I’ve written a number of posts about 2023 already. About my positive impact, my favorite documentaries and more. Today it’s finally time for the last post about 2023. A bit late, I know. Today I want to share all the secondhand clothing clothing I bought in 2023. It took me a while to take the photos haha. But here we are! Every year I challenge myself to not buy anything new, including clothing. But since 2023 started I am taking the challenge a little bit further: I try to minimize my secondhand purchases as well. I want to step out of consumerism as much as I can. Let’s see how I did in 2023.
Here’s all the secondhand clothing I bought in 2023:
1 Yellow turtleneck sweater | February 2023
In 2023 I discovered I am turtleneck-sweater-person. In winter, spring and fall I mostly wear sweaters. I am cold quite easily and turtlenecks are nice and comfy. When my neck’s warm, I’m warm. It feels good, because I feel like I am really finding out my personal style and preferences. Turtleneck sweaters look good on me and go well with almost every outfit. I also really liked this sweater because it’s made from 80% cotton, which I don’t find often in sweaters. I bought this sweater at thrift shop De Boem in Amstelveen for 4,95 euros.
2 Orange turtleneck sweater | February 2023
On the same shopping trip I bought another turtleneck sweater at thrift shop De Boem. This orange one! I like this one even better than the yellow one because it’s a little tighter, but not too tight. I also think orange clothes go really well with my brown hair. This sweater cost me 4,95 euros as well. These 5 euros have delivered, because I have worn this sweater so many times already that I couldn’t even guess how often. I would dare to say that I wear this sweater almost every week, I just love it. The fabric is 100% synthetic (nylon and polyester) and so I was a little worried that I would make me sweat a lot, but I always wear a cotton shirt under it and then it’s doable.
3 Denim skirt | March 2023
When I made this purchase, I owned zero skirts. I had grown out the one I had and after that I didn’t run into a nice one for a long time. I am not too much of a skirt person. One skirt is therefore enough for me. And this denim skirt that I bought at thrift shop Appel en Ei in Enschede is the perfect one. I love that it’s denim, because it goes with every outfit. The skirt I had before this one had a leopard print, so that didn’t always match. And so, I see this as a big upgrade. I have worn it a lot already, especially at parties. My mom bought this skirt for me for 15 euros.
4 Blue handball shoes | April 2023
From the pretty purchases I now go to a practical purchase: handball shoes. In October 2021 I had bought pink secondhand handball shoes. These lasted me about 1,5 years. And honestly, I think those were already quite bad when I bought them. They looked like they were never used, but there was little damping left in them. Not long after I bought the shoes I got an injury, but I never linked it to the shoes. I fixed the injury with my physiotherapist, but still. I feel so much lighter with these new secondhand handball shoes. They cost me 25 euros via Marktplaats (the Dutch Ebay). The lady told me they were brand new because they didn’t fit her daughter and she forgot to return them in time. Lucky me! I am happy with them.
5 Black boots | May 2023
I always want to own a pair of black boots. They just fit with every outfit and I love the mix with my sneakers. The secondhand black boots that I had were really worn off. The skin started to peel off and it seemed like it was something the shoemaker couldn’t fix. And so, I started looking for another pair of black boots. I found these and I love them. I bought them for 20 euros on Vinted. The quality is quite low, they don’t show a brand so I don’t know how long they’ll last. Maybe one day I”ll need to divert to a pretty pair of black boots that will last me years. But for now, these are great.
6 Running shoes | May 2023
Another practical item. The damping was gone in my old secondhand running shoes. And so I needed a new secondhand pair. Sports wear is honestly a great category to find secondhand, because a lot of people buy a whole new outfit to only find out they don’t like the sport they just started. This pair was hardly worn and cost only 15 euros via Vinted. I love them, they’re comfy. Running shoes unfortunately don’t last very long, because the damping wears off after about 2 years or so. Keeping them causes injuries and so I have no choice to replace them quite often. I hate that. Someone should make running shoes that last way longer.
7 Denim shorts | July 2023
When I bought this denim short I didn’t have one yet. And to me, a denim short is an essential item. It goes with every summer outfit which makes it possible to lower the total amount of items you need. I did have shorts, but none of those fit with every outfit. This new secondhand is perfect and I also love that it’s really high-wasted. I just like the look of high-wasted pants. And they’re comfy too. I bought these shorts for 5,25 euros at thrift shop De Boem in Amstelveen.
8 Pink cap | August 2023
I’ve been running for almost three years now. And in summer I really struggle with the sun. It’s really blinding me during some runs haha. And so, I started wearing sunglasses when I would go running. But as it turns out, that’s not really nice when you’re running. And so it was time to buy a cap for my runs. I bought this one on Vinted for 3 euros. I picked this one because of the color, because it didn’t show a brand and because it’s open on the top (sweating under a cap is not great for your scalp and can make it itchy). However, I do regret this purchase a little bit because this cap has velcro. That usually does not last years. I should have picked another system that can last years. But well, too late now. I’ll do that after this one wears off.
9 Brown fanny bag | August 2023
I had one secondhand, black fanny bag. I have had that one for years. But unfortunately it was wearing off. The skin was coming off everywhere, I had repaired it over 10 times already and now the zipper also broke. It was time to say goodbye. And so I started looking for a new secondhand one. That was actually a struggle, good ones are hard to find! I sort of gave up already, but then I found one by coincidence during my holiday in Ghent! It was perfect. It’s leather and therefore not vegan, but I do wear secondhand leather products sometimes. The new purchase (and so the choice to kill an animal) was made by someone else and so I feel like I am just making good use of someone’s trash. And also, good secondhand fanny bags from vegan leather are hard to find. I bought this fanny bad for 8 euros at thrift shop Think Twice.
10 Brown sleeveless vest | November 2023
During winter I usually wear a long sleeved black shirt and over it a turtleneck sweater. But those two layers are usually too cold still. I have an office job, which makes me sit or stand still for quite long sometimes. And so, I was already interested in some kind of clothing item that I could wear over those layers. Something stylish, but warm. And one day, while I was thrift shopping with my mom at Vindiets in Enschede, I found this sleeveless, brown vest. It’s a Micheal Kors vest, which I am not a fan off, but it’s not showing very clearly. The vest is brown with white and goes with many colors, I wear it quite often! My mom bought this sleeveless vest for me for 22 euros.
11 Vans shoes | November 2023
For years now, I’ve had Vans. I have 3 pairs of shoes as a base. The black boots, a pair of white sneakers and a pair of black sneakers. These Vans are my black sneakers. They go with every outfit and are comfy. I had a pair of plateau Vans. Unfortunately, I stepped into glass and ended up having two holes in the sole of both shoes. I stuck with the shoes for some months, but when it would rain my socks would get soaked. My limit was reached when my socks started sucking up the beer on the floor of a cafe one night… I went to the shoemaker, but it cost 60 euros to get the soles repaired. I found a new secondhand pair on Vinted for 18 euros, so I chose to buy those and did not repair the old ones. A bit of a selfish choice, but I just found 60 euros too expensive at that point. And it would mean using new material, since I would get new soles. Let’s hope these new secondhand Vans last me years!
Total
In 2023 I bought 11 items of secondhand clothing. I spend 141 euros in total (2 items were bought by my mom, so I spend 104 myself). That means I did much better than in 2022: I counted about 31 items in that year! I don’t know how to feel about the amount of items I bought in 2023. That’s about one item a month. If I do that my entire life I will buy 960 items if I make it to 80 years. I think I want to try and lower it in 2024. We’ll see how that goes. When it comes to the money: 140 euros in one year is not much. That’s fine.
I do have one side-note I want to mention: I chose to not include any secondhand items that were gifted to me in 2023. Sometimes I get clothing gifted from friends and family. I am very thankful for that. But I chose to not include those items because they were gifted to me for free. I focus on my own consumption behavior in this post. Maybe I will choose to list the items that I got for free one day too, but for now I don’t feel like that’s necessary.
Yours sincerely,
Romee
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