I love vintage shopping. No, really…love. There’s nowhere I’d rather shop than a vintage store. I prioritize them on all of my travels and have them mapped out all over the country!

With the current pandemic curbing travel and in store visits, and more and more brick and mortar stores shutting their doors, shopping for vintage online is the next best thing. Though it’s never quite as fun as shopping in person, I’ve found some amazing vintage clothing and decor online. Since so many of my followers said they find it overwhelming and don’t know where to start, I put together a list of tips to help you with online vintage shopping.

My go-to sites for vintage clothing and decor are Etsy, eBay, Depop, Poshmark, and even Instagram. Most o f these tips are more relevant to the first four, but the last tip especially applies to Instagram and will sometimes give you access to items before they even hit their stores. Save or pin this post for future reference!

Tips for Online Vintage Shopping

Utilize the filters

Beyond entering search terms, narrow it down by selecting the filters in the sidebar or drop down menu to suit your needs. It will cut your search time down tremendously.

Choose the right section

Whether in the search terms or in the drop down of the sidebar, I make sure I’m looking in the right section — just as I would if I were in a brick and mortar store with multiple sections. Too broad of a search will return unwanted results, like sewing patterns when I’m looking for a piece of clothing, children’s sizes when I’m searching for adult sizes, or vintage inspired pieces when I’m looking for true vintage. If I’m looking for myself, I make sure to check that I’m searching in vintage women’s clothing.

Item location

International shipping can be expensive and take a long time — so I normally stick to US specific searches when searching for vintage.

Pricing

Setting a price ceiling not only narrows down my searches, it also keeps me from being tempted to spend too much on one item! I also set a modest minimum price to help weed out unrelated items.

Get specific with your search terms

By no means do you have to — nor should you — use all of these at once, but here are several ways you can narrow down your vintage clothing search to keep you from getting overwhelmed by thousands of options.

By decade

I dabble in pretty much all eras, but most of my closet leans into the 60s and 70s. Adding “1960s” or “60s” into my search terms — for example, “vintage 1960s mini dress” helps to narrow down my search to an era I’m highly interested in. Though my search terms for vintage clothing are usually much more specific than that, sometimes it’s fun to go a little more broad and look beyond my usual borders. It helps me discover new styles I like!

By silhouette

I gravitate toward certain silhouettes, so they are the bulk of my searches! “Trapeze” “tent” “babydoll” and “empire waist” are frequent search terms of mine. Learn which silhouettes you prefer and narrow down your search with those terms.

By details

I love statement sleeves and collars, so I often add individual things like “dagger collar” “dog ear collar” “angel sleeves” “bell sleeves” “bishop sleeves” or other details I’m looking for. You can also put in pattern terms, like “floral” or “polka dot.”

By style

Example terms: Mod, prairie, cottage core, Edwardian, grunge, etc.

By length

I do not recommend filtering by size when looking for vintage (although sometimes the standard S, M, L, etc. are okay) but you can whittle down your search results if you indicate the length you’re searching for (mini, maxi, midi, etc). Why don’t I recommend filtering specifically by size? Sizing can be a little tricky because when shopping for vintage, you absolutely cannot go by the tag size alone. Remember that sizing was very different back then — I am a modern US 6 but usually a 12-14 in vintage sizes! Always, always, always check the measurements against your own (or compare to a garment you already have).

By brand name

Once you get more familiar with the brands you love, put them in the search terms! Just remember that lots of great vintage clothing was handmade, so don’t limit yourself too much.

Save your searches

When shopping for vintage online, cut your search time by saving your search terms for easy perusing, making sure to tick the “filter by most recent” box so the newest offerings are always at the top.

Follow sellers who specialize in your style

See something you love? Check out what else that seller has in stock! You might find something that didn’t fit your search terms but is perfect for you. Follow their shops on the site so you don’t miss out on their offers — and if they’re on instagram, follow them there, too! Many sellers will put their items up on Instagram before listing them. Once you’ve established a relationship with them, let them know what you’re looking for and you might get first dibs the next time they have something!

I hope these tips for online vintage shopping were helpful. Remember that I often feature my own favorite vintage pieces on my Instagram stories and I sell pieces from my own closet on my Poshmark. You can also see some of my current favorite pieces below: