A number of new startups bring convenience to the second hand fashion world.

When it comes down to it, the best thing you can do for the environment is not buy new clothes. A satisfying second best for those not quite ready for minimalist fashion – and I don’t mean the monochromatic simplicity seen at the recent pre-fall collections – is buying second hand clothing.

A growing number of new startups such as Poshmark, Threadflip, The RealReal, Copius, Tradesy and Twice are targeting online shoppers to buy and sell used clothing from their own closets. P2P. Buying green fashion that fits your style has never been more fun or easy.

According to Lorraine Sanders founder of Digital Style Digest, a blog devoted to the intersection of fashion and technology, the trend marks the second coming of the used goods marketplace. “Ebay and Craigslist certainly are its predecessors. But they haven’t done anything innovative in a decade, and Ebay is now moving away from auction-style buying experiences and towards fixed-price sales.”

This sudden growth and focus on the used clothing space is fueled by a confluence of factors: the cultural phenomenon of sharing your personal style through fashion blogs and the increased popularity of fashion bloggers; the mainstream adoption of transparent social media identities, like Twitter handles and Facebook pages, creating a certain amount of visibility and trust between buyers and sellers in the market; and the widespread ability to take quality photographs with mobile phones. As Sanders notes, “It was only a matter of time before someone figured how to make money out of it.”

With its tradition of innovating around sustainability, it’s not surprising that many of the new companies are based in the San Francisco Bay area. But the eco play of moving multitudes of unused items from the average woman’s closet is not their main message. Instead, it’s the technology behind the creation of these peer-to-peer (p2p) marketplaces and the potential for more collaborative economies and business models that’s getting investors to sit up and take notice.

In contrast to the traditional consignment store’s impersonal image, the real-time social experience features squarely in the center of the new site’s product offering, with each handling the theme of making selling more social in slightly different ways. Threadflip spotlights one-of-a-kind items from the personal collections of its Style Stars, allowing you access to your favorite tastemaker. Poshmark has made its mark throwing Posh Parties thrown around specific themes such as “Back to Basics” and “Jet Set Glamour.” Sanders says, “Users are not just there just to buy, they comment on pieces, each others’ outfits, tweeting – having fun in that social way.”

For many women looking for an easier alternative to sustainable second hand shopping, the sticking point may be the prices. This is not the same as shopping thrift; you won’t see the dollar deals that you’d find at your local Goodwill. Twice – The Clothes You Love, Prices You Can Afford – a company that was originally launched as an online version of Crossroads and Buffalo Exchange quickly implemented the standard brand list limiting viable sales to well known brand names.

And unfortunately, it doesn’t solve the problem of what most people across America have in their wardrobes, which is clothing from Target, H&M and Forever 21. If you want to get a sense of the prices you can charge, Twice has a calculator that will calculate what you can realistically expect to buy and sell for. On the other end of the scale, The RealReal currently has a Hermès Lizard Birkin Bag on sale for $18,500. Clearly, saving money is not the value proposition here. The allure is owning something you can’t find in stores, something fundamentally untrendy.

Moving away from trends has ironically been the most significant fashion trend happening over the last decade. “People have more freedom to set themselves apart and dress in ways you wouldn’t find hanging in a store,” says Sanders. And while that concept might seem very normal to us now, “if you look back 10 years you can see how different it is and how major a shift has actually taken place in fashion.”

Image: thirdwavefashion.com

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Easy-to-find vintage trends are everywhere, you just have to know where to look.

Thrifting for new wardrobe looks often comes down to going with a gut reaction. Perhaps more so than in mainstream stores and boutiques where marketing and merchandising is working its magic on your decision making abilities. In a vintage or thrift store, all that’s separating you from some new clothes is in a blink of the eye. You see something that instinctively appeals to you; maybe it’s a color you like or the fit of the shoulder or a memory of something your Grandmother used to wear.

I’d be the last person to say shopping decisions made cautiously and deliberately are better than those made quickly and instinctively, but in these days of fashion designers getting plundered freely, it helps to have a sense of what past fashions are being reconstituted in this moment. Here are five items that can be found in abundance in vintage and thrift stores and – luckily for you and the planet – are making a comeback in this season’s and spring’s 2012 styles.

Cameo’s – First seen on Dolce & Gabana’s and Bottega Veneta’s fall runways, the delicately carved cameos and intaliagos have been seen accessorizing fashion’s chicest protagonists (above) as earrings, pendants or rings – adding a dose of yesteryear romance to spring looks.

Southwestern Prints – Pendleton’s Portland collection has been the hit of the season, but they’ve been producing their legendary Native American inspired prints for more than a century, making vintage versions super easy to come by on eBay and etsy.

Sheer Maxi dresses & Skirts – The see-through trend really caught on this year, just bite me if you don’t spot one or two at this year’s office Christmas party swaying seductively off that young hip account exec. Double up on fall’s feeling for lace by thrifting a lace skirt – habitual holdover’s from the 70’s & 80’s – you can easily chop the lining at mid thigh revealing the lace outer lay for a similar effect.

Tartan Flannel Shirts – For any of us who were around for 90’s grunge the first time around, we’re all in for a familiar fashion blast from the past with flannel shirts. They’re back and worn exactly the same (minus the great music) with faded denim and combat boots. Fashion is always a predictable indicator of culture and this moment in time, revisiting the era of Reality Bites suddenly starts to make a lot of sense.

Leather Skirts – Here’s an outfit idea. Balance this season’s ladylike and preppy style with some tough girl edge by opting for a thrifted, tailored leather skirt. Key pieces in many designer’s fall collections, they were last on trend in the 80’s and early 90’s making many victim to closet clear outs, thus ending up in second hand clothing stores – and out into your stylish hands –  by the dozen.

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