Shopping Secondhand With Your Body Shape in Mind

• Measure once, use everywhere
• Shop by shape, not by label
• Check what can be altered
• Colour still matters
• A simple routine

Charity shops and resale apps are full of good clothes, but sizes vary wildly between brands and decades. Knowing your proportions saves you from buying things that only looked right on the hanger.

§Measure once, use everywhere

Write down your shoulders, bust, waist and hips in centimetres and keep them in your phone. Resale listings often give flat measurements, so double the flat width and compare it to yours.

§Shop by shape, not by label

A size 12 from 1995 and a size 12 from 2025 are different garments. Look for the features that suit your proportions instead: a defined waist, a wider shoulder seam, a straight or A-line skirt.

§Check what can be altered

Hems and waists are cheap to adjust. Shoulders and armholes are not. If the shoulders fit, most other problems can be fixed.

§Colour still matters

Secondhand racks are colourful and cheap, which makes impulse buys easy. Pick pieces in colours you already wear near your face, and save the experiments for scarves and bags.

§A simple routine

1. Check shoulders first.
2. Then length and waist.
3. Then fabric and condition.
4. Only then price.

If you’re not sure what your proportions say, the free body shape calculator on Style Look Lab gives a quick starting point, and the colour palette tool helps you narrow down which shades to look for.

Disclosure: written by the Style Look Lab team (stylelooklab.com).