Second-Hand Chic – Bargain Hunting in Style!

How to Break the Mould without Breaking the Bank

Dec 2, 2008

Many people feel that they cannot afford to dress well due to budget constraints, falling wages, and seemingly endless bills and expenses.

In troubled economic times very much like the present, it can become increasingly difficult to find time to invest in some of the finer pieces of a wardrobe – such as outerwear, suits, dress pants, and of course neckties. Retail prices for these items, new, can be very expensive given the construction, quality of materials, and simple demand for items that are usually found in the corporate and business sphere which constitutes the manufacturers demographic. Looking outside the box, then, can result in some great finds on a tighter budget.

Some Extremely Important Background Information

The first thing you'll need to do before embarking on a quest for second-hand chic garments is to ensure that you understand a few basics – without this knowledge you will be unable to tell a good investment or purchase from a worthless one.

In order to discover how much a pair of dress pants can be let out at the waist and seat, look to the inside of the waistband of the pants to the very back seam. The triangle of fabric below that back seam denotes how much fabric remains to be let out into the waist at it's widest point near the waistband itself. In unaltered slacks, this fabric is usually between 1 ½ to 2 ½ inches in length. In many secondhand pants, the waist may have already been altered all the way out, or in – so do not assume that a pair of tightly fitted pants will have remaining material to be let out.
When fitting blazers or suit jackets, the back vent or panel should cover your bottom, and fall within two inches of the beginning of your inseam at the very most. Sleeves should be short enough to display at least a half inch of your shirt cuffs when at ease. There should be no stressing of the buttons if at all possible when done up – of course if you are of a heavier build this may be unavoidable and so the jacket should be worn undone. Relaxing the fit of a jacket via alteration of the side and back seams is extremely expensive and is rarely worth the investment given the cost of the initial garment in this circumstance.
When trying on denim, ensure there are no foreign stains Stains that have been set on denim for weeks or even months will be nigh impossible to remove. Since denim is often considered casualwear, stains and damage is frequent in these garments so be sure to inspect all candidates for purchase thoroughly.
Dress shirts are items that are rarely found in shape that would be good enough to constitute a purchase at a second-hand boutique due to stains, pilling, tears, or simple misuse. The relatively low cost of a quality dress shirt should allow you to purchase these items new unless you find a spectacular deal.
Neckties should be inspected for hitches or stains. No matter what a product may say, once a tie has incurred a notable stain it will likely be there in some form forever. The commercial dry cleaning process flattens a tie to the point where it loses nearly all volume in most instances.

Where to Go, What to Look For

All consignment or charity boutiques, such as regional favourite Frenchy's in Atlantic Canada, or the Salvation Army are excellent places to begin. If you are in definite need of a suit of clothes for a job interview and have very frugal means you may even be entitled to receive assistance from the Salvation Army in the form of clothing. Asking never harmed anyone, so do not feel ashamed to do so if you are in need.

If you are able to purchase the garments they will be exceedingly inexpensive in comparison to their new, retail counterparts. Personal accounts have ranged from a $10, last-season Calvin Klein suit to an entire rack of discarded but extremely fine DKNY and Hugo Boss neckwear for $1.75 each.

Value Village is likely the most well-known candidate for bargain hunters and is also an excellent place to search, although in recent years their prices have soared alongside profit margins. Most Value Village outlets have an extremely extensive outerwear and leather section that usually yields some excellent vintage leather and in some cases, merino wool topcoats in excellent repair.

Searching consignment stores, outlets such as Value Village, and local favourites or boutiques on a rainy day will often produce excellent results. So take a friend, an open mind, and experiment with some of the most unusual and intriguing offerings of this season, and many looks from the last as well!

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The copyright of the article Second-Hand Chic – Bargain Hunting in Style! in Men's Style is owned by Nicholas Morine. Permission to republish Second-Hand Chic – Bargain Hunting in Style! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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