Second-hand gifting: Is it still taboo in 2022?

Buying second-hand gifts has long been considered taboo, the old-fashioned perception being that something used is automatically less luxurious, and therefore a less valuable present. While opinions towards all things second-hand have shifted as pre-loved becomes more and more gentrified, we’re still left with one question: is gifting second-hand still taboo in 2022?

This weekend, I got the chance to dig a little deeper into the 'why’s and 'why not’s at the Styles Christmas Loppis, a flea market hosted by the new Scandinavian social media app. Their fashion-focused community gathered to clear out their wardrobes and do some Christmas shopping from one shared, local wardrobe at Stockholm’s second-hand event of the season. I caught up with some of the sellers and found out that, while they each approach gifting second-hand with different boundaries, Gen Z generally connect it more with COP27 than a Christmas cop-out.

I stopped by the stall of singer and vintage band-tee advocate Peg Parnevik who tells me that, while she loves to opt for vintage, she would be mindful of the limits of others. In Panevik's own words: 'Hats... That’s a no. I have some second-hand corsets and lingerie but that would be a bit iffy to gift”. She acknowledges that sometimes an inevitable feeling of shame creeps up, the feeling of “being a little bit embarrassed and awkward that [I] didn’t buy something new." But on reflection, Parnevik points out the positives, saying “for me, I’d rather give something that I had put energy into finding... It takes way more time and care”.

Certainly, for some, pre-loved gifts can be the most special of all. “Last Christmas, my sister gave me her old dress, it was a one-of-a-kind collaboration... And that’s all I wanted”, says Parnevik, describing it as the best gift that she's ever received. "It doesn’t have to be a shit gift just cause it’s second-hand," she concludes.

Similarly, another seller Erik Corradini, sales manager for Swedish brand Schnayderman’s, reflects on the second-hand culture within his house growing up: “My dad bought me a pair of sunglasses in Italy, I had been searching for the perfect pair, but they were a bit disjointed and I managed to break them. He took them from the trash without telling me and a year later he had fixed them and gave them to me as his Christmas gift”.

“I don’t think it’s taboo in Sweden," Corradini continues, "but it’s still a divider for sure. The people opposed to the idea might have a problem with the fact that it’s a shared experience”. It’s this shared experience of our possessions, with a parent, a sister or a stranger that for this group, makes a gift even more special.

Influencer Filippa Moulier tells me that she grew up in a household where second-hand wasn't so common. “My family are not in that scene," she explains. "I feel like they would think, 'oh okay, someone else had it before'."

As we talk about some downsides of the more sustainable route, the unreliability of second-hand is cited as a potential culprit. “I was very close to buying a pair of Loro Piana shoes for my boyfriend because they were so hard to find new," Moulier says. "But when I bought it from Vestiaire, the seller didn’t ship them. I was so close”. In an age where shopping has become so easy, with the expectation of timely shipping and return options, relying on secondhand for presents to arrive in time for Christmas can be tricky. We’re left assuming a lot: that it will fit, that they’ll like it, or even that it will be in decent condition.

We also discuss the blurred line when it comes to what is ‘acceptable’ to purchase second-hand, even for ourselves. Moulier tells me about the reaction of her audience following a recent Sellpy haul on Youtube which included swimwear and nightgowns, a large proportion of them uncomfortable with doing the same, even where it was sold with the tags still on. Moulier draws the line at underwear, pointing out the obvious societal difference, in her words: “I would feel much more comfortable standing here in a bathing suit than in my underwear...it’s more intimate”.

Admittedly, introducing sustainability as an added expectation can feel like another hurdle when buying gifts, especially when it comes to those you don’t know so well. But is the risk of getting the wrong gift worth the cost to the environment and is Christmas an excuse to throw our morals out the window?