expensive hand-me-downs

Most everyone is probably familiar with hand-me-downs. If you had older siblings, especially of the same gender, you probably got clothes that they used to wear when they were your age. Girls could probably wear some boys stuff, but I'm thinking in general, boys didn't wear girls stuff. It's also fairly common in cases of babies and other little ones to get clothes from other than siblings. A baby's mother might be good friends with someone whose child is growing out of clothes and passing those clothes along. Generally, people don't pass along dirty or stained or worn-out things, but they're still used.

But what if the used item is fairly expensive? Let's say someone passes along, oh, I don't know, a $2,000 purse? Or maybe an expensive jacket. Or an expensive piece of jewelry. Or something else that's fairly expensive. It's just not something they're using anymore, so they're still passing it along. Is that still called a hand-me-down? I just think of hand-me-downs as being fairly inexpensive stuff. I'd have trouble calling a $500 leather jacket a "hand-me-down". And it's not an inheritance, per se. So what's the word to use?

Cars are no longer "used". They're now "pre-owned". Hmmm, wonder why they don't use the term "pre-driven". Doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it? (OK, tangent here - I heard this in the last couple years - if a woman gets married for a second time, she's not on her second husband or having a second wedding - she's an "encore bride". Umm, yeah, ok, whatever floats your boat. But I digress...) So are clothes "pre-owned" as well? "Pre-worn" just sounds icky.

Of course, a fairly good business of "vintage" stores have cropped up on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles where they sell clothes that other people don't want any more. They're in decent condition, and they're much cheaper than if you bought it new. So, ok, maybe vintage works for clothes, but I'm still looking for that elusive word that means "expensive hand-me-down".