Secondhand Activewear Isn't Scary

Why I love ThredUp for workout clothes

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My workout clothes are pretty old…as in a 10+ year old mix of things mostly from Gap and Target. For someone who’s very invested in personal aesthetics, activewear never really spoke to me, not even the luxe brands with the zillion strap sports bras and distinctive logos. Then last year I noticed this weird circular clump of spandex fibers poking their way through the fabric of my leggings. Not only were these fiber clumps strangely resistant to my fabric shaver, but they had infiltrated all of my leggings in the same awkward spot right on the rear seam.

Let my 10 year old leggings be a reminder that synthetic apparel is going to outlive us all.

I’ve been trying to be more conscious in my consumption over the past six years - like waiting at least a month to buy something instead of rushing into an impulse purchase and trying to hold myself to 10 new clothing items a year. After a couple of months of being intentional and covering my butt at the gym with a jacket tied around my waist, the holiday sales pushed me over the edge and I bought a new legging and sports bra set in an understated burgundy color from Girlfriend Collective.

You can probably guess what happened next. Once I got that matching set I was so much more motivated to exercise in my new workout clothes vs. my clumpy pants and stretched out sports bras (I was also afraid that I was a few workouts away from my leggings sprouting holes from overzealous fabric shaving). I was ready to buy new activewear that was born in this decade to keep my “excited to exercise” feeling going, even if it meant that most of my 10 new items would be workout apparel.

But the Microplastics…

This was right around the time when my phone served up an unsettling stream of articles about the dangers of microplastics not only to the environment and animals, but also our health. How billions of pounds of microplastics are infiltrating our oceans annually with 35% coming from synthetic clothing. That we’re eating a casual credit card’s worth of plastic every week and the simple act of twisting a plastic water bottle cap releases roughly 500 microplastic particles.

After I freaked out and swore off drinking out of plastic bottles, I looked into how I could do my part to reduce my microplastic shed, even just a little. I was doing some of the things that may help like using cold water, liquid detergent, mesh bags, short wash cycles, and air drying. But the one thing I wasn’t acting on was buying secondhand. According to Good on You, buying new activewear made from recycled synthetic material reduces some impact, but buying preloved to extend the life of already-made garments is the best option.

Girlfriend Collective: New and Secondhand

Putting the “semi” in semi-sustainable, I started on the easier end of the spectrum and ordered one more new set from Girlfriend Collective. I chose them again since I wanted to support a brand taking responsible actions, like using recycled fabrics, hosting a resale marketplace, and creating a recycling program. I also loved the elevated designs and neutral colors in their spring collection - the Connie Curved Bra in Moon is a minimalist activewear dream.

I’d like to see more transparency around Girlfriend Collective’s sustainable initiatives, like current copies of their fabric certifications, details on how their ReGirlfriend program keeps clothing out of landfills, and how many pieces they’re producing every year, but do think that they’re doing more than most active brands. When I saw microplastics educator Madeleine MacGillivray partner with Girlfriend Collective for Earth Week, I felt okay enough to invest in my new pieces, but still wanted to buy the rest of my workout apparel secondhand to balance out the firsthand.

I’m going to retire my old leggings through the ReGirlfriend recycling program since they offer store credit for activewear from any brand in any condition. Becca X Neck Bra in Cafe, I’m coming for you.

Even though I’d been shopping preloved clothes for years, I was nervous about secondhand activewear having stains, odd smells, or stretched out fabric, so I decided to place a small test order first and started digging into resale sites. I liked that Girlfriend Collective had a peer-to-peer resale marketplace, but the almost $10 shipping fee per seller was too expensive since I’d need to buy from multiple sellers. Ditto for Poshmark and eBay, and my go-to The RealReal was light on activewear.

Which is how I landed on ThredUp. I hadn’t shopped there in a meaningful way since their designer assortment is pretty limited for my aspirational tastes, but I was excited to see so.much.activewear (!). Now that I knew my size in Girlfriend Collective, I filtered on “excellent” condition and favorited a collection of items in a neutral color palette before buying a few pieces. I was happily surprised when my order came and my items were gently used without a mystery smell or spandex clump in sight.

The Cost Breakdown

Something else that pushed me into buying secondhand workout apparel is the cost of new activewear. Thanks to years of being a buyer where I set prices at a 70-90% markup to leave room for constant promotions, I find it incredibly hard to buy at full price from brands that run any kind of sales. Combine that with a wardrobe made up of decade-old $20 sports bras and $40 leggings, and I couldn’t bring myself to pay more than double the 2010s price for each category today. And apparel price increases aren’t slowing down anytime soon: McKinsey reports that 69% of fashion execs plan to raise prices this year (up from 58% the prior year) with a quarter of these brands planning price increases over 5%. Although there’s a lot of nuance baked into price increase decisions, it makes buying new more of a hard pass for me.

So with a successful test run of two preloved sports bras and one legging under my belt, I spent another two months favoriting more activewear on ThredUp and watching the things that I liked the most sell out, before landing on a capsule of activewear that included two matching sets, a medium blue legging (inspired by the chic blue-gray color of my friend M’s car), a navy legging, and a sports bra with the tag still attached.

Doing a price comparison of these last two activewear orders, I spent $97.02 on seven pieces of secondhand Girlfriend Collective, Onzie, and Set Active and $125.47 on two pieces of firsthand Girlfriend Collective. Not only did I spend almost $30 less and get five additional items, but my secondhand gear looks almost new.

To be totally honest, is my brand-new Connie Curved Bra and Pocket Leggings in Moon my favorite buy? Yes. Am I excited to wear my new-to-me secondhand workout gear? Also yes.

I window shopped this Girlfriend Collective sports bra so many times that they emailed me a 25% off promo code, but it’s hard to beat spending an average of $13.86 per piece on ThredUp.

Now that I feel my workout wardrobe is in a good place, my phone’s started serving me articles about the dangers of toxins in our clothing, specifically activewear. Girlfriend Collective notes that all of their core materials were tested for PFAS and their recycled fabrics are BPA-free (although this can be difficult to verify in a supply chain), and I’ll continue to shop them for synthetics. I’m researching mostly natural fibers for future activewear buys, so watch this space.

ThredUp: A Quick Guide

ThredUp has become my favorite place for preloved activewear since their assortment is so vast. While Girlfriend Collective is my preferred activewear brand, ThredUp carries preloved Lululemon, Set Active, Athleta, Nike, Adidas, Beyond Yoga, PE Nation, Alo, Sweaty Betty, Le Ore, etc.

If this has inspired you to try secondhand first, here are a few things to get you started on their website:

• Know your brands, know your size: It can be tough to nail down your sizing in compressive activewear using measurements and I’ve found that ThredUp’s can be a couple of inches off, or the waist and inseam lengths are flipped. I like to be familiar with a brand’s sizing before buying, either having worn it before or going to their website to check out fit details and customer reviews. Reddit and Substack group chats are another amazing avenue for figuring out sizing.

• Matching sets: Since ThredUp uses a standard color name (think: Blue) instead of the brand’s specific color name (think: Prism) it can be a guessing game for the actual product color. Add in the variability of computer screen color settings and you may be getting a sports bra that’s a few shades off from your leggings. I’ve had the best luck sorting by newness and looking for items in the same color sitting near each other on the product listing page, which potentially means they’re from the same bag. I also take screenshots of each item and compare them side-by-side to see if any noticeable color variations pop up. And if you do happen to get a set that doesn’t quite match like I have, then let’s enjoy seasonal tonal dressing together.

• Bundling: ThredUp offers bundling at checkout, where you can opt to have your initial order held for a week, giving you seven days to add to your box without paying additional shipping fees. This is genius since their assortment hinges on releasing unique items every day and helps save money on shipping and reduces packaging. Although it’s a double-edged sword that also promotes more consumption, I wish it was offered by more resale sites.

• New tech: ThredUp recently launched a trio of advanced search capabilities, making history for the first time that I perked up at the mention of AI. My favorite feature is image search where you can upload an image or url to find matching results instead of using text search to comb through 100s of results in the hopes of finding that one specific style you’re looking for. It’s similar to my beloved Google Images which I use constantly for secondhand shopping. While ThredUp’s image search is constrained by what’s available in their assortment and it still seems to be learning based on some of the results I’ve gotten, this is a huge win to make search faster and easier.

  • Sharing a how-to screen recording below as a quick reference. I found it helpful to further filter on category, style, and color to pull out unrelated items like tank tops and swim suits.

On a side note, over the past year I’ve noticed people in real life and on social moving away from compressive sets toward more nostalgic, looser active silhouettes.

Becky Malinsky

wrote a great deep dive into this shift, sharing styling inspiration and key element pieces that you can add into your rotation across activities. The good news is that you can find so many similar pieces secondhand (or maybe even in your closet) if you’re looking to refresh your workout wardrobe for fall.

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions or tips for shopping secondhand activewear in the comments. See you next week!