Guide To Thrifting.
Shopping at a regular store is always fun, but when you are looking for something unique (and a lot cheaper ) you may preffer to go thrifting (aka Toi market.) As the resident thrifting expert (lol) here are some of the guidelines I use whenever I go shopping. But on a serious note, I am by no means a shopping expert, but I have shopped at Toi tons of times. Over the years I have definitely learned what to look out for (through trial and error) and that’s what Ill be sharing below :
Denim jacket I got from Toi
Find the new
If you are going thrifting, choose a day where you are not in a hurry. Really take your time to sift through the clothes. As you do so, pick out those that look the ‘newest’, as they are second hand, chances are you won’t find something fresh out the factory, but you can find items that still have a long way to. By ‘new’, I mean clothes that aren’t faded and have no run marks. Pay very close attention to the seams, on the ends, sleeves and collar (waist and bottoms if you’re looking at pants) as they are the best indicator of how long you’ll be able to wear that. (you definitely don’t want to go home with something tearing at the seams)
Fabric
This is by far the biggest thrifting hack I have come across; only buy items with heavy weight fabric if you want to purchase something that lasts long; fabrics such as wool and denim being the best. I literally have denim jeans I bought at Toi over 5 years ago that are still in mint condition. Lighter fabrics may already arrive with wear and tear which only gets worse with time, I have found that fabrics with elastic are the most notorious when it comes to wear and tear, it gets to a point where the elastic, well, isn’t elastic anymore (lool) so be especially keen when buying stretchy or really light fabriced (not sure if that’s an actual word ) clothes.Do however, buy more denim, you will not regret it.
Bargain
The last tip seems obvious enough, but a sneaky trick I have been using involves finding something you really like, asking the price, and leaving it (your gonna come back for it, but they don’t know that now do they ? ;) ) The seller probably feels like they’ve lost a customer and begins rethinking their price. I then come back to their stand, and mention a lower price than before. Eg : if they say something was 800, I’ll leave , then come back and go , “You said this was 700 right ?” (Trust me, this actually works! Just make sure you don’t go back after 5 mins, take your time before returning to their stand) but remember not to stiff them, you don’t want someone selling something to you out of desperation (releases bad energy)
Those are the few, but effective, hacks I thought I’d share; hopefully they help you as much as they have me, as always, thank you for reading this post! If you like’d this article and would like to receive monthly updates on new posts, as well as exclusive content straight into your inbox; subscribe at the bottom of this page. Thank you !
Xo - Alexandra
