Blog: Crossroads Style

If you’re new to the sustainable fashion movement: welcome! You’ve made a conscious decision to change your fashion-loving habits in a way that’s more gentle on the environment. The planet (and your wallet!) thank you. In return, we’d like to share with you our best tips for how to shop secondhand clothing.

Let’s start with the basics: you’re now shopping for high-quality, gently used pieces for your closet.  Where you shop will be up to you, but the most common places to find great secondhand clothing are thrift stores (where clothes were donated), buy-sell-trade retailers (where clothes were bought in and curated), estate sales, flea markets, and online auction marketplaces like eBay.

There are really just 3 rules to follow that will make secondhand shopping a snap. Keep them in mind, and you’ll be a pro in no time!

1. Hunt for Your Favorite Brands

Start with what you know: your favorite fashion labels. Hunt for them on the racks and delight in the price savings you’ll find. Expect to pay only a third of the original retail price.

2. Look for Quality Materials

For brands you don’t recognize, the quality of the materials is what you’ll focus on. Look for long-lasting pieces that can handle many wears and many seasons. We’re talking about leather, silk, wool, and linen.

3. Invest in Designer Pieces

It can take years to find a capsule of secondhand designer pieces, but it’s so worth it when you have your hands on a little black Chanel dress, Louis Vuitton duffle, and Hermes scarf. These are pieces that will add a bit of flair to your wardrobe for a lifetime, and the type of pieces you’ll hand down one day to that younger fashionista in your life.

Look at that, just 3 easy ways to get started when shopping for secondhand clothes. One last thing: follow your favorite secondhand stores to keep an eye on what’s hitting their sales floors. For example, check out our main Instagram feed here.

Crossroads remains committed to spreading the word about Black-owned fashion brands to know about. Each week, we feature a new brand on our Instagram feed, so be sure to follow along. If you missed them, here’s a recap of the 4 brands we shared in September:

1. Ofuure

@ofuure pieces deserve the main stage. Pronounced oh-fu-ray, the label creates African-inspired pieces in a size-inclusive range. The fashionable pairing of rich colors and dramatic sleeves are on full display below. Visit their website here.

2. Omi Woods

@omiwoods is the jewelry designer whose work has been seen in the pages of Vogue, Essence, and GQ. Pieces are made with fair trade African gold and globally sourced conflict-free fine metals. The result is enchanting delicate pieces you’ll want to add to your collection. Shop the site here.

3. Brandon Blackwood New York

Repeat after us: @brandonblackwoodnyc bags are perfection. This handbag brand is way past up-and-coming, as evidenced by its department store partnerships and sophisticated online shop. The mini bags are our personal favorite. Or is it the shearling ones? It’s too hard to choose! See all the pieces here.

4. Femme Sucree

We’re about to see leopard print everywhere this fall and winter, so why not consider this stand-out round shoulder bag from label, @femmesucree_fs. They’re committed to offering affordable luxury to the masses, and this bag delivers on that promise. Shop it here.

This post has included only four of the Black-owned fashion brands to know right now, but there are many more featured on our Instagram feed. You can also join us back here on our website next month when we’ll feature our October picks!

I love fashion and always have. At 12, I assigned my younger sisters articles for my personal “fashion magazine” that I typed up on glossy paper and filled with collages made from the pages of real fashion magazines. Add into the mix a slim clothing budget, and shopping for secondhand clothing quickly became a part of my fashion routine. At the time, I had no idea that careers in sustainable fashion existed. So, what great luck when I found my job at Crossroads! 

But I haven’t been alone in this good fortune. Many, many others started their sustainable fashion careers at Crossroads since we debuted our first store in 1991. Quite a few have even grown their careers considerably here (It’s not an urban legend that the company’s first employee is now our Chief Retail Officer!).

If you’ve been dreaming of your own sustainable fashion career, especially now when the data on the environmental impact of fast fashion is so compelling, here are some Crossroads employee stories that we hope will inspire you to consider the careers we’re currently offering in sustainable fashion.  Yep, you should join us!

Jason’s Story

Life as a Store Manager

We’ve got our eyes on all the fall fashion trends, and we’re predicting it may be ankle boots for the win. They’re everywhere we look these days, and they stand out in every look we see.

There isn’t just one style to point out, either. There are lots of choices, like chunky-heeled, platform, pointed-toe, and rain booties. Materials vary too, from soft leather to patent leather. Whichever you choose, you’ll find you’ll have versatile styling options. You can tuck pants into them, show them off through the side slit of a bodycon dress, and wear them with tights or a mini dress. And for extra credit, keep your eyes peeled for a vintage pair in a classic ’60s or ’70s style.

Keep scrolling to see exactly what we mean.

Although we’ve placed our bets on ankle boots for the win, there are plenty of other fall fashion trends that we expect our shoppers to be on the hunt for in the coming months. Check out the 30 we rounded up in our fall selling guide, then stop into any of our stores to shop or sell them!

We love your Crossroads finds. In fact, one of our favorite ways to pass the time is searching up #crossroadsfinds and going through the 8.7K looks you’ve shared with us. There is so much fashion inspiration to be found there.

Our in-store buyers work hard to fill our racks with pieces they think will excite and inspire our shoppers. So when we see you showing these pieces off, we’re thrilled! It’s like a little game of fashion matchmaker for us.

Below are some of the Crossroads finds that we stumbled upon in our last Instagram search. Notice how amazing everyone looks, and how they’ve weaved one Crossroads piece into their personal style.

While we’re on the topic of fashion matchmaking, do you love shopping for others or aspire to be a fashion buyer one day? How about in the sustainable fashion industry? We’re hiring and we’d love to talk to you. Learn more here, and before you know it, you’ll be matching our shoppers with their new favorite pieces too!

Please keep tagging your #crossroadsfinds so we can see what you found in our stores.