Thank you, Boston men: the Financial District 9-5ers, the eternally pink-cheeked bike messengers, the hopeful job seekers, the baby-faced college students, the “sacrifice regular haircuts for beer” dudes. Without you, this Lady Barber would never have developed the vocabulary and the style of communicating that takes what you say and allows me to translate it to the top of your head.

Unfortunately, not all barbers will be so astute. Here are a few tips to help you help them give you what you want.

Boston-based thredUP is one company aimed at dispelling any fears one might have about clothing swaps, while helping the shopping obsessed freshen up their closet without blowing the bank.

This week marks the start of the electronic music festival, Together, here in Boston. The weeklong celebration is not only about the music, but features related lectures, art, dance, technology, fashion, and other innovations that are inspired by Boston’s electronic music scene. On Feb. 14, the final day of the festival, The Get Together: Record Expo, Trade Fair and Remix Fashion Show will be held at the lovely, converted church, Villa Victoria Center for the Arts in the South End. This event mixes vinyl vendors, product demos, fashion designers, and vintage clothing dealers, but the pièce de résistance of the event is the fashion show, beginning at 4 p.m. sharp. The fashion show will feature original fashion by The Void Above, and styling from Deconize and Carrigan dB.

In these tight economic times, the fashion world has become saturated with mass-produced clothing. The allure of trendy, ripped from the runway looks from H+M, Target, Forever21, and Topshop (just to name a few) may seem like a great idea because they are cheap and cute, but the truth is that they are doing more to hurt the environment and your wallet than you might think. As an alternative, one can turn to used clothing shopping as a way to add fun and inexpensive items to a wardrobe, without worrying that everyone else at the party will be wearing the same ensemble.

After twelve years in the business, Poor Little Rich Girl’s Meredith Byam knows her consignment. She’d been learning the ropes for years at Second Time Around when her parents pressed her to get her own shop. Surprised that she hadn’t thought of it herself, she did just that—taking over the space in Davis Square now occupied by Magpie, with not even enough money to make change on the first day. After three years, her fledgling flagship shop had outgrown the small store and Meredith moved it to the larger location on Elm Street. Soon, she was able to open up a store on Newbury Street and, most recently, near Inman Square in Cambridge.

A South Shore native, Ashley Judge grew up perusing discount chains like Marshalls and Frugal Fannies with her mom and grandmother. “One of my grandmother’s favorite stories,” she says, “Was that she returned a raincoat to TJ Maxx after she’d already hemmed it. The next week she watched a woman and rave that it was the only coat she had ever tried on that was the right length. She was a hot ticket.” Skip ahead a couple generations, and we’ve got Ashley hooking people up with what they want—her company, Tra Tutti, gives bargain hunters a place to score designer pieces at a discount and consignors a place to sell their goods, all the while benefitting local charities. Consignors receive 40% of the profit, another 40% goes to Tra Tutti and the last 20% of all sales goes to AIDS Action, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay, Dress for Success Boston, The Home for Little Wanderers, MSPCA-Angell, and Rosie’s Place.

City-wide, thrift junkies are abuzz over the opening of the latest Buffalo Exchange in Davis Sq. The Somerville store is the first New England location for the national consignment heavyweight and the chain’s reputation of quality, stylish pieces at discounted prices holds up well in the two-story Elm St. outpost.