You are articulating a thought that's been in my head all week, as my other Substackers are earnestly dropping $960 on High Sport cropped kick flare pants & $5000 on Margaux bags from The Row. I sit there and wonder 🤔 if they feel they're getting good value out of these and also what they're doing for work that funds this lifestyle.
YES the High Sport pants and Margaux are perfect examples. I'm also so curious if they feel like they are getting 'their money's worth' or if they really had to pay for it themselves. Thank you so much for reading and sharing your thoughts!! <3
So many fashion editors get the HS pants for free or at a steep discount, which makes me shout YOU CANT KNOW IF THEY ARE WORTH IT IF YOU DIDNT PAY FOR THEM into the void!!!
Amazing! I love all the strategies you mention and have become addicted to the search itself, as well as waiting for the lowest price. Also, I think some stuff is SO overhyped (for instance I have tried Khaite stuff on at TRR and honestly materials felt cheap af!). I'm realizing there is an entire economy in overhyping via influencers--I don't begrudge them but wish we all knew this. The Totally Rec post today spelled this out, eye opening!
I've never had my hands on something from Khaite but this comment really helped with my fomo. Overhype is so real, I love this perspective. Going to go read The Totally Rec's post now!
Yes and to be fair, the jeans I tried on had some stretch, not 100% cotton and they looked and felt like madewell level jeans. The khaite jeans I’ve seen online now are 100% cotton so maybe they’re better? I’m skeptical!
I bought 100% cotton Khaite jeans at a consignment store in phoenix for $60, brand new tags still on. The denim is heavy, stitching solid and they are the perfect dark blue. However, I cannot afford or if I could, would purchase them at full price. They are just jeans 😉
Well said, Elle. As someone here mentioned, so much gifting is happening — and in other cases people have major overspending issues whether they can afford it or not (I should note that the over 50 set have major spending power; with $15 trillion in purchasing power, we’ve been coined “super consumers”).
But even with financial freedom, I am always surprised how much people shop. I worked in-house for a designer and write about fashion and beauty now, and have never seen the consumption at the rate it is today. It’s worrisome to me.
Christine thank you so much for reading! You raise a great point- having the means to buy something still doesn't make it a great choice. Our addiction to consumption has become blarring after so many of us participated in a 'no shop January.' Not buying things for a month shouldn't be so out of the ordinary and be so hard. I've joked about having a 'shopping addiction' before, and it sounds silly to say but the implications really aren't funny at all.
That is such an excellent observation about January, Elle. It is similar to how people are finding “dry January” also very eye opening. I write a lot about wellness, and I think we don’t realize the things done in auto pilot (online shopping, glass of wine nightly for example) are having a cumulative negative impact.
I've shopped exclusively ebay/etsy/TRR since 2021 and about 90% secondhand for about 13 years before that, and I can testify to the truth of each of your points (especially the one about patience, my longest wait was fifteen years so I think I know that one well, though sometimes it backfires, like the lovely electric blue suede block heeled courts I was eyeing up at £35, getting sold yesterday while I was trying to stick to my no-spend).
On the surface, if I just named the brands in a given outfit someone would assume I'm rolling in it but I make a point of specifying in outfit posts that everything I wear in a given outfit unless specifically noted otherwise, is secondhand from the sub-£50/sub-$100 ends of ebay or TRR. This is actually easy if the brands and designs you're looking at aren't the It Brand of the moment (I'm not looking for Jenni Kayne or Khaite stuff).
I love this, and you bring up a good point about 'It Brands of the moment like Jenni Kayne and Khaite'... it is so much more affordable to dress true to our styles if we aren't being influenced by the algorithm and ignore what's 'in'.
@the electric blue shoes that got away! I hate when that happens!! I hope something similar but even better crops up soon.
truthfully I wonder how the fashion people afford it too, not talking about the big-name influencers but the people who always have the Miu Miu/The Row/Insanely expensive It Label's It Piece of the moment, even with (likely) PR discounts and gifting the prices look sky high and so are travel costs etc so I just assume everyone's been paid for by a brand.
I'm perfectly happy to have nice clothes from 2016 secondhand and disconnection from the algorithm suits me just fine (admittedly, I'm more influenced by the Netflix algo than the instagram/tiktok one) but I'm not a fashion person! I do miss when people wore their own clothes to fashion weeks though, someone was posting old Sartorialist pics from the mid-late 00s to r*ddit for months and the people in those pictures have an air that's just so different from the usual street style thing.
I keep coming back to this article - you perfectly captured how completely bewildered I feel seeing the ramp-up in spending post covid. I LOVE to shop but are we really spending $900 on pants?? What???
I have an MBA, a fancy big tech job, and no kids and I still can’t spend like that and pay off my CC each month. I honestly think most people carry a lot of consumer debt. What’s another 5k when you’ve got 200k in student loans? I understand why people feel hopeless and want to treat themselves.
Also, I truly don’t think a lot of people in fashion are saving for retirement - that’s just based on a few of my friends in the industry in NYC.
YES! The only problem is I take it too personally when the sellers decline my offers or someone outbids me... lol. Let me know if you find anything good! Thanks for reading friend.
just a word of caution that Ebay has its share of fakes, like any reselling platform. there is an authenticity guarantee program but only for certain items from certain brands and above a certain price. always check the seller ratings and what else they're selling...if they're selling multiple sizes of the same item, or dozens/hundreds of designer items, that usually gives me some pause.
This is a great add, thank you! I've been tempted to still buy something when there are multiple sizes available, but figure it is too good to be true. :/ The eBay seller red flags are real!
From what I've seen, clothes and even shoes on ebay are more likely to be authentic than bags, belts and leather goods. The multiple-sizes sellers are usually a scam though, any seller with a drop-down menu on Buy It Now products, is generally up to no good but restricting item locations and filtering for auction-only listings helps keep the results a bit more legitimate.
Elle, I feel I have found my soul sister!! I related to nearly every word you typed but especially the curiosity/jealousy on how it seems every internet person can afford Khaite denim?!
Thanks for the hot tip on eBay because I tend to turn to Posh first for brand name items (read Doen) and the prices are never great. I find TRR is great when looking for generics, like a black blazer, but I had to remove myself from it when it came to scroll shopping because I found myself overwhelmed and on the brink of poor financial choices! Ha!
Finally, this is my year to lean into the tip of saving. My husband and I are very frugal in our daily lives and I am trying on the “better is better instead of more is better” approach. It’s been a mindset shift to use my clothes budget to buy one thing a month instead of parlaying it into 3 discounted things. I’m rambling but mostly because I just loved this so much!!
I found Khaite denim on Moda for $210! One of my Best Buy’s (I keep trying to correct that but my iPhone really wants to spell it like the electronics store so I’m going with it)
Also, the secret is INSANE GIFTING that doesn’t get disclosed, which is pretty frustrating! Just found out a friend (who does not even have a huge following?) was offered the opp to pick out five items from Mytheresa recently. ANY FIVE! She went hard on The Row, as one would…
Can't tell you how much this means!! Thank you! I've also been loving your letters about sale shopping too- your advice already helped save my budget with SSENSE sale ending yesterday, haha. Buying one item a month is a great strategy that I might have to adopt.
These are fantastic tips and I love reading your thought process. My best TRR scores have been when items were slightly “off”. Like my Blazé Milano jacket that was photographed backwards.
Love these tips! Etsy is such a treasure trove if you’re willing to look. Plus, it’s so fun to find something that is “inspired by” vs a dupe. I need to be better at not “needing” the instant gratification! Even though I know, the emotional side of my brain is very strong and often tells me I need something immediately!
I'm glad we share an affinity for Etsy, it really does have so many hidden gems! And I completely agree it is so hard to resist the desire for instant gratification. I try to remind myself that as strong as the desire is, the satisfaction is even more so fleeting. Thank you so much for reading!! Going to be exploring your substack over the weekend <3
Just wanted to tag on an extra layer to TRR hack - I google image search anything I’m specifically looking for there, and google will find it rather than scrolling through all the Zimmermann or whatever I’m looking for. Thank you for this!!!
I think you’ve detailed some really great tips here!! I’ve also asked myself “how is everyone affording xyz, to the extent or price tag that they are?”
I can’t help but wonder if willful credit card debt has anything to do with this - more and more I’m hearing people dip further into debt, keeping the economy alive in inflation at the expense of something worse (+ interest!) later on …
Thank you Kendall!! I haven’t personally ordered from Vestiare, but I would! I have the app on my phone and a few favorites in there, just usually can find a better price or more options somewhere else
coming from someone who has a 90% thrifted closet - i absolutely love this post!!! you killed it. & couldn't agree with you more... it's baffling how expensive following "trends" + "fashion" can get, but love that there are alternative ways to shop like scouring secondhand deals on TRR, Ebay + Poshmark !
You are articulating a thought that's been in my head all week, as my other Substackers are earnestly dropping $960 on High Sport cropped kick flare pants & $5000 on Margaux bags from The Row. I sit there and wonder 🤔 if they feel they're getting good value out of these and also what they're doing for work that funds this lifestyle.
YES the High Sport pants and Margaux are perfect examples. I'm also so curious if they feel like they are getting 'their money's worth' or if they really had to pay for it themselves. Thank you so much for reading and sharing your thoughts!! <3
So many fashion editors get the HS pants for free or at a steep discount, which makes me shout YOU CANT KNOW IF THEY ARE WORTH IT IF YOU DIDNT PAY FOR THEM into the void!!!
Amazing! I love all the strategies you mention and have become addicted to the search itself, as well as waiting for the lowest price. Also, I think some stuff is SO overhyped (for instance I have tried Khaite stuff on at TRR and honestly materials felt cheap af!). I'm realizing there is an entire economy in overhyping via influencers--I don't begrudge them but wish we all knew this. The Totally Rec post today spelled this out, eye opening!
I've never had my hands on something from Khaite but this comment really helped with my fomo. Overhype is so real, I love this perspective. Going to go read The Totally Rec's post now!
Yes and to be fair, the jeans I tried on had some stretch, not 100% cotton and they looked and felt like madewell level jeans. The khaite jeans I’ve seen online now are 100% cotton so maybe they’re better? I’m skeptical!
I bought 100% cotton Khaite jeans at a consignment store in phoenix for $60, brand new tags still on. The denim is heavy, stitching solid and they are the perfect dark blue. However, I cannot afford or if I could, would purchase them at full price. They are just jeans 😉
Well said, Elle. As someone here mentioned, so much gifting is happening — and in other cases people have major overspending issues whether they can afford it or not (I should note that the over 50 set have major spending power; with $15 trillion in purchasing power, we’ve been coined “super consumers”).
But even with financial freedom, I am always surprised how much people shop. I worked in-house for a designer and write about fashion and beauty now, and have never seen the consumption at the rate it is today. It’s worrisome to me.
Christine thank you so much for reading! You raise a great point- having the means to buy something still doesn't make it a great choice. Our addiction to consumption has become blarring after so many of us participated in a 'no shop January.' Not buying things for a month shouldn't be so out of the ordinary and be so hard. I've joked about having a 'shopping addiction' before, and it sounds silly to say but the implications really aren't funny at all.
That is such an excellent observation about January, Elle. It is similar to how people are finding “dry January” also very eye opening. I write a lot about wellness, and I think we don’t realize the things done in auto pilot (online shopping, glass of wine nightly for example) are having a cumulative negative impact.
I've shopped exclusively ebay/etsy/TRR since 2021 and about 90% secondhand for about 13 years before that, and I can testify to the truth of each of your points (especially the one about patience, my longest wait was fifteen years so I think I know that one well, though sometimes it backfires, like the lovely electric blue suede block heeled courts I was eyeing up at £35, getting sold yesterday while I was trying to stick to my no-spend).
On the surface, if I just named the brands in a given outfit someone would assume I'm rolling in it but I make a point of specifying in outfit posts that everything I wear in a given outfit unless specifically noted otherwise, is secondhand from the sub-£50/sub-$100 ends of ebay or TRR. This is actually easy if the brands and designs you're looking at aren't the It Brand of the moment (I'm not looking for Jenni Kayne or Khaite stuff).
I love this, and you bring up a good point about 'It Brands of the moment like Jenni Kayne and Khaite'... it is so much more affordable to dress true to our styles if we aren't being influenced by the algorithm and ignore what's 'in'.
@the electric blue shoes that got away! I hate when that happens!! I hope something similar but even better crops up soon.
truthfully I wonder how the fashion people afford it too, not talking about the big-name influencers but the people who always have the Miu Miu/The Row/Insanely expensive It Label's It Piece of the moment, even with (likely) PR discounts and gifting the prices look sky high and so are travel costs etc so I just assume everyone's been paid for by a brand.
I'm perfectly happy to have nice clothes from 2016 secondhand and disconnection from the algorithm suits me just fine (admittedly, I'm more influenced by the Netflix algo than the instagram/tiktok one) but I'm not a fashion person! I do miss when people wore their own clothes to fashion weeks though, someone was posting old Sartorialist pics from the mid-late 00s to r*ddit for months and the people in those pictures have an air that's just so different from the usual street style thing.
I keep coming back to this article - you perfectly captured how completely bewildered I feel seeing the ramp-up in spending post covid. I LOVE to shop but are we really spending $900 on pants?? What???
I have an MBA, a fancy big tech job, and no kids and I still can’t spend like that and pay off my CC each month. I honestly think most people carry a lot of consumer debt. What’s another 5k when you’ve got 200k in student loans? I understand why people feel hopeless and want to treat themselves.
Also, I truly don’t think a lot of people in fashion are saving for retirement - that’s just based on a few of my friends in the industry in NYC.
I have never checked Ebay before for designer items, great tip!
YES! The only problem is I take it too personally when the sellers decline my offers or someone outbids me... lol. Let me know if you find anything good! Thanks for reading friend.
YES haha I can relate! "How dare someone outbid my lowball offer!!!" :)
just a word of caution that Ebay has its share of fakes, like any reselling platform. there is an authenticity guarantee program but only for certain items from certain brands and above a certain price. always check the seller ratings and what else they're selling...if they're selling multiple sizes of the same item, or dozens/hundreds of designer items, that usually gives me some pause.
This is a great add, thank you! I've been tempted to still buy something when there are multiple sizes available, but figure it is too good to be true. :/ The eBay seller red flags are real!
From what I've seen, clothes and even shoes on ebay are more likely to be authentic than bags, belts and leather goods. The multiple-sizes sellers are usually a scam though, any seller with a drop-down menu on Buy It Now products, is generally up to no good but restricting item locations and filtering for auction-only listings helps keep the results a bit more legitimate.
Elle, I feel I have found my soul sister!! I related to nearly every word you typed but especially the curiosity/jealousy on how it seems every internet person can afford Khaite denim?!
Thanks for the hot tip on eBay because I tend to turn to Posh first for brand name items (read Doen) and the prices are never great. I find TRR is great when looking for generics, like a black blazer, but I had to remove myself from it when it came to scroll shopping because I found myself overwhelmed and on the brink of poor financial choices! Ha!
Finally, this is my year to lean into the tip of saving. My husband and I are very frugal in our daily lives and I am trying on the “better is better instead of more is better” approach. It’s been a mindset shift to use my clothes budget to buy one thing a month instead of parlaying it into 3 discounted things. I’m rambling but mostly because I just loved this so much!!
I found Khaite denim on Moda for $210! One of my Best Buy’s (I keep trying to correct that but my iPhone really wants to spell it like the electronics store so I’m going with it)
Also, the secret is INSANE GIFTING that doesn’t get disclosed, which is pretty frustrating! Just found out a friend (who does not even have a huge following?) was offered the opp to pick out five items from Mytheresa recently. ANY FIVE! She went hard on The Row, as one would…
Gold strike! Moda is officially on my radar... also lol'ing at Best Buy. I love it, adds formality to the statement.
I cannot fathom being able to select any 5 items from Mytheresa. I'm happy for those people... I swear!!! ;)
What’s your friend’s Instagram handle?
Can't tell you how much this means!! Thank you! I've also been loving your letters about sale shopping too- your advice already helped save my budget with SSENSE sale ending yesterday, haha. Buying one item a month is a great strategy that I might have to adopt.
One a month might be aspirational for me sometimes but you get the gist 😉
These are fantastic tips and I love reading your thought process. My best TRR scores have been when items were slightly “off”. Like my Blazé Milano jacket that was photographed backwards.
I'm going to start keeping an eye out for that... smart! Thank you so much for reading Sarah, I'm a fan of yours!! <3
Such thorough detailed tips! I also switch platforms depending on who I think “knows the value” of what they’re reselling 😂
Hahaha yes it's a hack in itself!
Love these tips! Etsy is such a treasure trove if you’re willing to look. Plus, it’s so fun to find something that is “inspired by” vs a dupe. I need to be better at not “needing” the instant gratification! Even though I know, the emotional side of my brain is very strong and often tells me I need something immediately!
I'm glad we share an affinity for Etsy, it really does have so many hidden gems! And I completely agree it is so hard to resist the desire for instant gratification. I try to remind myself that as strong as the desire is, the satisfaction is even more so fleeting. Thank you so much for reading!! Going to be exploring your substack over the weekend <3
I loved reading this one, can definitely relate. Loved the Kate Casper rec as well!
I am so glad to hear, thank you so much for reading!!
Just wanted to tag on an extra layer to TRR hack - I google image search anything I’m specifically looking for there, and google will find it rather than scrolling through all the Zimmermann or whatever I’m looking for. Thank you for this!!!
Love this! Genius. Thank you, Francie!
I think you’ve detailed some really great tips here!! I’ve also asked myself “how is everyone affording xyz, to the extent or price tag that they are?”
I can’t help but wonder if willful credit card debt has anything to do with this - more and more I’m hearing people dip further into debt, keeping the economy alive in inflation at the expense of something worse (+ interest!) later on …
love this! ebay and TRR are my go-tos, and i’ve found some of my most cherished pieces on both sites.
do you have any experience/thoughts on vestiaire collective?
Thank you Kendall!! I haven’t personally ordered from Vestiare, but I would! I have the app on my phone and a few favorites in there, just usually can find a better price or more options somewhere else
I wonder the same as well. But we all have our priorities and budgets to work with. Thanks for sharing your hacks.
coming from someone who has a 90% thrifted closet - i absolutely love this post!!! you killed it. & couldn't agree with you more... it's baffling how expensive following "trends" + "fashion" can get, but love that there are alternative ways to shop like scouring secondhand deals on TRR, Ebay + Poshmark !