9 Ways to Have a Pre-Loved Christmas

But we have to admit, the celebrations are a little bit tainted for us. There’s no getting around it. Christmas is also a huge strain on the planet.

We spend big (often beyond our budget), we shop fast, and lots of us panic-buy without really thinking about what we’re choosing. The result? A pile of presents that feel exciting for about two days before they quietly disappear into a cupboard by mid-January (or into the bin).

The impact is enormous. According to WRAP, Brits throw away enough wrapping paper to wrap around the world multiple times, and an estimated 30% of Christmas gifts go unused. Not to mention the food that ends up in the bin (4.7 million tonnes and to the tune of around £17 billion wasted). All of this comes with a huge carbon cost, not to mention the energy and resources involved in producing, packing and shipping even more brand new items into a world that already has more than enough stuff.

Now, we can go cold turkey on Christmas, and stop giving gifts, eating great food and decorating our houses, but where’s the fun in that? So we came up with a better solution: a pre-loved Christmas.

And that means shopping pre-loved wherever you can, Whether that’s pre-loved gifts, vintage wrapping paper or hosting a secondhand swap, there’s loads of ways you can swap your spending to reduce your impact.

Even if it’s just one swap, it makes a big difference.

Curious where to start? Here are 10 simple ways to weave pre-loved magic into your festive season.

1. Make It a Family Challenge

For some of us, it can feel a little bit daunting to pitch the idea that you’ll be buying all secondhand gifts, especially with relatives who are used to everything being brand new. Our favourite way to break the taboo is to turn it into a family challenge.

If you’re the one who usually leads the gift-buying, suggest a fun rule for the season: Everyone buys at least one pre-loved present (or even better, everything pre-loved). Turn it into a friendly competition, and start with some creative ideas to get the skeptics on-board.

Top Tip: Give extra time for planning and prep. It does help to plan ahead, because pre-loved gifts tend to require a little more thought and a little less last-minute Amazon-ing. Which is a good thing, by the way.

2. Shop Pre-loved From Brands They Already Love

A foolproof way to make pre-loved gifting feel special is to choose pieces from brands the recipient already wears and loves.

If your brother has been eyeing a Finisterre fleece all autumn, but it’s a bit above budget, going pre-loved is the perfect solution. You get to give the exact item they want without the premium price tag.

Some of our favourite gifts you can find preloved on the Reskinned website right now are:

• Finisterre jackets and fleeces for hikes and adventures.
  
• Passenger cosy knits for layering up when it’s chilly.
  
• TALA active sets and hoodies for the pilates princess on your shopping list.
  
• Dryrobe® changing robes for sea swimmers, dog walkers, and cold-plungers.
  
  

Buying second-hand from known, trusted brands is one of the easiest ways to convert someone who’s “preloved-curious.” And once they see the quality, they’ll get it.

At Reskinned, everything goes through our o-zone cleansing and revitalisation process, which completely removes all odours, freshens fabrics, and helps items feel genuinely like new. It’s a far cry from rummaging through a charity shop rail, and it makes pre-loved gifting feel elevated, thoughtful, and actually gift-ready.

3. Choose Gifts That Get Used Every Day

Utility is your secret weapon for brilliant gifting. The easiest way to make pre-loved presents feel useful is to choose things people will reach for daily: beautiful, well-made pieces that add comfort, joy, or ease to their routines.

We always say, when in doubt, pick something they’re going to use. That saves it from landing in the junk pile, and worst case scenario, it can be passed onto someone else if it ends up not being quite as useful as you hoped.

Think: timeless fabrics, quality craftsmanship, and items with a story. A pre-loved piece of art, a vintage mug that becomes their morning ritual, or a classic knit they’ll wear for winters to come.

Here are 10 everyday pre-loved gift ideas to get you started:

• A chunky ceramic mug for morning coffee
• A framed vintage print or photograph (bonus points if it’s one of the two of you)
• A cashmere scarf or wool beanie
• A classic oversized knit in a neutral colour
• A canvas tote with a bit of character (add a patch or embroidery to make it extra special)
• A cookbook they’ll actually use (annotate it with little messages and tips)
• A pre-loved board game for family nights
• Ceramic cookware
• A timeless denim or leather jacket
• A piece of jewellery they’ll pass down through the generations
  
  

Everyday pieces become favourites fast, and pre-loved makes them more thoughtful, more unique, and often much higher quality than a rushed £10 new purchase from a big box shop.

4. Host a Pre-loved Book Swap Night

Peak cosy season calls for reading glasses, blankets, and something warm simmering on the stove. One of our favourite ways to bring pre-loved gifting into your Christmas rituals is by hosting a book swap night.

We all have books we’ve read and loved, and passing them on is such an underrated gift. There’s something special about saying, “This story made me think of you.” It’s intimate, thoughtful and you don’t even have to spend a penny.

Make an evening of it: Mulled wine, fairy lights, snacks, maybe a cheesy Christmas film playing in the background. Ask everyone to either bring a small stack of books they’re ready to pass on or draw names for a Secret Santa-style exchange.

By the end of the night, everyone leaves with a little pile of winter reads to keep them cosy through January.

For bonus points, wrap your books in secondhand materials, like newspaper tied with ribbon, brown parcel paper or something you’ve decorated yourself.

5.Upcycle One Gift

Time is the most meaningful thing you can give, and even if you don’t consider yourself creative, upcycling a pre-loved item turns a simple find into something thoughtful and personal.

The key is to keep it simple, sentimental, and manageable, you’re not trying to start an Etsy shop, you’re just adding a human touch.

Here are a few of our favourite ideas:

1. Sew a patch onto denim
   Find a pre-loved jacket or pair of vintage jeans and add a patch that feels like them. A band they love, a place they’ve travelled, or your favourite memory together. Even a DIY novice can do this in half an hour.
2. Embroider initials onto knitwear
   A beanie, jumper, or scarf gets instantly elevated with a monogram. It’s easy to learn (YouTube has endless tutorials) and the result feels so special and personal.
3. Dye a tote bag
   Pick up a secondhand canvas bag and dye it in a colour you know they love. Add a keychain or a hand-painted design to make it one-of-a-kind.
4. Frame a vintage textile

A quirky tea towel, an embroidered scarf, or even a delicate antique napkin can become a stunning piece of bespoke wall art. Pair it with a pre-loved frame and you’ve made something stylish in under 10 minutes.

These little touches are sentimental, sustainable, and thoughtful, aka the perfect sweet spot for a pre-loved Christmas gift.

6. Gift a Winter Adventure Kit

One brilliant way to incorporate pre-loved gifting is by creating a bundle built around a specific activity or moment. We’ve become a little bit obsessed with winter adventure kits, where you pair pre-loved pieces together for a specific activity or adventure. It’s a great way to stretch your budget and tie your gifts together with a bit of meaning.

Try combinations like:

• Fleece + beanie
• Waterproof jacket + vintage tea flask
• Swimsuit + changing robe
• Thermal baselayers + socks
  
  

Add a handwritten card saying “Cold-water swim in January?” or “Let’s go hiking after New Year,” and suddenly you’ve created a special adventure, and a memory waiting to happen.

People remember experiences far more than objects, so these kits create something future-you will actually look forward to. Thank us later.

7. Shop Pre-loved Online

Much as we love a high street charity shop hunt, Christmas crowds can turn even the most chilled vintage browse into a stress test. If time isn’t on your side, don’t get enticed by that big Amazon shop, you can still shop pre-loved online.

Platforms like Reskinned make it easy to find well-made, long-lasting labels from brands you already trust, all in one place. You know where to look, you know the quality you’re getting, and you won’t be surprised by mystery stains or lingering odours (ever).

So unless trawling charity shops is genuinely your happy place, shopping online is hands-down the easiest way to buy pre-loved gifts and keep Christmas calm, thoughtful, and stress-free.

8. Wrap the Sustainable Way

Wrapping paper is one of Christmas’s sneakiest waste culprits. In the UK, we use around 227,000 miles of wrapping paper every year, enough to stretch around the world nearly ten times. Most of it can’t be recycled, especially anything with glitter, foil, lamination, or sticky tape.

That means something we use for a matter of minutes creates a long-term plastic problem. But the good news is, there are so many beautiful, creative and guilt-free alternatives.

• Swap glitter wrap for brown kraft for a classic Christmas feel, and dress it with foraged greenery like pine cones, holly, winter twigs and berry sprigs. Tie it with natural twine for a beautiful festive look.
• Use fabric instead of paper. A pre-loved scarf, a vintage silk square, or a simple canvas tote becomes part of the gift and looks luxurious under the tree. You could even find a secondhand blanket or tablecloth and cut around any stains or tears to reuse something that would otherwise end up in the bin.
• Skip plastic tape. Most tape isn’t recyclable and stops paper from being recycled too. Try recyclable paper tape, string, or simple folding techniques instead.
• Save and reuse your wrapping. Unwrap slowly, keep anything that’s still intact, and stash it for next year. Same goes for ribbons, gift bags, and tissue paper, you’ll save money, and save the waste from the gifts you receive, so it’s a double-win.
• Wrap with what you already have. Newspaper tied with a big velvet ribbon, pages from a vintage book, old maps, sheet music, brown lunch bags decorated with everyday materials can look editorial with the right touch.
• Add a signature detail. A wax seal, a dried orange slice, or a handwritten tag feels really elevated, personal, and thoughtful.

Sustainable wrapping doesn’t need to be boring, and it can often be the complete opposite. Get yourself onto Pinterest for some inspiration, and you’ll be ready to go.

9. Gift Repair, Clean, or Revive Services

This is a seriously underrated present, especially for outdoorsy people, minimalists, or anyone who hangs onto beloved clothing long after it’s started to show wear and tear.

Instead of giving something new, gift them a second life for something they already love. We’re huge fans of Sojo who come to your door to collect your old things to be repaired.

Everyone has that pile of things they love but don’t wear because they don’t quite fit right, there’s a small hole or they just need a bit of TLC. A tailor or repair service can bring those pieces back into rotation instantly, which is worth more than something new in a lot of cases!

Boots that need cleaning or re-soling, jumpers covered in pills, or denim with fraying pockets can all be refreshed professionally. You can even DIY some things, a debobbler for knitwear is magic, but paying a specialist ensures the best results and feels like a little luxury.

Reskinned’s Pre-Loved Christmas Picks

We thought we’d save you some browsing time by sharing some of our favourite pre-loved gifting pieces that are available on the Reskinned website right now.

Dryrobe® Changing Robes

For cold water swimmers, dog walkers, surfers, and winter wild swimmers, these are a top-selling Christmas gift year after year.

Esska Party Heels

Perfect party-ready footwear that comes straight from the brand, and adds a bit of shine and sparkle to any winter look.

Finisterre Coats & Fleeces

Warm, durable, responsibly made, Finisterre is ideal for parents, siblings, or “hard to buy for” friends. They’re notoriously quick to sell out on our site, so sign up to our newsletter to get the inside scoop on when our drops are.

Passenger Sweatshirts & Hoodies

Cosy, outdoorsy, gender-neutral gifting made easy. It’s about to become their go-to.

TALA Gym Wear

Perfect for the January gym kick-start, and a great buy for teens and twenty-somethings.

Oliver Bonas Party Pieces

For that colourful personality in your life, Oliver Bonas has tonnes of fun gift-worthy knits and dresses to brighten up their winter looks.

Why Pre-loved at Christmas Works

At the end of the day, pre-loved gifting just makes sense on so many different levels. It saves money, cuts waste and usually results in better, more thoughtful presents. We’re not saying you need to overhaul your whole Christmas, but swapping out a few things, shopping a little bit smarter and picking pieces that are actually useful - it’s all going to make a big impact.

If you try even one idea from this list, you’re already making a positive difference, so pick what works, and leave what doesn’t for a calmer, cheaper and more planet-friendly Christmas.

Shop the latest Reskinned drop here.