I’m a serial second hand clothing purchaser. There, I said it. I love Thrifting. And yes, Thrifting must be capitalised.
Over the years, I’ve found a few tips and tricks that work when buying pre-loved clothes and this is one of my most used techniques at the moment.
Over the past couple of years, since having to buy clothes for my boys, I’ve noticed something that can easily put me off a completely fine piece of clothing.
“Cute” patches.
Labels on clothes drives me batty enough, but having a “cute” patch can ruin a perfect jumper for me.
Perfect example – today I came across these great boys shorts at one of my regular second hand shops. Immediately I thought – Ralph Lauren Summer! And then I saw the “cute” patch. Argh!
I knew this little Air Shark had to go. Not to mention, the perfect shirt for this was a green polo shirt with a “rowing club” screenprint on it. The screenprint is ok in my book, as it’s not “cute”. But rowing and airplanes? Nope. The airplane had to go.
Sometimes removing patches can be tricky. They can be glued under the stitches and you have to look on the back of the fabric and make sure the sun hasn’t faded around the patch. Then, very careful, use a seam ripper and sloooowly take the patch off.
Of course, you may end up with stitching holes, but usually a wash and a quick iron will minimise them. Also, remember to tidy up any extra threads, fix or replace buttons, and you’ll have a great piece of clothing that will last a few extra seasons!
These will be listed on TradeMe soon with that little polo shirt, but I hope whoever ends up with this outfit has some awesome little boat shoes to go with it! (I am totally channeling my preppy New England roots with this one!)
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