HISTORY OF SECOND HAND

The History of the second hand

market. Pre-loved clothing, also known as second hand clothing, has evolved since the Middle Ages and the beginning of the renaissance in the fourteenth century. At the time new clothing was seen as a luxury that very few could afford. Fast fashion was not around at this time. Clothing was tailor- made, unique and would be used until the very last, passing through generations of families. Masters would often give their worn clothing to their servants as a form of payment. It was common to see secondhand clothing stalls scattered across many cities. It was at these stalls where servants would donate their wealthy employers clothing to sell onto the urban merchant class (smezzina, 2020). (see to images on page 7). The end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century saw the arrival of ready to wear garments. This is massed produced clothing in standardised sizes which effectively cuts costs and means designers could sell to a new market. As a result, second-hand clothing began to lose its appeal and became an export to African countries. Fashion began to grow rapidly due to the cheaper mass-produced clothing; it became easily accessible for many; this was the beginning of fast fashion. The world then faced the problem of going from having not enough clothing to having too much clothing. This resulted in a stigma around second-hand clothing, people thought wearing old clothes meant you couldn’t afford new ones (Ethitude,2017).

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FIG 4: Shoes at an east end market (1948) photographed by Collins, B

FIG 5: Second hand market (2001) photographed by Nilin, V.