10 Jumpers for the price of 1: How to shop for autumn/winter on a budget

_{Some items have been gifted}

Earlier this month I stood shivering in front of my wardrobe and realised that I had hardly any jumpers to keep me warm this autumn. I always enjoy getting out my baskets of winter clothing but this year, I seem to be seriously lacking in warm pieces.

It spurred me on to write about cosy ways to wear your summer wardrobe all year round, and those ideas solved my problem for the time being. However, now that I can see frost outside in the mornings, it’s definitely time for me to stock up on sweaters.

There are a few retailers that I favour based on their ethical credentials and long-lasting clothing made from quality fabrics and yarn. However, shopping for new pieces comes with a cost – and a rather hefty one at that.

So I usually wait for my birthday or Christmas to request a new item from one of my favourite stores. To give you an idea, I’ve got a jumper in my wardrobe that I received for my birthday two years ago and it’s still on the retailer’s website at the full price of £50 (my husband managed to buy it during a sale and with a voucher code, so didn’t pay that much!).

This is why, as a thrifty gal, I’m reluctant to invest in new pieces for winter, even though I need something snuggly to stay warm. And that’s where shopping secondhand comes in.

I discovered Preworn for the first time this month and it was a moment of joy. I realised I could buy multiple jumpers for less than the price of one! And I would not only be cutting the cost of my shopping but also reducing the environmental impact that new clothing has by choosing secondhand items instead.

But, importantly, I couldn’t believe the prices. Everything I was looking at seemed to be under £5 – jumpers, tops, even some dresses. The prices of larger items like coats and shoes aren’t much more, and many items are considerably less, like cami tops and tees. In fact, the highest price I paid was £5.75 for an embroidered Marks & Spencer pure cotton sweatshirt that I would usually pay over £30 for.

It was easy to shop on the site because I knew what I wanted – jumpers – so I searched by size so that only pieces I knew would fit appeared in the search results. There are other options to filter the results, such as colour, brand and style, but I wanted to see all the available options.

It’s handy to be able to search by brand because, if you already have items that fit you by that brand, the pieces you buy will be more likely to fit when they arrive. If not there’s always the option to return the items within 30 days, you just need to cover the return delivery cost yourself.

Luckily, everything I ordered fit me nicely. In the past, when I’ve tried on a £150+ order of new items from my preferred retailers, I always end up having to return something. I think I’m more sensitive to the accuracy of the fit when I’m paying ££s for the item (it must be perfect for me to spend my money!) whereas for under £5, I didn’t really mind if it was a bit oversized or a little short in the body.

Condition-wise, the items are all preowned but in good condition – you can clearly see the condition on the first image – ‘With tags’, ‘Very Good’ etc – and in the details, which also lists length and width measurements, materials, neckline, style and so on – way more information than you’d find from a high street retailer.

Although it seems excessive to order 10 jumpers at once, that’s exactly how many I managed to buy for less than the cost of one brand-new jumper. I also got a cardi and a denim shirt dress on my order – the total of the 12 items came to just over £45 after I used my new customer 25% off discount code SAVE25 and got free delivery.

This one clothing haul from Preworn has completely refreshed my wardrobe for autumn/winter with lots of stars, sequins, embroidery and pops of colour. And, importantly, I’m no longer feeling cold in my office, I’m wearing my embroidered Dorothy Perkins ‘Love’ sweatshirt (whose slogan sweatshirts are usually £20-30 each) and am staying snug.

One thing to note when shopping with Preworn: it’s usually one-off items and therefore it’s first-come-first-served in terms of buying, so you might find that you add some items to your basket but, when you get to the checkout, it’s already been bought by another customer. So, if you see something you really want – buy it quickly!

Also, the images aren’t always clear because they’re not displayed on models and are just laid flat, sometimes looking a little crumpled. But I’m pleased to report that, when my items arrived, they all looked much neater in real life and smelled freshly laundered.

I’m definitely going to shop with Preworn again when I need something new-to-me and my husband is already looking for his own winter jumpers on the site too. Let me know if you bag any bargains from Preworn in the comments below.

Pin it for later

Some items in this blog post have been gifted to me and the pink links indicate a gifted product, affiliate link or information source. All thoughts and opinions in this post are based on my own experience and I am not responsible for your experience 🙂