ABS (always be shopping). Not to mention annoying to your friends when you refuse to shop retail with them.

2. There are a lot of closet thrifters out there.

Luckily, I have a lot of friends who embrace the thrift and consignment lifestyle. Closet thrifters keep their closet fresh but aren’t what you would typically think of as a Goodwill shopper (full disclosure: I ran marketing for Goodwill in SF in the early 90s, and will happily browse their racks for finds). ThredUp has an interesting report showing the profile of resale customers, and 10% qualify as millionaires. I’m not the only one doing it solely for the thrill of the bargain hunt. Find something NWT (new with tags) for a small fraction of the retail price? The endorphin rush makes all the time wasted suddenly worth it.

Cape-style cropped fake fur jacket with peacock blue lining, size XS/S, from a Weston Wear sample sale. Languishing in my Poshmark closet for a year. Any takers out there? I’ll make a screaming deal.

3. No time to shop recreationally? Try clothing rental services

When it got to be too much to ABS, I turned to LeTote (referral link gets the first few clickers a free tote). They delivered a curated box of 5 items and 3 accessories, which I could keep as long as I wanted. All the items had been rented by others, so they fit the secondhand definition. This was really fun for a while, until I exhausted their selection of items that fit my style. After that, it was all horrid button down blouses, #Blessed sweatshirts and pussy bow tops. I had to cancel.

I next tried Rent the Runway. For a while this was a perfect solution, since they have a section within Neiman Marcus to scout out the selection and pick up and return items. But their stuff ran more to evening-out and very trendy work wear. High waisted cropped loose pants? No thanks. Yet they didn’t seem to have any others, and it wasn’t cheap.

I would give both these services a try in the future as their selection expands, but they weren’t great fits for me this year.

4. Be obsessive about labels as a proxy for quality and resale value

I’m not usually that focused on labels, but when buying secondhand it’s critical to focus on specific brands that you know will last. Secondhand H&M makes no sense, those clothes were made to be tossed (sadly). And I’ve found certain brands really stand the test of time and hold their resale value on apps like Poshmark. Frye Boots and All Saints come to mind.

Rare olive green Frye 12R Harness boots, purchased for $84 at a consignment shop and sold for $145 on PoshMark after a year of happy wear. These things will last a lifetime. Or maybe several people’s lifetimes.

I don’t like low-end thrift stores or online thrift/consignment sites because the quality isn’t good. To buy quality stuff secondhand, you need items that were made to last. Most clothing today isn’t. Brand labels are a good proxy for quality, and you’ll quickly come to learn which brands stand the test of time. And sites that let you search for items that are NWT are the best. Some consignment shops feature a good assortment of new items. There are three in a one-block radius in downtown Walnut Creek, the mecca for secondhand bargain hunters, centered around Labels on Main Street. Lots of rich Walnut Creek women drop off their newly-purchased items that they’ve never worn. It’s my favorite way to spend a weekend afternoon.

5. Cheating is hard to resist

I only fell off the wagon once, and I’m not sure it counts. I had a business trip to Switzerland over the summer, and my friend gave me a gift certificate to a clothing store so I bought two tops for the trip. I felt terribly guilty. It’s hard not to cheat. The best way is to avoid going into stores with new clothing and coveting their items. I also started a new job in August requiring a step up in the wardrobe department. So far I’ve sneaked by with my secondhand stuff, but I do feel a bit ratty at times.

I’m now done with my challenge, and the behavior change seems like it will stick. My closet is looking a little sad, though — nothing seems new or fresh. I bought a few new things on the All Saints racks in downtown SF this week, and found myself thinking really hard about whether it was worth it, and what their resale value might be. I think I’ll settle into a happy medium in which I buy new clothes for special occasions when I want them to last, and shop secondhand for everything else. It’s better for the planet and my wallet.