Women's Clothing

Women’s clothing, garment by garment:

each piece is won or lost on a different measurement. A dress or a skirt comes down to waist and length, and a wedding dress has usually been taken in for its first bride, so ask what was altered. Blouses and tops hang from the shoulders, which makes the width from armpit to armpit the one to ask for. Jeans depend more on rise and stretch than on the waist size printed inside. Maternity wear is worn for a few months and often comes back nearly new, and swimwear is only as good as its elastic. Leggings and gym tops have their own rail under women’s sportswear.

Juniors, misses and app sizes on one rail:

one woman can need a different number on every label. American brands split their sizing in two: odd numbers are juniors, cut straighter with less room at the hip and bust, and even numbers are misses, the women’s cut that Tommy Hilfiger or Calvin Klein use. Letter sizes from Asian fast-fashion apps tend to come up a size or more small. That mismatch is behind much of the clothing resold in Panama with the tag still attached: a dress ordered from a US website and shipped in through a mail-forwarding service arrives tight, and sending it back costs more than the dress is worth. Lay a piece that fits you well on a bed, measure it across the chest, waist and hip, plus length, rise and inseam on trousers, and compare those measurements with the listing rather than with the label.

American clothing by the bale, and the labels that sell above it:

a dress or blouse from a mall label costs around $35 to $65 new in Panama. Underneath that sits imported American clothing, pressed into bales and sold by weight to resellers, who open each bale and price most pieces at $2 to $5. Some bales hold new fast fashion still sealed in its bags, so a tag on a cheap label does little for the price. That bale is what an ordinary preloved top or dress is up against, however good it looks. A piece climbs clear of it when the label costs real money new, the cut is still being worn and the stress points show no wear.

A preloved dress held up to the window:

daylight through the fabric shows thinning at the seat, the elbows and the underarms long before a photo does. Check the underarms for yellowing, and the side where a handbag rubs for pilling. Dark trousers and skirts go shiny where they were ironed too hot, and that shine rarely comes out completely. Anything with elastane, jeans included, loses its stretch before it looks worn: pull the waistband gently and it should spring back rather than stay rippled. On a branded piece, compare the embroidered logo, the stitching and the inside labels with the brand’s own photos, because copies of labels like Tommy Hilfiger tend to get the logo slightly wrong and cut corners on the care tags inside.

A closet clear-out, sorted by size:

lots grouped by size move faster than a mixed pile, because a woman looking for an M wants to see only Ms. Give flat measurements for every piece, photograph the brand, size and care labels, and say plainly whether it is new with tag, worn a few times or well used. Name stains, pulled threads, a replaced zip or a smell of smoke or perfume before the buyer finds them. If something came through a mail-forwarding service and never fit, say so and give the size you ordered; it explains the tag. Most buyers will want to hold a piece against themselves before paying, and a car park in La Chorrera has no fitting room, so suggest they bring a tape measure and something of their own that fits.