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I’ve offered up thrift shopping tips before {here and here} but thrifting for jeans can be a particularly difficult. Even a thriftaholic like myself gets a bit skittish when it comes to purchasing denim if the store doesn’t have a fitting room. Most people can look at a top or dress and make a fair guesstimate as to whether it’ll fit. But denim isn’t always so easy. Is there stretch? Are they true to fit? The waist looks fine but what about the thigh room? These are all the questions that can make you want to avoid the rack of jeans.
Luckily, here are a few tips I’ve used to fairly gauge if a pair of jeans will work.
Come prepared
If you know you’re on the hunt for another pair of your favorite brand of jeans, have your sizes on hand. You may be a 26 in Joe’s but a 30 in 7 for All Mankind, so know what sizes work for you with specific brands. Or just dip in to a clothing store before you go thrifting and try on some jeans. Make a note of what sizes fit best. If you’re in NYC, the Salvation Army on 46th St. {between 10th and 11th} has a great selection of designer denim. Everything from Siwy to Citizens of Humanity to True Religion.
It’s not all about the waist
Most people look at the waist of the jeans to determine if they’ll fit properly, but this shouldn’t be your only concern. As a general rule, go for the jeans that will fit your hips and thighs. If the waist is a bit big, you can easily get that taken in by your tailor. But if they don’t fit in the thigh region, you’re screwed.
If all else fails…
There are bound to be times when you purchase a pair of jeans you swear will fit, but alas…they don’t. I’ve had this happen more than I care to admit. If you run in to this problem, there’s a solution and it’s actually a quite lucrative one. Start taking pics and post them on eBay, denim sells amazingly well on the site. Don’t waste your money by throwing the jeans in the back of your closet. You can actually make money off of them.
Do you guys have any other tips for thrifting jeans?
