Original pieces, lower prices, and love for the planet. This and much more is hiding in second hands.
Welcome to the world of sustainable shopping, it will be my pleasure to guide you and answer “how to do it?” question.
The first advice is: try to think before going to shopping and look for just specific pieces. Every thrift store is different, but usually there is lot of diverse things available and when you don´t have studied steps, the visit can be really long, tiring and unnecessarily expensive. If I will come with particular need for the jeans and the green sweatshirt, I will check two sections and I will either leave with wanted stuff or I will leave with more money for the coffee. Trust me with this one, your wallet and overcrowded closet will thank you later.
The second advice I have for you is: be careful but don´t be scared. The place and clothes mostly doesn´t look perfect, fancy or even decent, but don’t be discouraged, I found my best pieces in the worst looking stores. Use your imagination and imagine that the shirt is washed and ironed, doesn’t it look great? Yeah, I thought so. But as I said, be careful. You can save or remade piece with a stain, a hole or two, but some things could be damaged and in condition you can´t fix.
Don´t label yourself! Ladies, don´t be shy and go look in men´s section or take the amazing looking but bigger shirt and conjure up perfect dress.
Last advice is simple. Company. Take your friends, boyfriend, girlfriend and spend and enjoy time together, while shopping, saving money, helping environment and saying no to fast fashion.
Now is time for tips for places. When I came to Malta I was surprised how few stores there is. It took me some time and research, but I will share with you, what I found. Just click on the name of shop and it will take you to google maps.
The first second hand I absolutely love is Happy Paws Charity Shop. The prices are the best and you can find there everything from clothes, shoes, handbags, jewellery, but even books, kid´s toys, board games… The shop is right next to Lidl, where I do weekly shopping, so I always have a look here too.
The second and last one, which I visited is PAWS Malta – San Gwann Charity Shop. I am not sure if the name is just a coincidence or it is a chain of stores, but the goods are similar.
I made whole second-hands list on google maps. The shops are mostly around Valletta, on that side of the island. On the list there aren´t definitely all the thrift stores from the area, but everyone I found. The link for the list.
Another tip is dedicated to Lady Kitt Vintage. Vintage shop full of handpicked, authentic vintage wares. You can find her on Instagram, Facebook or in her own pop-up shop.
The last tip is for upcoming pop up. The event will take place at DESKO in Valletta on the weekend, Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th, every day from 11a.m. – 6p.m. See you there.
So that´s it. My guide and list of second hands. I hope that this article gave something to you and maybe inspired you to change next H&M jumper to second-hand instead.
The photos taken by Matuskova Eliska and Solc Vaclav, Prague. Serve as an inspiration.
