Second hand clothes

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Do you buy second hand clothes for your children and AIBU to ask why and how you feel about it?

No I don’t and I don’t know anyone else that does

We have friends with a dd 2 years older than our dd, have a cousin with dd about 8 months older, have neighbours with a dd a year older and the baby group I joined also has a thrift WhatsApp group where we pass on things between us.

So I basically have a pile of hand me downs in each size which I work through, rethrift or donate anything we really won’t use, and work out what we have from the keep pile.
Anything we really need that hasn’t been handed down I look for second hand either through charity shops, Vinted or Facebook selling groups. Then anything I don’t find I’ll
look at buying new.

DD also always gets some new things as gifts from Spanish relatives, and if I do see something new I really fall in love with at a reasonable price I don’t refuse to buy it or anything, but I do prefer to get second hand when I can.

Mostly environmental reasons but also I prefer not to spend too much on stuff she’ll
Grow out of in 5 mins.

Yes, when they were under 10. Lots of lovely clothes from brands I could not afford when new. Some lovely hand me downs from friends too. Also passed on clothes that were decent too. Much better for the environment. DD1 loves thrifted clothes now and customises them.

Absolutely.

I buy second hand for my two year old because:

A) I want to save money so I can put it towards other things for him, like activities/education; and
B) it’s better for the environment;
C) new stuff would get immediately trashed at nursery;
D) I Get an immense sense of satisfaction from giving these clothes a new lease of life.

We are lucky as friends and family give us a good amount of new clothes as gifts. My neighbour gave me a pair of converse sneakers which were her daughter’s; they are too big for him ATM and were a little bit grubby but I washed them and bleached the laces and they’ve come up a treat.

I'm inspired by this thread to endeavour to buy more 2nd hand. I'm lucky as I have 3 DS and most of DC3 clothes are 3rd hand. I love seeing him in a beloved jumper from DC1, for example. Uniform is 50% new but I still get use out of wool.jumpers/ logo sweatshirts/ logo school jacket/ hat. Always, always spend money on good quality shoes/ underwear.

DC1&2 are now teens and choose their own but they're partial to nabbing DHs stuff too!

I must look online for mine this year.

I don’t but my MIL does and I’m so grateful she does as she has a good eye and we use the clothes she buys all of the time. I don’t have the patience to look through charity shops and I like the children's clothes from next, John Lewis and H&M but all of the stuff my MIL picks up looks just as good and lasts well.

Yes, prefer good quality second hand to cheap Chinese made tat. Much more environmentally friendly and humane in terms of the work force too.

Just to add I do get a little kick out of the fact something is being re used and not just sent to landfill and I always give the clothes they have grown out of back to charity too.

One of the other children at the childminders that my DD went to, had to be changed out of the clothes they went in, lovely stuff, because they might get dirty or stained during play, DD went in the same lovely stuff, just at a fraction of the price, so if they got marked it didn't bother me and she still wore them even marked, because it had absolutely no bearing on the amount of fun she had.

I am a pragmatic clothes purchaser.

Not many people on here saying 'Hell no, I'm off to Matalan whenever I can to buy cheap shit I can throw out after two washes'.
But I think there are many of them, sadly.
I love second-hand, good quality stuff you can resell when outgrown. Good for the purse, good for the planet. What's not to like?

Yes. Although most are hand downs from DS cousins.
I'm into all the scandi organic brands and there's no way I could afford new, so buy second hand through face book groups.

I do, I buy off eBay a lot but it's getting harder fir my nearly 13 yo ds.

Ds2 who is 9 gets all of his hand me downs as i buy good quality such as Boden.

I bought both boys gorgeous wool duffel coats this year as well as boden rain coats second hand. Great condition and better for the environment!

Nope, I don't. When I was in both primary and secondary school, there was a big stigma about second hand stuff. It's just stayed with me.

Although I do take hand me downs from family members for my children and I would wear something if passed on from someone I know.

@Disneyblueeyes

Yes all the time. Bit surprised by people not buying 2nd hand shoes. Why not? Most of my little girl's shoes have been second hand.

Shoes are worn down by the walking action of the first wearer. It affects the gait of any subsequent wearer , especially if that person is a small child. I always bought new school shoes for my children but they had second hand football boots and wellies as they are less likely to be worn down. When my son was about 7 he needed new wellies and we took his outgrown pair and some other things up to the big recycling containers in the supermarket carpark. I opened the metal tray to put stuff in and in the tray was a brand new pair of green wellies in the next size he needed.I was so hard up at the time it was a miracle. I have never forgotten it.

No.
Because at the moment I can afford to buy new. I feel that if I bought second hand or charity shop clothes, I’d be taking them away from those genuinely in need. My new clothes for the kids go through both of them and then get donated if they’re still in good condition.

Rarely. If I'm in a charity shop and see something they'd like then I buy it, but most of their clothes are bought new.

I bought my youngest (17) a cardy yesterday in a charity shop. She was over the moon with it, because it's "like, 90s vintage". It cost me a fiver. Everyone is happy. I also bought myself a silk dress for £15.99. It's stuff that you'd never otherwise be able to afford - or, if you could afford it, you'd find a million other people wearing it.

Yes, most of her clothes are but finding it harder as getting older.. reasons why...better for environment, cheaper and choice. I don't know anyone who buys new.

@drpet49

No I don’t and I don’t know anyone else that does

Perhaps they just don't tell you.

I would slightly judge anyone who would only buy new, unless they were buying "made in the UK" items, in which case I would commend them for supporting home-grown businesses. The "buy new" crew are presumably mostly buying stuff made in China. Dear old Boden is now mostly made in China - which it wasn't when my children were little and the quality was so good that it would last for several children.

Yes. I actually find it easier than buying new.

Whenever my DS moves up a size, I just buy a couple of ebay bundles in the size above. You get a good range of stuff and any 'duds' which I don't like (tight trousers, golf-style polo shirts etc.) just go straight in the clothes bank at our local supermarket, hopefully for someone else to use.

My mum did when we were kids from jumble sales as she couldn’t afford new ones. My nana’s mate shoplifted kids clothes but my mum didn’t want to accept them when she knew.

Nothing wrong with second hand clothes, I often buy them for my nephew either on EBay or in charity shops. Can get some real gems.

Yes will always go for 2nd hand first, and I only by new if I can't find something they need. Also get hand me downs plus keep an eye out in charity shops for the next couple of sizes up, so usually have a stock pile for the coming season.
The reasons are environmental and financial I suppose, but it's very ingrained in me as a way of life so I don't think about it much.

Second hand shoes? 🤢🤮🤮🤢