Long before I was Tomb Raider, I was raiding my mom’s and my friends’ closets for stuff they no longer wear. After all, they say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Usually I end up with shirts, skirts, and shoes (if we’re the same size).
im in ur closets, raiding dem. whut.
Sometimes, like what happened last year when a friend went to Dubai to work, I get to raid closets for free. At other times, like two weeks ago at another friend’s garage sale, there’s a (low) price tag on the items. In any case, here’s the top three lessons I’ve learned about being a closet raider.
- Be prepared to dig. When there’s a huge amount of stuff your friend needs to get rid of, she usually doesn’t have the time to sort through everything and put them on hangers. It’s pretty much old-school ukay-ukay style, except you know who’s worn those things before.
- Examine everything closely. Just because they’re you’re friends doesn’t mean they’re giving out stuff in pristine condition — they are, after all, cast-offs. Watch out for small holes and tears, stains, deformed collars and sleeves, dirt, etc. Weigh whether or not you can do something about them before you take the items home.
- Edit, edit, edit. Don’t go crazy because you’re getting these items for a reduced price or for free. Is there enough space in your closet? Are you really going to use these things? What I do is put everything that interests me into a pile, and then I sort through that later on to separate the things I really like from the takaw-mata stuff I just found shiny and pretty, but won’t have occasion to use in the near future.
Another friend of mine is leaving soon to work in Morocco. My own closet is bursting with clothes, so I hope to be prudent about raiding her closet.
Tags: Used Clothing, Ukay
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