Last week, I briefly mentioned buying Trashy Diva dresses on a budget. This week, I’m doing a whole post on how to find and buy second-hand and less costly items from this very boob-friendly brand.
First up, the original retail prices. Most TD dresses in rayon or cotton hover around $165, with separates coming in around slightly above half that. Stretch rayon items cost a little more (presumably the fabric is more expensive at wholesale), running about $185 for a dress and again slightly more than half that for separates. Naturally, prices vary depending on how much fabric a garment requires.
Trashy Diva shoppers who want the security of buying from a reputable retailer with the option for returns can stick to Trashy Diva and other conventional online retailers. On the TD site, start out with the sale section, which gets updated every couple months. Keep in mind that discounts of 50% or more are final sale.
TD also has the occasional coupon for 50% off all sale items, or a percent off a specific non-sale print. Sign up for their email newsletter and/or become a fan on Facebook to be notified whenever there is a coupon.
Another way to save a little cash is to buy new from other retailers that have free shipping. TD always offers free shipping on purchases of at least $200 with the code VINTAGE (though keep in mind you can’t combine coupon codes), but there are other stockists who offer free shipping at lower rates, such as Viva Charm City, which has free shipping at $100, no code needed.
Those other stockists also have the occasional sale on TD items, so I’d suggest signing up for their newsletters as well. For example, Viva Charm City currently has a site-wide sale (including on top of already discounted sale prices) with discounts of 20-30% off that show up when you add items to your cart, no code needed (the discounts will be active through midnight March 26). Visit http://www.trashydiva.com/about-us/store-locations to see a list of boutiques and online retailers that stock TD.
My next source for purchasing discount Trashy Diva is eBay. In addition to random people selling on there, TD has their own eBay account for selling final stock and slightly damaged items, under the name “www.trashydiva.”
I like to use eBay not only to buy, but also to keep an eye on prices that some of the older designs are going for, in case I ever want to sell one of mine. As such, I have a “Followed Search” for Trashy Diva saved, and I receive an email once a day when new TD items have been listed. My search is specific to the category of women’s clothing and shoes. You can also choose to limit it to a specific size or garment type (shirt, skirt, dress, etc). I avoid selecting those features, though, because I can sometimes size up or down in certain designs, or I can alter things to fit me. If there’s a print you desperately want, you may have to fudge the size a little, especially if it’s several years old or more.
EBay is also an excellent resource to give you an idea of what price you can expect to pay for rarer designs. For example, some of the most popular retired prints include French Quarter, Pearl Harbor, and Sci-Fi Rockets, which often go for $300 – $400 at auction. If you are on a Trashy Diva budget, then don’t expect to buy these!
Another source for buying used TD dresses is smartphone apps such as Poshmark, Vinted, and Mercari. You can save the brand to your favorites on these apps, but they don’t notify you when new items are listed, so you have to manually check them often because TD pieces tend to sell fast. As such, I use these apps much less than other sources.
My final resource for discounted Trashy Diva is also the one I use most and is my favorite—the Facebook fan group “Desperately Seeking Trashy Diva.” This group is made up of over 4,000 rabid fans selling, swapping, and discussing nothing but Trashy Diva. Not only is it great for buying and selling, it’s also a surprisingly close-knit community, with many members organizing meet-ups in their respective cities. In fact, the group has become so supportive of the brand that members of the Trashy Diva team sometimes pop in to announce events early, or to share news, contests, calls for photos, and the like.
Desperately Seeking Trashy Diva (or DSTD) is a closed group, so if you want to join, you need to search for it on Facebook and request membership. The ladies there are a wealth of information, and can answer literally any question about the brand, its print, the fit of a specific garment, etc.
So now that you know where to buy discounted TD, how do you know what to look for? And once you’ve fallen in love with an old style or print, how do you know what size to seek out? Well you’re in luck! One of the DSTD members compiled photos of every single TD garment ever made, at allthetrashydiva.tumblr.com. It even links to each item’s original online listing through internet archiving service The Wayback Machine, so you can find the original size chart.
I’ve personally snagged slightly damaged Trashy Diva for as little as $26, and years-old dresses with tags still attached for $100, so there are definitely bargains to be had if you keep an eye out and pounce when you find the right piece!
