Janina Hargin is not your typical businesswoman. Her specialty is in clothing construction, and she has a passion for quality vintage fashion and the bold, fearless styles of the ’80s and ’90s.
Before the trend of thrift-store shopping began, Hargin studied fashion design at Missouri State University. At the time, she began thrifting simply to find “cool things that were cheap.” In 2011, she opened a resale store in downtown Springfield called Downtown Clothing Exchange. Life later took her in a different direction, and now, DCXSpringfield can be found exclusively on Etsy, where she sells the vintage clothing she has collected over the years.
A degree in fashion design with an emphasis on construction and 10 years of thrifting has given Hargin a lot of experience and knowledge in the area. When walking into any thrift store or flea market her eyes goes immediately to the distinctive: “Bright colors. But also like the classics, too, because, you know, those are the most sustainable items. They’ll last forever.”
Hargin offered several tips for successful thrifting in a recent interview with The Scoop.
Seek out high-quality clothing
According to Hargin, it’s all in the construction. She says she looks at the following factors to determine if a garment is high quality:
- Is it lined?
- How many seams does it have?
- What materials is it made of?
Just the fact that the pieces have lasted for years means something, too. “If it’s still around, you know it’s a quality piece,” Hargin says. “People now are more focused on brand names rather than the style and the quality of it. I think in vintage items, they focused more on the quality.”
Determine the garment’s age
Hargin says she can usually just look at a piece and tell what decade it’s from. However, the tags and labels on the garments offer a lot of insight into the time period as well.
“They never had the tags printed on the actual garment; they do that now,” she says. “So that’s one dead giveaway.”
Many modern pieces can be “vintage-inspired” and look like a truly vintage piece but will have a printed tag that immediately gives it away for Hargin. “Also a lot of the fonts they use, they’re just a lot more elegant, I guess.”
Hargin says she can easily identify ’80s brands, “They’re just more bold, and they had some really cool tags from then.”
Identify whether a find is truly rare
Hargin knows one area that usually is rare: “Probably leather jackets.”
Though she is a vegetarian and self-professed animal-lover, she doesn’t mind buying fur and leather products that are vintage. “I don’t really like buying new leather and fur items, but if it’s vintage, I feel like… it’s a sustainable piece, so it’s not actually creating a market for fur and leather now, if you buy vintage.”
She says these items are hard to find, and even harder to find at a reasonable price.
Know your measurements
Sizing is a big issue with vintage clothing. Hargin stresses the importance of knowing the actual measurements of the garment (not just the size that is on the tag) and your own measurements. If you don’t know your measurements, get a tape measure and measure bust, hip, and waist.
The petite thrifter is a size 2 in modern clothing. However, in clothing from the ’80s, she’s a 6, and a ’50s garment puts her in a size 12. So, know your measurements.
“Vintage — you can’t go wrong with it,” Hargin says. Based on the number of shops on Etsy that specialize in vintage items, many agree with her.
DCXSpringfield continues to grow. She began with around 100 items for sale, and over time, she has added about 200 more. Her goal is to reach 400-500 pieces by the end of the year. Additionally, she has started a fashion and music blog to promote her shop.
