The joys of thrifting
For two Sundays in Rome, my kids and I enjoyed retail therapy that is unique to this stylish Italian city. That is, we scooped up armfuls of fashion bargains at the Roman flea market Porta Portese which covers two kilometers with over a thousand stalls. I’m talking about Italian fashion, which is always well made even when it isn’t branded.
At Porta Portese, vintage and secondhand finds include shoes, bags and accessories at greatly marked down prices. I’m talking about one euro, two euro, five euro, 10 euro prices at a current exchange of P67 to one euro. To justify spending a hundred euro, it needs to be branded like Max Mara.
We gleefully carried off our purchases, another bonus on an Italian vacation that was carefully planned to get the best deals on airfare, accommodations, tours and restaurants without employing a travel agency. But this has always been the DIY style of my family when we travel or celebrate a milestone like a debut. Everything—from the gowns to the cake and giveaways to the photo booth—is made by us so that although the result looks like we spent millions, we spend only a fraction of that.
Since we all love to dress up, thrifting has always been an enjoyable way for us to score truly great finds. Plus, vintage clothes are better made than many of the items you see today. They were sewn in an era when designers or their parent companies weren’t chasing after profit margins.
Plus, in the universe of fashion, real style has never been about price tags, logos or labels. A true fashionista knows that being stylish doesn’t depend on a hefty wallet since there are many options for clothes, shoes and accessories that won’t break the bank. And on a planet plagued by the waste and lost resources caused by the industry’s unsustainable practices, our survival can depend on redirecting our attitudes. So while there’s nothing inherently wrong with indulging in a well-crafted, timeless designer piece, finding ways to lessen our fashion carbon footprint can be the ultimate expression of style.
Thrifting in vintage shops, checking out outlet stores, visiting garage sales and even revisiting your own closet—especially the parts where you haven’t looked in a long time—feel like a treasure hunt. You don’t know exactly what you’re going to find, but the process of searching can be fun. Don’t even limit yourself to your closet, you can look for gems in your mom’s closet, your grandmother’s closet—you get the drift.
As a fashion lover whose source of personal income is currently derived from writing and teaching kids to cook—the two kinds of work I love the most—I’ve learned to be creative. These aren’t fields likely to bring in the funds needed for high-end designer pieces. But I do have closets filled with clothes dating back to the ‘80s, when I was designing myself. These are pieces with timeless appeal, as proven by my two Gen Z daughters who are always “borrowing” or even “appropriating” my jackets, blouses, skirts and slip dresses.
My mom, Malu Veloso, also has deep closets with pieces dating back to the ‘60s. Today, you can wear anything from any decade regardless of age or size as long as you look comfortable with yourself. Clothes don’t even need to fit too exactly. My bunso is constantly using my late mother-in-law’s tops, which are too big for her. Worn as oversized blouses over jeans or any of her dresses, she has given her paternal grandmother’s wardrobe a new, nostalgic lease on life.
Over the decades, I’ve dipped into the tiangges that pop up here and there, from the many B and C market malls near my mom’s house in Pasay, to the more upscale shopping enclaves in BGC and elsewhere. From one of the fancier malls in BGC, I picked up a P150 lace camisole that I have worn countless times and taken abroad on almost every trip. Flattering whether I feel fat or slim, this is a true find.
Then there are outlet stores, which sell marked-down items of designer brands. These are out-of-season clothes or factory overruns. I got my son an MGM bag from an outlet store in Camp John Hay which sadly no longer exists. But you can find countless outlet stores in malls throughout the country. At the Robinsons Mall in San Fernando, Pampanga, my bunso pointed out a silky, cream-colored spaghetti strap top and a black playsuit from the Mango outlet that I have worn over and over.
Then there is thrifting. Many young or old, budget-constrained or affluent people love to discover designer pieces at incredible prices. When high-fashion designer brands begin to take their cues from street wear, sometimes looking pretty similar to what you find at the bastions of fast fashion, you can understand the appeal of vintage. Designer items made in previous decades are much better made, in nicer fabrics, and can recall the elegance or edginess of their era.
Is there a difference between thrifting and ukay? They’re more or less the same thing. Ukay-ukay is a trend for secondhand clothing that started in Baguio but has been duplicated elsewhere. The best ukay for me can be found at the Maharlika building next to the Baguio Public Market. There are many stalls there with good clothes from Korea, and not necessarily secondhand.
Where can we start hunting for fashion treasures here in Manila? The list below is by no means comprehensive.
Thrifting areas. These include Kamuning, closer to EDSA; the streets around Evangelista in Makati, and sections of Cubao. There are clusters of stores in these areas but you can find stand-alone vintage shops all over Manila. My favorite, which I am reluctantly sharing here, is Glorious Diaz at the United Building on Escolta. My daughter and I have purchased terrific pieces from French designer Guy Laroche and Hong Kong icon Betty Clemo here. Even the no-name vintage pieces are a steal, as many of them were hand-sewn by a private seamstress or tailor.
The Little Vintage Shop. Located in BGC near the American Cemetery and run by Zonta Club, which supports disadvantaged women, this shop full of finds has big-name designer clothes and fabrics donated by Manila’s prominent society women and even the Zonta Club members themselves. This gem of a store allows you to help women in need as you pick up American and European labels at prices that are a steal.
The Creatives Closet Sale by Shaira Luna. Fashionistas in the know flock to this annual sale of designer and unbranded yet stylish pieces sold by stylists in the fashion field. Held in a huge space on Chino Roces, you will not come away without great pieces.
When you’ve scored your finds, feel free to mix them with your existing wardrobe. There’s an element of fun in combining the old with the new, local with imported, the expensive with the bargains, and making a statement that’s all your own.
