I was poor as a kid and I dressed like it. Kids “pointed out” that I dressed like it. I wore things that had been handed down so far that my older sister refused to be seen with me out of embarrassment.
Fortunately I recognized that my sister was kind of mostly an asshole at the time and wore them with stubborn pride anyway. I mean sure they were bell -bottoms and it was now the mid- eighties, but they were new to me . They weren’t too small with ripped up knees like most of my clothes of that era ended up- plus I was like seven and developing a fashion sense was nowhere on my list of priorities.
When I got older and started switching schools however…oof.
I often got the “Ohhhh-did you buy that at the Salvation Army?” or if it were something newish “Ohhh-did you buy that at KMART?” (said with a sneer, not genuine interest- fyi) and so I developed a complete aversion to ever stepping foot in a thrift store. Or a Kmart. We were still poor, even more so in fact, and this was one of many early examples of how my stubbornness worked against me. If I had just gone to a thrift store, I would’ve been better dressed and had one less thing to be self -conscious about during those teen years.
It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized the value of thrifting and I’ve never looked back. The thrill of hunting down those discarded, hidden gems of velvet and lace let me happily spend hours and hours in the rich people part of town jumping from thrift store to thrift store.
Take me to a mall however, and I’d want to kill myself after fifteen minutes.
Just when time and accessibility became an issue for me, along came Ebay. Fifteen years later, I still use it because it feels extremely strange to pay more than twenty dollars for a dress for myself. It feels downright decadent. So when it comes to the girls, you can imagine how much I enjoy the idea of spending any more on an outfit for them, especially considering that they outgrow their clothes in a year or less- clothes that whenever possible, I resell to fund the next season.
Nice used baby clothes were an easy find. People give you sooo much when you have a new baby that a lot of it is barely worn before they are on to the next size. But now finding clothes for the elder child that isn’t just as costly as adult wear is difficult, so I’ve started looking elsewhere.
It hasn’t gone…great.
Swap.com has given me mixed results both times I’d used them in the past, but it had been a few years and they were having a sale, so a few weeks ago I tried them again.
My previous issues with them had been that they sent things with holes or tears that they hadn’t disclosed or some things that had been marked as child or women sized were actually Juniors sized which is not the same at all. I mean they’re good at taking returns at least, but I’d rather just go somewhere where the items are accurately described and the photos are less vague.
Of the four things I ordered, three were fine. Unfortunately the dress that I loved for Lily because it’s like a tiny version of a dress I used to have from Heavy Red came with scuffed up buttons and a hole in the back of it. It was listed as in “good condition” (defined on their site as: Good Condition: Secondhand items in great shape! No stains or defects! ) and it was originally $25- which is ridiculous for a used child’s dress, so I assumed it must have actually been in….really GOOD condition.
I mean, the hole is fixable, and I don’t care so much about the buttons because I do love the dress, but I might not have paid the $13 for it if I’d known it was that flawed.
So Swap is a “Proceed With Caution and Factor in Having Some Returnable Items With Every Order” site for me.
Also having a great sale that week was thred Up , so I thought I’d give them a whirl. I got a dress I liked and and two for Violet who has grown 18 feet in the last year and needs new everything.
The dress for me is great
The first “dress” for her…
…is a SHIRT. It came up when I searched for kids size 10 dresses specifically, it was labelled a size M Youth DRESS. It is obviously A SHIRT, plus on the tag, it says size 7/8. It will not fit her, even as a shirt.
I’m keeping it though because:
It’s a dress as far as Lily is concerned.
Oh and that second dress? Forever 21 (they make kids stuff now apparently) also labelled as Size M Youth Dress . It is at least a dress…
…a dress that is even large on me. I like the colors and all, but though I am old and decrepit, if I wear an empire waist people ask me when I’m due and that the sort of thing that coaxes me towards homicide.
So in summary, ThredUp was the worst than as Swap.com when it comes to mislabeling and I won’t be using them again. Swap.com is marginally better. I mean, it’s fine if you don’t mind having to repackage and return things, but I’d rather not have to bother. I love that there are more options for recycling clothing online, but as far as online thrifting and selling I’m probably sticking to Ebay.
As for clothes for Violet, soon she will be able to fit into my hand- me- downs. I’m sure corsets and combat boots will be fine for middle school.
