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Tips and Tricks

The exams are coming rapidly at the university, so I’m taking a little break from blogging. Until I have time again to find the best clothes in Budapest, I’m leaving you with some tips and tricks I learned in the past months. Please feel free to add some more!

If you’re new to secondhands, start slow with the three B’s: bags, belts and boots. Picking up these items helps you get the swing of doing this, while also providing you with a new, unique take on your wardrobe. You can’t really go wrong with a bag and they are easy to clean before use. Another safe bet is a belt. Leather tends to age well, and older pieces can offer you weird and interesting buckles, coming in all shapes, sizes and colors. Talking about leather, check out the boots too. You probably won’t need them now for a while, but if a rainy day comes by, you can slip into them instantly, since they are already broken in by the previous owner.

Go hunting often. Finding the best clothes can be great fun, so if you have the time go and visit your favorite shops, they tend to have new stock every week. If you particularly like a place, ask them for the exact time when new clothes arrive, so you can be the first to dive in. If you find something you want, but don’t like the price, take a note. Secondhands usually mark down every remaining piece when new clothes arrive. Maybe you will get lucky and your favorite waits for you. As with any other store, do buy seasonal clothing out of season (i.e.: winter clothing is on sale now).


Before you set of, dress for the occasion. Try wearing shorts and a T-shirt. This helps when you want to try on something. In some of the smaller stores, maybe you won’t get into a fitting room. Take your time and be patient, you might have to go through a lot of pieces to find the perfect ones. You can even bring friends to aid you in your search and to provide a chat while you’re out. Frequent readers probably noticed that there are a lot of brands available in these shops in Hungary, do look for the brand names. The most common will be S.Oliver, which you can get for ridiculously low prices. Once you find something you like, examine it carefully for holes, stitches, stains you can’t wash out. Do yourself a favor and leave these pieces for someone else.

My last and best tip is to try everything on you like. :-)


(This video was due on this blog for a long time)

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A visit to Humana


This week I visited the Humana second hand shop on Szent István boulevard, between Jászai Mari square and Nyugati railway station. I’ve heard a lot about this one, so I decided to give it a go. You can spot it from quite the distance, thanks to its yellow signs. The shop window gave a promising look, so I’ve entered with high hopes and immediate disappointment followed. The shop itself is tiny, but it houses lots of clothes, thus resulting in crowdedness. This is also amplified by the constant sales (e.g.: everything for 300-400 Forints – 1,3-1,8 USD), which attract a lot of people. I couldn’t really get close to the clothes, but to be honest, they didn’t need a hands-on approach.




The slogan of the shop could be “Welcome back to the 70’s!”, I think this tells you everything about their stock. The second hand has a small man and child section, some accessories and a couple (literally two or three) pairs of shoes, nicely separated from the female items. The garments are sorted by type, but other than that, they hang chaotically on the racks, I couldn’t find any type of color or size order.
The shop has three changing rooms for the dozens of people visiting it at any given time, thus forcing you into queuing.  I didn’t have the nerve to wait, but from the looks of it, the dressing rooms were ridiculously small. If you don’t want to try everything on, you’re in luck, since most of the clothes are average sized (38-40), you can probably pick up a nice sweater without too much of a hassle. If you’re seriously looking for everyday wear don’t bother going up the stairs, but if you want to liven up your collection, definitely check out the top floor. You can find the strangest pieces here, great for giving yourself a unique look, or dressing up in a costume.


Overall I think this is a cheap and unique shop, if you want something special (even if you don’t know what it is) and don’t mind the crowd, do pay a visit.

Humana second hand shop
Location: V. Szent István boulevard 9.
Open: M-F: 9:30-20:00, Sat: 9:00-15:00

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Male edition



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
 


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Shopline

If you have already visited many of the city's second hand shops and you decided what your favorite ones are, you have a chance to make your shopping easier and faster. There are lot of stores, which offer online shopping, in case you know what kind of clothes you would like to buy, but you do not have enough time or you are not in the mood to go out and travel around the city. Because this blog is mainly made for foreign people, in this post I try to explain how to use Hungarian second hand stores' websites.


yorkmode.hu
This online shop deals with clothes for women, men and children as well. If you look at the left side of it, you can see the label Webáruház (Online Shop). Under this are the genders: női ruhák means women's clothes, gyermek ruhák means clothes for children, and férfi ruhák is men's clothes in Hungarian. Than you click for example on the label for women's clothes and than you can see a variety of clothes. As the layout is different from site to site, I suggest to just go through the labels and see the pictures of clothes so you can find out which is which. I clicked on női rövidnadrágok, which is shorts for women and a lot of pictures of shorts just popped up. If you click on the picture, a new site comes up. There you can see your item's picture on the left, and it's description on the right. Szín is the color, nem means the gender, and méret is the size of the shorts.Under it you can see it's lenght and width in centimetres. You can also check its price; unfortunately it is in HUF. However, Google solves your problem quickly, you just have to type for example 2000 HUF in USD and you can see that it costs 9 US dollars. If you are satisfied with everything regarding your chosen item you can click on kosárba, which means into the cart. Than the page will show you an arrow to the left with a vásárlás folytatása. This means that you can go back and pick other clothes. If you click to the right arrow, which says a vásárlás befejezése than you will finish your shopping. On the upper side you can see the total price of the clothes. First, you have to choose the method of delivery. You can pick it up in the shop, or ask for delivery to your home; pre-paid or cash. Your last thing to do is fill in the gaps with your personal data: first name, last name, phone number, city, street&number of your house. You only have to write in the boxes signed with a star. Than you click on vásárlás befejezése again and this is it.



gyerektrend.hu
This is an onlie shop only for children. I think this is a quite good one, because you can choose by sizes. The only problem is that these sizes are in the European system, but I found a chart in which there are the Europan sizes in the UK and US system. If  you found the best for the appropriate child, then the process is the same that I have written before.The only difference is that you can find the labels under termékeink, which is our products on the left side. Also, on this site, you can only have the clothes delivered, so you have to decide how you will pre-pay: you can transfer money from your credit card, send it by cheque, or pay with PayPal.


Here are some other links to Hungarian online second hands:


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Renoválás

Between the Blaha Lujza Square and the Wesselényi Street hidden in the basement of a building we can find this tiny, communist-like shop. Its design is quite harsh, with its lamps looking like an eighties era elemantary school's ones and the plain walls. It is clear that they put the focus rather on the clothes, and not at all on the design of the shop.To be honest, I would expected more effort to create a store that has a nice atmosphere.


The reason of my first disappointment was that I heard a lot of good things about this shop and I went there with great expectations. In fact, if I see the abilities of the shop and compare them to the others, it is a good type of second hands with a large quantity and variety of clothes, on very low prices. The pieces were seperated by genders and types of clothes, so you have to use your treasure hunting abilities, especially in the case of the ones in piles. Although, after a little effort you can find trendy and branded pieces on ridiculously low prices. For example, Mexx top for 900 HUF (4 USD), Marks&Spencer vest for 1400 HUF ( 6 USD), or skirts for 500 HUF ( 2 USD).  The ones in the piles are for 200-500 HUF (1-2 USD). Plus point is that you can find an entire department for children clothes and a huge circlehanger of suit-trousers by the price of 200 HUF (1 USD)!


The changing rooms were a bit "cheap", the curtains were quite transparent, and there were no hangers so I had to put all of the clothes on a little chair. All in all, the atmosphere was a bit strange and controversial, partly because of the 90's music and the assistants who were at ease. But, of course, if you are really looking for good and cheap clothes, these factors do not really matter. The more important thing is that I found some really good and trendy pieces and there are various types for every age.

 
Dress: Rage, one size, 900 HUF ( 4 USD)

Renoválás
Location: 1073, Erzsébet Boulevard 8
Open: M-F: 11:00-19:30, Sat: 10:00-18:00

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Children Edition

When people start to think about second hands and hand-me-downs, it's quite rare that baby or children stores pop up in their minds. There is a common misbelief in Hungary that second hands only offer old, out of fashion clothes with poor quality; and because of this, people don't even think about going to these shops and seeing the supply. This week I try to prove that this belief is wrong and played out by introducing some of the best second hands for children in Budapest.



Lurkó-Szerkó
This cute shop is located in the heart of the city, near to Rákóczi út.It is a little store but as soon as you enter it, you will be enchanted for sure. The walls are painted as it was a babyroom by calm yellow and green colors and little figures like duck or chicken. There is a huge variety of qualitative clothes for infants, toddlers and small children as well. The pieces are ordered by genders and sizes, you can find dozens of coats, shirts, trousers and shoes, baby-grows, and playsuits. I was quite surprised how fashionable these clothes are, the majority of them are Baby Gap, Ralph Lauren, Hello Kitty or Monsoon.


Lurkó-Szerkó
Location: 1077, Wesselényi Street 30.
Open: M-F: 10:00-18:00, Sat: 10:00-13:00

Csőrike
Another treasure for hand-me-downs. It is in Buda, with a small shop, but as we know, size is not everything. This store offers lots of clothes from 0 to 12 years old children, and their section of baby equipments and accessories is constantly broadening. You can find baby carriages, changing tables and cribs on low prices, like 4000-6000 HUF (17-25 USD). The brands of the clothes are not so known here, because they are English ones, but their quality is quite good and they offer divided clothes from the age of infants to young teenagers ( maximum 13 years).There is a huge amount of Italian socks and shoes, which are always on sale. The atmosphere is pretty good, because of the cute walls, decorated with little Tweeties. 


Csőrike
Location: 1118, Törökugrató Street 24.
Open: M-F: 10:00-18:00

Eni-Baba Bababolt
Although, it is in the 19. district, so not exactly in the heart of the city it is totally worth to travel there and check out the products. They literally have everything you need: clothes, child seats, furniture, toys and baby carriages. The clothes are beautiful, they only promote high-qualitative pieces, of which you cannot tell that they are used ones. Because this is a partly second hand shop, you have to be careful during your selections,if you would like to find the cheaper ones. The equipment of the store is fantastic! The different types of products are divided, the clothes are ordered by genders and colors as well; the shop is a bit crowded, however, surprisely perspicuous. Plus point, you can find a list on their website of the things that are necessary before the baby is coming!


Eni-Baba Bababolt
Location: 1191, Eötvös Street 3.
Open: M-F: 19:00-17:00, Sat: 09:00-12:00







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Last chance to Háda

Throughout the week, I kept hearing that Háda is the best second hand. I told my acquaintances about my blog and they began to talk about Háda. Most of them weren't even there, but they insisted on that I should go back and try it at a time, when there's no crowd around. So I chose the store in the Sugár shopping centre, which is far from the heart of the city, this way a bit calmer. I went there with the intention to create a whole new and absolutely positive opinion about this company. I didn't succeed for the second time either. But lets just start from the beginning.



As I entered the shop, I had to face more people than on the first floor alltogether. Unfortunately, they were all old, often retired people. They were running around, from line to line and stood agressively in front of the clothes, like they were protecting them from me. As I have seen this before, I tried to ignore people around me and focus on the shop itself. It is a quite large one, with many lines of clothes, bags and accessories. First, I got to the coats, which were ordered by colors. I saw some good and fashionable ones, but they all were too big, usually begining from the size 40. On the other hand, they were cheap, I saw a lot of Atmosphere and H&M ones from 2500 HUF (11 USD) to 3500 HUF (15 USD). And then came the bad part.
The rest of the store is not ordered at all. 


Although, the shirts are distinguished from the trousers this is the maximum they did with them. The shirts, bluses, cardigans and tops are mixed together, not even ordered by color or size. I literally had to look through all the pieces on the lines to find a suitable one. I spent at least half an hour to get something in my size, becuse most of the clothes are bigger ones, starting from size 40. Additionally, the prices are relatively high, it was nearly impossible to find a shirt under 2000 or 3000 HUF (9-13 USD). The trousers were out of fashion, in fact quite ugly on a high price. They are usually from 3500 to 5000 HUF (15-21 USD). The choice of bags and accessories was quite poor and again too expensive for me.I mean I can buy a new little bag for 3000 HUF (13 USD) as well. The good news is that there were dozens of males clothes, which were pretty fashionable. They had the same price as the woman stuff. 
Finally, I managed to find some suitable pieces and went to the changing room. My friend sat in front of my room and when I came out, she warned me that the curtains are completely transparent. I wasn't reall happy to hear it.

Top: Mango, S size, 1800 HUF ( 7 USD)
Cardigan: Monsoon, 36 Size, 2300 HUF ( 10 USD)

To sum up, I didn't manage to take a liking to this company, so I promise I will never try again. For my age and size the clothes are not suitable, and almost every store is crowded at any time of the day.

Háda second hand
Location: Sugár Bevásárlóközpont Örs Vezér Square 24.
Open: M-Sat: 10:00-20:00 Sun: 10:00-18:00

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