Thrift Shopping Tips

Chasing labels is the beginner mistake. A famous tag on a poorly made garment is still a poorly made garment. Learn to evaluate construction instead, and the brand name stops mattering as much as it used to.

Check the seams first. Tight, even stitching holds up. Loose or uneven stitching is already telling you how the piece will age in your closet. Pull gently at the seams and stress points, shoulders, crotch, underarms. If something's already straining, it's not going to get better.

Hold fabric up to light to check for moth holes and thinning before you check anything else, they're easy to miss under store lighting and impossible to un-see once you know where to look. Give it a smell too. Mildew doesn't wash out as easily as people hope.

Vintage sizing runs differently than modern sizing, almost always smaller. A tag that says medium from the 80s can fit like a modern small. Try things on, or know your actual measurements rather than trusting the tag.

Go early if you're hitting sales or new drops in a shop, but don't discount the picked-over bin either. Some of the best finds are sitting in the section everyone already flipped through and gave up on.