adventures in consignment- part 1

Well, readers, I decided it was time to expand my fashion horizons and start touring some local consignment stores.

My best visit was to a store that got good reviews on Yelp (4/5 stars): Trends in Oak Park, IL

The store was very spacious, airy, clean, and the clothes were in excellent condition.  In fact, some of the clothes still had tags on them (i.e. never worn).

Exhibit A (from a dress I purchased):

 

Side note: I definitely did not pay $168- this was the tag from when the dress was on sale in a retail store! Stay tuned to see the dress in my next posting!

A ‘designer section’ had brands such as Burberry, Prada, Hermes, and Kate Spade. Umm, yes please.   Even the designer section was well priced, with most pieces around $50 or less. When I asked about how they decide on what clothes they will accept, the salesperson let me know that they accepted clothing from stores such as Ann Taylor and up. Even in the non-designer section, there were skirts and dresses that had prices of $200+ in retail stores. Most of the dresses and skirts were around $20 or less and the prices went down dependent upon how long the piece had been in the store.

Here’s how the tags looked based on how long the item had been in the store:

I have to tell you, I was totally into it. I am so glad I tried something new! My sister wants to tell you, readers, that this is not for everyone. I get it, especially after the first shop I went into that made me want to run in the opposite direction.  When I did an informal poll among friends, the consensus was generally that it is a good way to get affordable high-quality couture.  However, do some research of your own and then decide! The most important thing is to have fun (cheesy…but true)!

Sneak peek at my finds:

Check back for full posts of the pieces!

Fashion Huntress tips:

1) If you are interested in consigning any of your clothes, here is some information on how you can:

http://trendsoakpark.wordpress.com/make-money-honey/

http://www.ehow.com/how_17969_sell-clothes-consignment.html

Consigning could be a good way to get more bang for your buck by getting rid of anything you do not wear anymore; let someone else enjoy it and then you can find something else for yourself!

2)  I used yelp.com to research stores in my area before I visited them.  I highly recommend reading some reviews of local stores before visiting. I went into one consignment store that I did not see on yelp, and was unpleasantly surprised to find a cramped space of outdated clothes…none of which seemed particularly clean or in good condition. Ick! All in the name of research though!