I have a rule. Before I buy anything new for fall, I thrift first. This week I took the L to Bushwick with $40 and came back a fully changed woman.
The thing about thrifting for fall styling is that autumn clothes age beautifully. A wool coat from 1988 is a wool coat that has survived. It has opinions. Something made last month at a fast-fashion factory does not.
At L Train Vintage on Knickerbocker I found a camel blazer with shoulders so sharp they could file taxes. Twelve dollars. I nearly wept. I styled it over a slip dress I already owned and suddenly I looked like I had a plan for my life.
My job in fashion means I'm surrounded by newness constantly — samples, trends, things designed to make you feel like you own nothing. Thrifting is my rebellion against that. My reminder that clothes are supposed to last.
The rest of the haul: a striped rugby shirt that's going to be my whole October personality, a leather belt for four dollars, and a silk scarf I'll tie in my hair like my Nani used to. She'd approve of the price, not the neighborhood.
Here's my actual fall thrift styling advice, since people always ask. Buy for texture, not for trend. Corduroy, wool, real leather, heavy cotton. Check the seams. Try things two sizes up — oversized reads as intentional. And always, always smell the armpits before you fall in love.
I wore the camel blazer to a meeting Wednesday and three people asked where it was from. "Some stranger's closet," I said, and meant it as the highest compliment.
Sustainable fashion isn't a hashtag. It's just taking the L and being patient.
New is easy. Secondhand takes a little faith.
Love,