Women's Fashion
Buy and sell women’s fashion in Costa Rica.
A used dress that fits everywhere except the length is a better find than it looks, because taking up a hem is one of the cheapest jobs a neighbourhood seamstress does. Women’s clothes and shoes, bags and jewelry change hands here, new with tags or already worn. The pieces that have to fit a body or a foot reward a careful look at the shoulders, the bust and the inside length; bags and jewelry can be judged from good photos. Knowing which faults a costurera, a zapatero or a jeweller can put right, and which nobody can, is what separates a bargain from a piece that never leaves the wardrobe.
Women’s fashion split by what has to fit:
clothing and sportswear have to fit a body, shoes a foot, and bags and accessories nothing at all, which changes how you buy each one. Women’s clothing, from blouses to dresses, is the branch where a near miss can still be saved with a needle. Women’s sportswear is cut close to the body in stretch fabric and is harder to alter neatly, so buy it in the size that fits. Women’s shoes fit the foot or they do not. Women’s bags and women’s accessories can be bought from a photo, so condition and authenticity count for more there than size.
Trousers, skirts and dresses a costurera can save:
buy for the part that cannot change and let the rest be fixed. Shoulders, bust and the rise of a pair of trousers are close to impossible to move, so they decide whether a piece is worth taking home. Length and waist are the easy part. Taking up a hem or taking in a waist is routine work, and a plain hem on a pair of trousers costs a few thousand colones. Going the other way depends on what is hidden inside. A skirt can only be let down by as much fabric as is folded into the hem, and a waist let out only by the seam allowance, which cheaper pieces barely have. Lined dresses, lace edges and anything beaded cost several times a simple hem, and on a low-priced dress the alteration can come to more than the dress did.
Heel tips, rings and bag straps:
the same rule runs through the rest of the wardrobe. A zapatero replaces worn heel tips for little and can stretch a shoe slightly across the width, but nobody can make a shoe longer, so a pair half a size small stays half a size small. A plain gold or silver band from women’s jewelry can be sized up or down by a jeweller; a ring set with stones all the way round cannot. On a bag, a strap, a chain or a clasp can be replaced, while a torn lining or a zip sewn into the body is a bigger job than most bags are worth.
A let-down hem and other signs of an earlier alteration:
a piece that has already been altered no longer matches its label. A hem that was let down leaves a pale line or a crease where the old fold sat, and it rarely presses out. Shortened jeans usually show a different stitch at the hem from the factory one. Trousers taken in at the back seam pucker at the top of it. Turn a dress inside out and look at the seams: if the allowance has been trimmed close to the stitching, it has been taken in and cannot go back. None of this rules a piece out, but it means the measurements matter and the size on the tag does not.
Hem lengths, heel heights and the photos a buyer needs:
say what has been done to a piece, because the buyer will find it the moment she turns it inside out. If trousers or a long dress were taken up, say for which shoes: a pair hemmed to be worn with heels drags on the floor in flats, and one hemmed for flats looks short in heels. Give the height of the person it was altered for. Measure the waist and the length with the garment laid flat rather than trusting the label, photograph the inside of the hem and the seams in daylight, and show the heel tips of shoes from behind. Someone coming from San Ramón or Limón to try on a dress will want to know about the length and any alterations before getting on the bus, and an answer already in the listing is what makes the trip worth it.