How to dress trendy in a thrift store according to Cary Tauben
Back to school is imminent and you are worried about your wardrobe? Do you want affordable, trendy clothes without encouraging fast fashion? Stylist and master of thrift shopping Cary Tauben shares his best tips.
Cary Tauben is a Montreal stylist known for his eccentric style , colorful and often thrifted. He works as much with brands like Louis Vuitton and Michael Kors as with the Village des Valeurs.
Where to snoop?
When you arrive at a thrift store, Cary recommends going first to the suits section to complete all the looks, both casual and dressy, then to the lingerie and pajama sets, items that can be styled as daywear. Of course, we don't wear flannel pants with Santa Claus motifs, but a satin blouse with shorts that fit and sneakerswhite, that's a yes.
When shopping, you shouldn't limit yourself to sizes. Cary's famous phrase is “If it doesn't fit, make it fit“. So if a blazer is too big for you, nothing prevents you from having it shortened or modified according to your tastes so that it is fit.
< p>Again according to his advice, do not confine yourself to the sections that correspond to your genre. You have to go beyond the man-woman to find beautiful trendy pieces. For example, to find nice jeans, a woman can head to the men's section for oversized pants. A man can also go to the row of women's suits and find a jacket and pants that fit and make shorts if they are too small.
< strong>One of a kind
The biggest advantage of shopping at a thrift store is the unique finds you make there. And originality and uniqueness is the biggest trend, insists the stylist. He invites people to do like him: dress first according to your desires and your personality, then consider the trends afterwards. “I follow trends, but I also like what I like, you know,” he says.
He also invites the fashionable to think about the experience of a piece of clothing: “I like that the second-hand piece has a story. The fact that someone wore it makes me wonder who that person was and in what context they wore the piece.”
And before you even get into the shopping, the pro advises to get an idea of the pieces, colors or patterns you are looking for. Otherwise, it can become painful to walk around aimlessly.
If you can't find what you want in the first place, you have to persevere and continue your search in another thrift store or come back to another moment: “There are days that are good thrifting days and others that aren't, that's it and that's it.”
The importance of fabric  ;
To make great sustainable finds, Myriam Laroche, senior strategist in sustainable development of textiles and clothing, advises to push the search a little further.
Cary Tauben and Myriam Laroche in thrift stores
Taking the time to look at the label before buying a garment allows you to find out about its quality. According to her, we should favor what is made in Canada, France and Italy, because the textiles there are generally of better quality.
According to the brands and/or the origin indicated on the the labels, we can also see if the piece is vintage or not. For example, some labels display Made in Hong Kong. However, we no longer see these labels since 1999. If you see this indication, your find is therefore considered vintage, since it was manufactured more than 20 years ago, which is trend at the moment.
Myriam also reminds that paying less for your clothes allows you to have a more diversified wardrobe and therefore to be able to adapt your daily style to your mood and his desires.
