Male edition

19:46 |

If you’ve been reading this blog for some time, or wandering around town looking for second hands, you might encountered a problem. Shopping in these stores is considered a „female hobby”, which is quite weird, since men can also be seen here. Most stores don’t really cater to men’s needs, usually there’s only two or three racks of clothes for them, while the other 80% of the store focuses on women’s clothing. There’s certainly no men only second hand shop, nor one that focuses on males. Occasionally, you can see a couple of shirts or old jackets, but nothing extraordinary. The only store I know of is a strictly online one which only sells shirts.

Asking my friends, I realized that men do need these shops. An interesting case that kept coming up is an internship or a trainee program, when guys need a business suit, or at least a handful of good shirts. The cheapest suits cost 20 000 HUF (88 USD), which is pretty harsh for someone who has a (barely) paid internship. Matter of fact is you can pretty much tell a suit was cheap at first glance, so guys tend to buy the expensive ones. Good shirts also cost 5-6000 HUF (22-26 USD), and you will need at least 5 of them for a week.

So, most guys seriously think about visiting a second hand now or than, but where should they start?

My opinion is, go to the Giga Turi on Váci Street (details in my very first post), they pretty much offer the widest range of men’s clothing, occupying the second floor of the three. The prices are a bit higher than usual, but you will definitely find what you need. For suits you can visit Renoválás (please see one of my previous posts). When I was there, they had a sale on suit-trousers, costing 200 HUF (1 USD). I also strongly recommend Second Chance, where you can pick up casual clothing, for example Levi’s 501 jeans, for 2000-3500 HUF (9-15 USD) depending on their condition.

In the Renoválás shop, I’ve managed to find a complete suit (trousers and jacket), in mint condition for 3000 HUF (13 USD). Sadly, it was too small for my model, but I took a picture so you can see the quality of this non-labeled, second hand suit.

A male friend of mine (a regular at these places) accompanied me and had this to say:
“I think a second hand is a great place for youngsters. Why? You can buy cheap, trendy and in most cases designer-labeled clothing. I’ve bought my Zara jeans and shirt here (Renoválás), for 2000 HUF (9 USD). Friends showed me Hugo Boss suits, LaCoste shirts, Armani T-shirts bought dirt cheap, and you couldn’t really tell they were from another owner. I think less people should know about these shops, so I can pick out the good deals first :-D”.

Giga Turi

Location: Váci Street 78-80.

Open: M-F: 09:00-19:00, Sat: 10:00-18:00

Renoválás

Location: 1073, Erzsébet Boulevard 8

Open: M-F: 11:00-19:30, Sat: 10:00-18:00

Second Chance
Location: 1061. Király Street 28
Open: M-Sat: 10:00-20:00. Sun: 12:00-18:00