Sandhya Garg × Bike Pretty
Five Things Working in a Thrift Store Taught Me About Clothes
Seams · Fabric · Hem Allowance · Fastenings · Placement · XS–3XL
Quick Answer
I worked in a thrift store in Detroit, sorting hundreds of garments a week with no labels to guide me. You learn to judge a garment by five things: the inside of the seams, how the fabric behaves in your hand, how much hem allowance it has, the fastenings, and whether the pattern lines up at the seams. Those checks work on a $40 rail and a $400 rail equally — which is the real reason thrifting makes you a better shopper everywhere else.
Every Thursday I go live with my friend Melissa, the creative force behind Bike Pretty. This week's subject was one close to both of us: thrifting, vintage myths, and how to spot something worth keeping. (We both turned up in purple. Unplanned.)
Long before London College of Fashion, before Alexander McQueen and Gucci, I worked in a thrift store in Detroit. I found a Prada dress for $40 and an Hermès Kelly bag on those rails, and a couture jacket from Paris that's still in my wardrobe. But the real education wasn't the finds. It was handling hundreds of garments a week with no brand, no price and no story to tell me what they were worth — so I had to learn to read the clothes themselves.
The full conversation with Melissa — or read the five checks below.
The Five Checks
1 · Turn it inside out first
Before you look at the front, look at the seams. Are the raw edges finished — bound, overlocked, French-seamed — or are they fraying? Is the stitching straight and dense, or long and loose? The inside is where money was either spent or saved, and it's the one thing nobody photographs. A garment with beautifully finished insides was made by someone who expected it to last.
2 · Warm it in your hand, then scrunch it
You'll read that silk is lighter than polyester. It isn't a rule you can shop by — a polyester chiffon is lighter than a silk charmeuse, and weight depends far more on the weave than the fibre. Two tests that do work:
Temperature. Hold the cloth in a closed hand for five seconds. Silk, cotton and wool warm to your skin and stay warm. Polyester feels cool and slightly slick, and keeps feeling cool — it doesn't take your heat, which is exactly why it's uncomfortable in a hot room.
Recovery. Scrunch a corner in your fist, then let go. Natural fibres crease softly and the creases settle out. Polyester springs back instantly with no memory, which looks like an advantage on a rail and feels like plastic all evening.
3 · Look at the hem allowance
This is the check almost nobody knows, and it's the one I use most. Fold up the hem and see how much spare fabric is turned under. A generous allowance means the garment can be altered — shortened, or let down if it's a fraction too short. A hem with almost nothing turned under was cut to save cloth and can never be adjusted. On a thrift rail this is the difference between a find and a near-miss; on a new dress, it's the difference between one that fits you and one that fits the size chart.
4 · Work the fastenings
Run the zip up and down twice. Is it metal or plastic? Does it sit flat or ripple? Are the buttons sewn with a shank, and is there a spare? Fastenings are the first thing to fail on any garment and the most annoying to replace — and because they cost real money, they're the first place a maker economises. A good zip is a signal about everything else you can't see. It's also why wrap and tie closures are so forgiving: nothing to break.
5 · Check whether the pattern lines up
Look at a side seam on anything striped, checked or printed. Do the lines meet across the join? Matching a pattern across seams uses more fabric, because the pieces have to be positioned rather than packed tightly onto the roll. It's pure cost, invisible to anyone not looking for it, and it's the clearest sign that a maker cared. How prints get placed rather than tiled is in how a drawing becomes a dress.
Sorting donations with no labels teaches you to read the clothes instead of the brand. It's the most useful training I ever had — and it works on a $40 rail and a $400 one alike.
Four Myths, Sorted
| The myth | The truth |
|---|---|
| Thrifted clothes are low quality | False. There's fast fashion on the rails, but also handmade garments, designer pieces and archival finds. The five checks above tell you which is which in about thirty seconds. |
| Thrifting is only for bargain hunters | Half true. Designers and fashion students thrift for research — to handle construction and pattern cutting you can't learn from a photograph. I still do. |
| Vintage looks dated | False, and it's entirely a styling question. A 1970s coat with modern boots reads as fashion; the same coat with period everything reads as costume. One vintage piece per outfit is the rule. |
| Thrift stores are too disorganised | True, but manageable. Melissa's tip: wear something close-fitting so you can try things over it, and go in with a plan. Start with accessories — belts, bags and jewellery hide the best finds and need no fitting room. |
Two more from the rails: real leather smells earthy where synthetic smells faintly of plastic, and always check the pockets. People do leave things in them.
The Same Five Checks · Twelve New Arrivals · XS to 3XL
Now Use Them on Mine
It would be strange to teach you how to judge a garment and then ask you not to. Each of these is grouped by the check it answers — turn them inside out when they arrive.
Check One & Five — Finishing and Placement
Check Two — Fabric That Passes the Hand Test
Checks Three & Four — Alterable Hems, Forgiving Fastenings
Most styles XS · S · M · L · XL · XXL · XXXL · Made to measure, including length
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you tell silk from polyester?
Weight won't tell you — a polyester chiffon is lighter than a silk charmeuse. Use temperature and recovery instead: hold the cloth in a closed hand for five seconds and silk warms and stays warm, while polyester feels cool and slick throughout. Then scrunch a corner; natural fibres crease softly, polyester springs back with no memory.
How can you tell if a garment is well made?
Turn it inside out. Finished seams, dense straight stitching, a generous hem allowance, a zip that runs smoothly and sits flat, and a pattern that lines up across the side seams. Those five things cost money to do and are invisible in photographs, which is exactly why they're reliable.
What is hem allowance and why does it matter?
It's the spare fabric turned under at the hem. A generous one means the dress can be shortened or let down by a tailor; a minimal one means it can't be adjusted at all. It's the single most useful thing to check, and almost nobody does.
How do you tell real leather from fake?
Smell it. Real leather has an earthy, slightly sweet smell; synthetic smells faintly of plastic. Real leather also has irregular grain and softens where it's been handled, while a synthetic surface stays uniform.
How do you wear vintage without looking like you're in costume?
One vintage piece per outfit, with everything else modern. A 1970s coat over current tailoring reads as style; the same coat with period shoes, bag and hair reads as costume. The contrast is what makes it look deliberate.
Where should you start in a thrift store?
Accessories. Belts, bags and jewellery hide the best finds, need no fitting room and are rarely picked over. Wear something close-fitting so you can try clothes over it, and go in with a plan rather than browsing everything.
Keep Reading
Check Five
How a Drawing Becomes a Dress
Placed prints versus tiled ones.
Keeping It
Garment Care
How to make a good thing last.
Check Three
Get One Thing Altered
The cheapest upgrade there is.
The Argument
Slow Fashion, Honestly
What we will and won't claim.
About the Writers
Sandhya Garg is a Project Runway Season 13 designer who won two challenges and presented her collection at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week. Before that she worked in a thrift store in Detroit, then studied womenswear and pattern cutting at London College of Fashion and worked at Alexander McQueen, Gucci, Liberty London, and Alice Temperley — featured in Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Vogue online, in sizes XS–3XL with made to measure available.
Melissa is the founder of Bike Pretty, maker of the straw hat bike helmets worn by Martha Stewart and Camryn Manheim. Together they host Yummy Mummies, a weekly conversation about style, humour and real life.
Project Runway · Vogue · Marie Claire · XS–3XL
Turn it inside out first.
Sandhya Garg is a Los Angeles boutique creating limited-edition artisanal dresses in original hand-drawn prints, hand embroidery and heritage textiles. Sizes XS–3XL, shipped from Scottsdale within 1–3 days.
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