If you’ve ever been given hand-me-downs, there are a few things you should know that will help you to make the most of these clothes and ensure that you wear clothing that will be best for you. So whether you’re getting hand-me-downs for your kids or have been given some vintage clothes from an older relative once they move into an assisted living facility, here are three tips for making the most of hand-me-down clothes.
Choose The Highest Quality Items
When you’re given a set of clothes from someone else as hand-me-downs, the first thing you should do is go through the clothes to find the items that are made of the highest quality materials.
Even clothes that are brand new but are made of low-quality materials won’t last very long. So if you’re getting clothes from someone else that have already been worn and washed numerous times, you aren’t going to want to waste your closet space on clothes that won’t stand up to more wears and washes from you. So if you notice clothes that are thread-bare or that were bought from stores known for being all about “fast fashion”, you might want to consider just donating those items rather than keeping them.
Find Ways To Personalize Things
Just because someone else had worn these clothes first doesn’t mean that you can’t make them your own. Through personalization, these hand-me-down clothes can feel even more brand new to you, especially if you know the person who wore them before and already associate these clothes with them.
Some of the best ways to personalize hand-me-downs are to sew on patches, add lace, buttons, or paint, or stitch on new patterns to make the clothes look different. Making changes like this can be easy and usually won’t cost you much for the materials. So if you’re getting hand-me-downs as a way to save money, personalizing them shouldn’t be out of the question for you.
Don’t Keep What You Won’t Wear
Even if you are given some very high-quality hand-me-downs or items that you know were expensive to buy brand new, you shouldn’t feel like you need to keep any hand-me-downs that you’re not going to wear. Not only will this take up a lot of space in your closet that you could have used to store other clothes or items, but other people might want to wear those clothes if given the chance. So instead of taking them in the first place, politely decline any hand-me-downs that you don’t think you’ll want to wear.
If you want to make the most of the hand-me-downs you’ve been given, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you learn what to take and how to make them your own.
