Between the pandemic, campus reopening, and classes starting, the last thing on your mind may be sustainable fashion. However, in today’s crazy world, it’s more important than ever to step back and focus on reducing your waste and preventing unnecessary support of fast fashion. I know what you may be thinking: it’s expensive to shop sustainable, low waste brands. While that may be true, there are affordable options to get you by. So, here is your guide to shopping for secondhand or cheaper sustainable fashion that can all be done online because, unfortunately, COVID-19 is still around.
My favorite sustainable, secondhand app is Depop. I spend hours on Depop a week, scrolling through my feed or even looking at the explore page. It can be really difficult to find exactly what you’re looking for when shopping online, especially secondhand, so here are some general recommendations for what to do before you buy:
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Know your measurements. It’s so critical when buying secondhand and especially vintage to know your actual measurements rather than just know what size you are. For example, knowing you are a 27 waist rather than a size 4 is super helpful when you need to know how a pair of jeans will fit you.
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Ask for try on pictures if they are not posted!
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Know what brands you want to buy. If you are looking for a dress at Urban Outfitters, search “urban outfitters dress” and try to be as specific as possible.
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Always make sure you read shop policies before buying. You should know if the shop you are buying from covers shipping or offers returns!
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Message the seller before you purchase so they can cover any questions you may have or even to make sure that they are ready to sell and ship your item ASAP.
So, now that the basics are over with, here’s an overview of the best secondhand apps.
Depop
Perfect for vintage, y2k, or even modern trendy clothing. There are million sides to Depop and you just have to explore enough to learn. But really, you can find almost anything on here! My favorite to search for is vintage denim.
Poshmark
Poshmark is great for modern clothing and brands like LuluLemon, American Eagle, Urban Outfitters, or Abercrombie. I honestly haven’t explored Poshmark as much as I would like, but the app is super user friendly and has so many options.
eBay
Surprisingly enough, eBay actually offers some fantastic options for vintage denim (like Bongo shorts or even Levi’s). You can generally find shoes and vintage clothing super cheap on eBay. And they even have great Vintage UofL apparel options!
Vestaire Collective
This app is only for high end brands, like Louis Vuitton, GUCCI, and YSL. I normally only scroll through this app to daydream because, let’s be real, I’m a broke college student. But if you have a rich relative that wants to get you a super nice birthday or Christmas present, I would direct them here.
Facebook Marketplace
You can find literally everything on Facebook Marketplace. That’s all I’ll say.
Curtsy
This is a super cute app normally used by college students just trying to get rid of stuff in their closet and is less focused on rare, vintage, or high-end clothing, but definitely can be. You just have to shop around on here.
Use these tips and you will have cheap, sustainable clothing in no time!