To feel weird about buying pre worn clothes

[unikitty08]

DC is starting nursery next month.

A few friends have told me how messy his clothes are going to get and not to send him in anything expensive.

I was talking to one friend about buying him a puddle suit and she recommended ebay.

She told me she buys a lot of her daughters clothes (especially for nursery) in bundles and they are “pre loved”

I was surprised about this as her daughter is always dressed in Next, Zara, Gap. Brands I would consider to be that bit more pricey.

When I was growing up, to buy second hand or use charity shops etc was a big no no.
It was viewed as though you didn’t have money or couldn’t afford nice things.

I don’t have this view of other people, particularly not now as an adult, but I do have this view of myself if I were to buy pre worn clothes.

I’ve had a look at some clothes bundles this evening and I’m shocked at some of the lovely things I could get, the puddle suit id seen for nursery, which brand new is £35, I can get pre worn worn for £5!

I don’t think I can bring myself to buy pre worn though, I feel weird about it, like I’m “hard up” or
a bit trampy.

I feel really envious now of the people that clothes shop this way, it would save me a fortune!

How can I get past my weird feelings?

I love 2nd hand clothes for all the reasons mentioned. I honestly dont know a single person who thinks they are trampy. I live in a studenty city and students are always jammed into charity shops.

I haven't read the full thread but I feel exactly the same!! I find it offensive and like people think I'm poor. I understand peolle buy secomd hand and that's fine for them but I am fussy and think of poop and dribble etc. I had a cousin that tried to pass me clothes cooonstantly until I had to tell her straight and say no and she STILL asks me if i want stuff 10yrs on!! I wouldn't mind but she says she wouldn't put her kids in second hand

I sell lots of my kids clothes on eBay. They’re always well cared for and in great condition. I’ve also bought stuff for my kids over the years. I can afford to buy brand new but have bought some lovely designer stuff hardly worn.

Just give it a wash, it’s no different to handing stuff down from older to younger siblings.

I honestly can't remember the last time I bought something new for my daughter (with the exception of socks, underwear and shoes) as she gets gorgeous hand-me downs from friends with girls slightly older and I also pick up loads from local selling sites. You would be a fool to pay full price when there are so many items out there either free or very little. Re-using is so much better for the planet and our purses, it's a no brainer.

sHREDDIES19

I am the same- I rarely buy myself new clothes.
Apart from underwear, 95% of my wardrobe is socond hand.

I used to feel uncomfortable about buying secondhand clothing but these days we have Ebay etc and you can get yourself a quality bargain. I figure it helps a bit to offset all the clothing wastage and environmental damage associated with producing clothes. Children go through tons of clothes so it makes sense to buy secondhand.

Do others make things. I used to sew my dcs clothes when they were little and I still make the odd thing now

Do others make things. I used to sew my dcs clothes when they were little and I still make the odd thing now

My mother used to make our clothes and the ones she didnt make were 2nd hand. I wish i had the talent. Sometimes i sew up holes in clothes but badly as i have no skill.

@RagzReturnsRebooted

Was talking to a Doctor I work with recently about school uniform. Her DCs go to private school and she buys nearly all their uniform from the second hand uniform shop the school run. It's actually more common in better off areas/private schools from what I can tell.

I love a charity shop, my best buys are usually coats as you can get them barely worn for under £10

In the 24 combined years my kids have been at private school, I've only bought one blazer brand new. My son's blazer had a rip in the arm which looked sufficiently scruffy that the deputy head suggested he might like to borrow a friend's blazer for his 13 plus interview. I was slightly mortified and bought a new one.

Our three private schools all had popular second hand uniform shops. Spending £20-30 on a blazer that cost over £100 new was an easy decision (some of the second hand uniform looked pristine). Both the school and parents received a share of the sales proceeds.

Not judging those who like to buy new which is fair enough, but it's nice to have the option to buy second hand.

Wouldn’t you keep clothes to pass onto other children you have or to family or friends? It’s so much better for the environment too and you can buy better quality for your money.

@creepingthyme

Charity shops in my area are for the wealthy, they charge ridicously high prices for tat. They are always full though

This is always the criticism of charity shops - too expensive, people can't afford to shop in them.

But charity shops have a legal obligation to raise as much as they possibly can for the charity they are raising funds for. That means pricing stock appropriately, and at the right rate for the market. All large charity shop chains have so much management information in terms of total sales, average price per item, sales per department- they know what they are doing.

I am a charity shop volunteer and I would not be doing my job properly if I put a Hobbs or Reiss job out for a quid, when I know we've sold several for £10 before.

Really miss my charity shop shifts. Hope we're back soon. We closed on Christmas Eve and the shop is locked up, full of unsold cards and decorations.

That means pricing stock appropriately, and at the right rate for the market.
I think someone needs to remind staff in the town I work in that.
I bought a t shirt from primark. I saw the same one second hand for £1 more than the the new price!
Same with things from George and Matalan!!
I know they can't always get it right but me and my friends have seen some right howlers!!
I've had some great bargains as well though, it's just sometimes they are so far off the mark and you see the same sad shirt there for weeks unwanted!

I do donate to charity shops,and buy from them,but for good quality clothes,childrens in particular,i give direct to charitie who pass them on to children

I know they can't always get it right but me and my friends have seen some right howlers!!

I have too. Because in our shop we have one manager contracted to 35 hours a week and the shop is open 54 hours a week. But I've seen as much "solid silver bracelet priced at £2" as I have the Primark out for more than new. We don't even put Primark out in our shop unless it's a more expensive item like a coat, or brand new with tags.

Well I've just washed, ironed and neatly packed up a bundle of my dds 3-6 month clothes and sold them on eBay this morning. They were bought from eBay a few months ago.

All in great condition, anything with stains I wouldn't sell on, I send them to my friend back in London and she puts the on the local Facebook page for free (and people still want the stained bits!)

But like I said upthread, my old area was affluent. A bag of carrot stained babygrows would be passed on and well used.

If I tried to give them away up here in the very deprived area I've moved to, there would be no takers, even if they were in pristine condition, so I post them back to London to pass on. Mental.

I've just had a massive bundle of 6-9 month clothes delivered from eBay sellers. I paid about £15 for various sets of vests/legging/baby grows to get her through the next few months. Mother in Mai law horrified as usual when I send her a photo of Dd and she remarked how lovely her little jumper was and asked where I got it from.

Thought I’d update and say I’ve now been buying “pre loved” clothes for a few months.

I can’t believe some of the bargains we have found and the condition they have arrived in has been great.

My son goes to nursery dressed better than he does for home

A few of the things I’ve actually put in his “everyday” drawers because they’re too nice for nursery 😂

We’ve saved lots by doing it this way and I’ve overcome my insecurities about my son wearing second hand!!

Thanks everyone!!!!

I buy a lot of my own clothes second hand on eBay - it saves me a lot of money. Mostly it's clothes that have been worn once; some even come with tags. They look no different than they would have if you'd bought them brand new and washed them once.

I do draw the line at second hand underwear and shoes though - there are limits.

That's great
I also buy a lot of clothes for myself on eBay much better brands that I can afford new and also I think the older clothes are made from better quality fabric than recently

I buy a combination of new and second hand for my DC. I have 5 DC so there’s also an element of passing the clothes down to the younger ones. Very rarely have issues with second hand stuff from eBay, tend to buy brands like Frugi, Polarn o pyret, Zara, H&M, scandi brands like Duns and maxomorra so the quality is better to begin with and easily survives more than one child.

They outgrow things quickly and often ruin them with paint, food, mud etc. I’ve never understood why people buy designer clothes for children, they must hover over them constantly making sure they don’t spill anything.

That’s my concern, that he wouldn’t look decent.
But so many of these clothes I’ve seen look great in the pictures!

How would anyone know whether the clothing was brand new or used in order to judge you as poor or “trampy”?

They wouldn’t, but I would. 😬
I think I’d judge myself 🤦🏻‍♀️

It's confusing, if the clothes look great, why would your kids look trampy?

I think bite the bullet with something that doesn't touch skin, like the puddle suit, and then take it from there.

I’m glad you got over it OP!

I was a bit the same as you - would never have considered second hand clothes for myself or the kids for a long time, partly because it harkened back to the early 90s when my dad was out of work and we had nothing. Having to buy from jumble sales was sometimes fun as a child but having friends repeat the gossip about how we were ‘poor now’ was not.

sorry missed the last post! Great stuff.

Great update OP. It’s hard to overcome things that are drummed into you as a child...
I once bought a nice dress for myself from a charity shop on my lunch break, came back into the office and showed off my bargain-hunting skills, I was quite pleased with myself. One lady was horrified I had bought it - she said to me “how could you stoop so low?” This was about 10 years ago and I’ve always remembered it.

I love charity shops! I’ve just bought my husband 2 pairs of M&S shorts today, don’t think they’ve been worn, £5 for the pair...he’s got a quilted Barbour jacket for £5!! I’ve had cashmere sweater, cashmere scarf....I could go on and on....!

I get what you mean about second hand clothes ,I always had new growing up ,and felt the same as you .However these days so many people buy on E Bay ,that it is just not the same thing at all . Esp in Nursery clothes get demolished! Less clothes in landfill can only be a good thing .