Size-Inclusive Thrift Shopping Tricks From The Pros

Thrift shopping is never an effortless process. It takes a certain amount of grit and fortitude to sort through another person’s once-treasured, now-forgotten items in the hopes of finding something that works for yourself. But as Alexis Krase, founder of New York City’s only plus-size pre-owned clothing boutique Plus BKLYN, points out, plus-size thrift shopping is that much more of an arduous process. “The sheer amount of options has always been a challenge for plus-size people because there’s so much more of a scarcity in terms of availability,” she tells TZR over Zoom.

The fashion industry has notoriously and systematically excluded larger bodies for centuries. As a result, the secondhand retail space, which effectively operates in a trickle-down system to receive what’s already in circulation, has limited options for plus-size shoppers. “The hardest clothing for us to get are 4, 5, and 6X,” Krase explains of Plus BKLYN’s sourcing. “There are so many people of those sizes, but we have a really hard time finding those clothes because many brands stop at 3X/size 24. Even some of the more inclusive brands [in the market] stop at size 20 or size 18, so there’s a shortage of options overall.” Thrifting, which already somewhat has the cutthroat nature of a competitive sport (That hand-made, one-of-one caftan is mine and mine alone!), is exponentially more difficult for plus size consumers whose only option is to shop from an already limited pool.

Krase herself is intimately familiar with the accessibility challenges plus-size shoppers face. “I’ve always been on the upper echelon of plus size; today, I’m a size 26, and I was a 22-24 as a teen. When I go shopping with some of my girlfriends, nine times out of 10 I’m over there by the jewelry, fondling the necklaces, while they look for clothing,” she says. “For so long, I’ve been on the fringes of fashion, so the impetus [for launching Plus BKLYN] was that I felt the need to create an accessible space for people just like me.” And that she’s done. Launched in 2017, Plus BKLYN exclusively offers plus-size secondhand wares, selling to sizes 12 and above. “We focus primarily on modern resale, so contemporary items that are cool, fun, colorful, loud, as well as true vintage, which, unfortunately, is really hard to find in plus sizes,” she describes while sitting on a fuchsia chaise lounge, her face aglow by a heart-shaped neon sign, in front of a glitter wall in her Williamsburg shop.

Like the maximalist decor of Plus BKLYN, the clothing sold there is unabashedly expressive — technicolor Pucci-esque prints, high-shine sequined sets, and denim skirts circa the Hot Aughts. “People all the time come into the store and cry — like actual, physical tears — because they're so happy. And it’s not just that they found clothes that fit them — which is upsetting that that's a novel experience — but also because there's stuff that they would have never thought to try for themselves,” Krase explains.

The all-out, anything-goes aesthetic of Plus BKLYN is intentional and one that the founder has expertly curated over time. “Historically, there have been a lot of antiquated notions around what plus-size folks should wear — don’t wear stripes or loud patterns, shroud your body, don’t highlight it — that cater to an ideal of what a body ‘should’ look like,” she illustrates. “And that’s an erasure of what women, femmes, and people of plus-sized stature want to wear, so what we celebrate [at Plus BKLYN] is more is more.”

Gianluca Russo, a fashion journalist covering the size-inclusivity beat and the author of The Power of Plus, a book that details the industry’s journey with size-inclusivity, agrees with Krase. He explains that the liberty of honing an individualistic look has not always been afforded to plus-size folks. “If you go to a thrift store as a plus-size person, you typically can only shop from a small spectrum of options,” he tells TZR. “You can only shop from what’s available to you, which might not be what you want or what makes your heart happy. Therefore, it’s quite hard for plus-size people to even discover what their style is.”

Dylan Schulman, creative producer for online vintage marketplace Thrilling, points out that fashion is currently under a maximalist spell that encourages originality. “We are living in a post-pandemic world, and with that has emerged a rejection of the recent comfort-dressing craze,” she tells TZR. “People want to dress up, go out, and be seen! Not only that, but shoppers want to be seen as their individual selves, with their own unique styles.” And while thrifting as a plus-size person is undeniably challenging, Schulman believes pre-loved clothing to be an effective tool for self-discovery. “Simply put, it offers an opportunity to uniquely express yourself and find fantastic quality items that no one else has.”

Moreover, there are ample tips and tricks to streamline and simplify the thrifting shopping experience of a plus-size customer. “One piece of advice I always share with first-timers, and just in general as a plus-sized person, is not to become too wedded to a number because sizing is not universal,” says Krase. “Specifically, when thrifting [for vintage], you’re looking at styles that can be 20-30 years old, where the sizing was not even close to what modern-day size grades are.” So more than anything, she emphasizes, customers need to be familiar with their bodies. “Know what fits and what doesn’t, and understand your measurements because there’s such a racket in the clothing industry around sizing.”

A key piece of advise from Schulman? Take matters into your own hands. “Look up guides for how to measure yourself; Your bust, waist, and hips will tell you most of what you need to know,” she says, suggesting that shoppers bring a measuring tape along to the store. “And if you’re vintage shopping online and the measurements aren’t listed, ask the seller to provide them,” she adds, shouting out Thrilling’s partnered shops like Curvy Vintage, Berriez, Psychedelic Vintage, New Nostalgia, Rustic in Lubbock, and Junk for Joy for fantastic options.

Resourcefulness and an open mind, Russo insists, are also paramount. “Plus-size women, in particular, have gotten very good at learning how to make magic out of the bare minimum because for so long, they haven’t been able to shop in stores and find things that work. Often, they’ve had to piece together looks and tailor items to make them look and feel good,” he says. As such, Russo implores plus-size thrifters to have realistic expectations about their experiences. “It’s unfortunate: You wish you could go into a thrift store and find this perfect option, this holy grail piece of fashion, but it’s just not always the reality. Thus, going into a thrift store with the mentality, of knowing you might not find the perfect thing right away but can make it perfect with a little bit of work, is really important.”

But perhaps the most important bit of guidance to remember comes from Krase: “Because it can be intimidating to go to a place that isn’t size-inclusive or doesn’t have a specific community to serve, I would encourage finding in-person safe spaces where you feel comfortable experimenting and trying on things with no judgment,” she says. “A lot of the times, I find that when people try on something and it doesn’t fit, they’re busy blaming their body. And I’m like, ‘Why are you blaming your body? You should be blaming that piece of clothing because that was an ill-fitted piece!’”