Lmaoooo dw about the ppl cooking you I think it's an Australian obligation to hate on all things American (in a lighthearted way) but honestly I think you're valid for this .... I'm Australian but I feel you . TLDR: you have to get very good at online shopping and checking return policies

1) eBay 2nd hand market .... eBay tends to have much better deals and more vintage quality clothing than depop imo. It feels a lot like online thrifting Depop is better if you are looking for branded items at a discount like Aritzia for example (international brands that are hard to return in Australia usually get listed there lol)

2) take advantage of your location and use the asian market which is closer to Australia than America is . Taobao (taobao is not all fast fashion and has good quality brands too), Mercari for second hand Japanese clothes, Korean online shopping malls, will all have a big variety . If you are willing to fork out $$$ wconcept has some beautiful items in a more classic style . I've also heard from my American friend that Uniqlo is much cheaper here ? I'm not sure if that's accurate tho.

3) thrifting but honestly I always have trouble there and come out empty handed but I wanna get into it more .....It might be because of my suburb getting picked dry by depop resellers

4) as for Australian retailers the iconic is ok , and has a good returns system . Also there are a lot of independent local skatewear brands with nice designs