Finding Cool Clothes

28 Jul 2026

In the distant future year of 2026, a dark apocalypse has come to pass. Every shop has got the same fugly clothes and there’s nowhere to find nice stuff to wear! Anything good inevitably falls apart in ten seconds, or requires you to remortgage your house to buy! But never fear, I am here with some tips on how to hunt down clothes that you actually want to wear. Fair warning, most of the ideas in this article will be on butch clothing, and may be UK-centric, but I’ll try to include universal ideas that will work anywhere and for anyone.

• Try the charity shop/thrift store

Yeah, I know, this one is overdone and all, but it really is worthwhile! If you’ve been out of luck with your local charity shop, you might have better luck by travelling to a different neighbourhood. Rich neighbourhoods have people who donate higher-quality stuff, and quiet neighbourhoods have old people who pass away and leave behind items they loved enough to keep. In my local village shop, I’ve found designer dresses, high quality jeans, great footwear and leather jackets for less than £5 each. Some visits are going to be busts, but if you hit the charity shops near you every week, it won’t be long until you find something you love.

• Keep a list of brands you like

This one is also pretty obvious but there’s a strategy to it that I feel not everyone is savvy to. Whenever you spot clothes you do like, write down the brand even if it’s out of your budget. There are several benefits to this list. When you go shopping, you can only visit shops that might have clothes you like and save time. When you’re browsing Vinted or eBay, you have a collection of brands to narrow your search down with. On your birthday, you can give relatives a list of places that you would love a gift card for. You can frequent the websites of your brands or join their mailing lists to grab stuff on sale. I know, I hate being loyal to a brand too, but this is a useful way of narrowing down the daunting task of shopping for clothes, and also helps you avoid advertising because you go in knowing what you want.

• Befriend transgender people

This one sounds a bit silly, but it’s true! When people transition, they often end up with a whole wardrobe of clothes attached to bad memories or that just don’t fit them anymore. My favourite dress, bikini and button-down shirt came from two of my friends’ pre-transition wardrobes. Ask your transgender friends if you can snoop through their wardrobes, or keep an eye out for your local trans support group as they often run clothing swaps or sales.

• Befriend your parents/relatives

Also difficult to do in some cases, but if you’re lucky you may find that your parents have an old stash of clothes from when they were younger that they don’t like anymore (or that doesn’t fit). My mum was kind enough to bestow upon me some beautiful tops from the ’90s, one of which she modified herself. Dads are often great sources of band tees, and maybe mums too, but mine threw all hers out because she’s lame.

• Learn to modify clothes

I hope to have a few tutorials up on this site about clothing modification in the near future, but clothing modification is easier and more fun than you might think. You don’t even need to know how to sew! If you can find some dark-coloured basic clothes in a charity shop that already fit you, you can try painting on them using bleach to lighten the pigment for a punk-rock look. You can also mix regular acrylic paint 1:1 with something called fabric medium (you can get it from Hobbycraft) and paint on your clothes - just make sure to iron it before sticking it in the wash! Cut the sleeves off T-shirts or turn ugly jeans into uglier jorts! The world is your oyster! Once you’ve gained some confidence, you could try some basic sewing modifications. One thing I like to do is put eyelets in everything for no reason. It’s also really easy to put studs in things, it turns out.

That’s all for now. I hope this list gave you some ideas for how to find stylish clothes that you love!