Deep Dive Into The Real Real
With Strategies On How To Find What You Really Need
Full disclosure; I have never bought anything on The Real Real, but I was an early adopter of consigning with them. As soon as I learned they come to your home, assess what you have and take it away, I was sold. Now I’m seriously looking at them from the other side.
It’s no coincidence that the rise of resale coincides with the prohibitively high prices for designer clothes. It makes sense to look to reputable resellers for quality and style at a price. Credit serial entrepreneur, Julie Wainwright, for seizing the moment in 2011 by founding The Real Real. The musty world of resale was reborn online and went mainstream. The Real Real was not the only company to do this but they were and are the largest and most visible, making it easy for both buyers and sellers to trade in clothes. The biggest problem with The Real Real is the abundance of treasures available. I’ve been haunting the site for months now, closing my computer after fruitless hours of aimless scrolling. Though I still haven’t purchased anything, I’ve learned a thing or two on how to navigate the vast array of choices.
The first lesson learned the hard way was don’t sit on something. If you find something you love, know it won’t be there for long. Though most pieces are returnable, not all are, so be sure before you buy. I’ve been looking for a fall, novelty jacket and found two I loved. I couldn’t make up my mind, waited for divine intervention and then both were gone. Waiting lost me a couple of beauties that were just what I was looking for. Now I’ll obsess over them for eternity.
The site is easy to navigate and gives you many options to narrow your search, which is necessary given the sheer volume of products on the site. You must create an account with a password to shop on The Real Real. Once you’re logged in you can like items that interest you to easily find them again and create searches you can save.
As discussed in my last post, “My Secret Sauce For Shopping”, refer to your running list of items you would like to find. After missing out on the perfect novelty jacket, I pivoted to tweed jackets, something I’ve been looking for intensely since last fall. You can focus your search by first hovering over women, then clicking jackets and blazers in the drop down. Once on the jackets page you can break it down further by clicking type of jacket, size, condition and color. And pro tip; don’t forget to hit gender at the very end to the right on the category bar at top. I didn’t do this and was frustrated when men’s blazers were in my search. I assumed that starting the search by clicking women’s omitted men’s; not so.
Despite narrowing it down, my search was still 11 pages long. Here’s what I liked, none of which were exactly right, mainly because of size. I saved my search so it’s easy to pick up where I left off, with the newest things showing first.
The top left jacket is from Ralph Lauren and is a size 6. It’s priced at a remarkable $54, but is not returnable. I just wanted to show the level of deals to be had, but not without risk! On the top right is another Ralph Lauren jacket, size 2, which looks like the Dior Bar Jacket I’ve always coveted. Below is another Ralph jacket, size 6 and last a Nili Lotan tweed jacket, size 10.
The Real Real is a great place to find, what I call, the spice of your wardrobe, meaning unique pieces that add the flavor. Knowing this, look for those treasures with personality that cost a fortune at regular retail in their debut season. Here a few of my favorites.
At top left is a fabulous Etro jacket that I can imagine many uses for. I would wear it with relaxed jeans and loafers or dressed up with a soft, flowing midi skirt and a kitten heel. The boxy Pradaesque shape allows for many styling options. It’s a size 8, heavily discounted, though not returnable. To the right is a leather Valentino for god’s sake! I’d wear it over a tight turtleneck, and sleek trousers in the same color as the turtle with killer earrings and heels. At the bottom right is a Dries jacket similar to the one that got away in black velvet. To the left is a black Prada brocade jacket. I could see it getting plenty of play during the holidays. In the center is my favorite piece from the Dries Van Noten Fall 2023 collection; new with tags! This was Van Noten’s 2nd to last fall collection. The coat is still pricey but it's a collectors item to wear proudly!
A great way to test drive designers you’re interested in is to first buy a piece on The Real Real. Lately I’ve been admiring Sacai. In a retail world where there is a lot of sameness among brands, Sacai has always stood out with her creative approach to mashing up genres of clothes. Sometimes it’s too much for my small frame, and the price of admission is high, but I unearthed some great pieces (though not in my size) and have established an ongoing Sacai search.
The tennis sweater with the flowing fabric back is a fun piece that’s actually quite wearable; as is the bomber-trench combo. Both qualify as spice!
Junya Wantanabe is another designer I’ve long admired but have yet to own. The above cape caught my attention.
Last, an honorable mention for this Micheal Kors Spring 2024 cashmere sweater. That was my favorite look of the show. Oh wait, I just bought it for $116. (they just reduced it from $145). Who doesn’t love a deal!
I encourage you to have a look at the site, focused on pieces you actually need. Warning: scrolling on the site is highly addictive. To do this post I’ve lost count of the hours scrolling for treasure. It’s similar to a Vegas slot machine; just when you’re about to quit you score a small win that keeps you there.
This post is not sponsored by The Real Real. I’m genuinely sharing with you my enthusiasm for this party I’m inexplicably late to. I also don’t receive a commission for links. If and when I do, I’ll always be transparent, and will never recommend something I don’t totally believe in. Thanks as always for reading. Please let me know how your experience with The Real Real, or resale in general, has been. I would love to know.
xxx Jolain
I also love scrolling the Real Real. I have never shopped or sold with them, as I live in Europe at the moment and they are solely USA-based.
However, I have plenty of friends with experience shopping at the Real Real, and I can relay a few warnings. 1. The sizing / measurements they provide are often very wrong. This is not as much an issue with modern items, where you have the option to go to the manufacturer's website to check their sizing measurements. But this is a huge headache for vintage or one-of-a-kind pieces. 2. Their quality checks are also often all over the place. Make sure you triple check your item when it arrives, because they often miss imperfections. All this is to say, its best to only buy items with a good return policy.
Hi BS, It's nice to hear from you! This is useful information. I'm waiting for the cashmere sweater I ordered, an easy way to start and will let you know if there are any problems. I agree, it's best only to buy returnable items not only for sizing and quality issues but you just may not like it on. That's my strict policy for sale items as well. Thanks for reading and commenting