London Good Consignment
 

Are there any second hand shoppers out there?What is your fav consignment store in London?I am looking fo very good quality clothes doesn't have to have big names. Thanks

Most 2nd hand clothing ends u at charity shops - the Chelsea & South Kensington areas used to be very good for decent quality stuff,

Unsold new clothing (of varying quality) can be found at TK Maxx

Consignment stores are very rare in the UK. Try Oxfam or the Cancer charity shops. As previous poster mentioned the more upscale the area the more upscale the donations.

TK Maxx is the same as TJ Maxx in the US.

We don't call them consignment shops. We call them dress agencies, and they're mostly in suburban shopping parades, though there are a few in central London.

THere is a bit of a hierarchy in this. From the bottom up, it goes:
- clothes you just don't want go to Oxfam etc. Loads of them all over the place: there's a store finder at www.charityshops.org.uk
- clothes you think someone might like often go to specific, mildly quirky, local charities. THe Notting Hill Housing Trust seems to have particularly interesting clothes
- clothes that were so expensive you really think you'll get some money for them go to dress agencies, which almost all have the kind of cringe-worthy names ("Change of A'Dress") you'd expect in a Californian coffee house. No-one I know these days forks out the money for clothes inm that bracket anyway, so you need to google on dress agencies

PS: All my nieces and god-daughters agree they wouldn't dream of buying clothes from Oxfams or Help the Ageds in really upmarket postcodes: "where Filipina nannies buy stuff even Midwestern bankers' wives won't be seen dead in" said one. "She'd do better in Primark"

You want charity shops in edgier areas - Brixton or Islington - for stuff that doesn't look as if it was bought in an Ann Taylor sale.

You might want to check:
Pandora, 16-22 Cheval Pl., SW7
Sheila Cook, 184 Westbourne Grove, W11
Steinberg& Tlkien, 193 Kings Rd, SW3
Virginia, 98 Portland, Rd, W11

Also try the street markets which are worth the experience even if you don't find the bargain you seek.

Wow...Thanks for the info...I am not into old clothes..or clothes that look used...just really good quality and classic styles.I will try dress agencies. Thanks so much for the advice..and keep it coming, Kelly

Vintage is the big thing over here.

'Steinberg and Tolkein' on Kings Road has a good mix of top designer (Ozzie Clarke, Pucci etc) and cheap-and-cheerful Hong Kong knock-offs from the 60's. Downstairs, stuff is sorted by colour or era to make browsing less hit-and-miss.

Upstairs there's loads of interesting costume jewellery, bags, perfume bottles etc.

The 2nd bit of Greys Antique market (Bond St Tube) has some amazing clothes shops with old kimonos, lingerie, beaded flapper dresses, Twiggy-style mini's. Check opening times though because (weirdly for a covered market) it's not usually open on Saturdays.

Pandora's is really something. I actually saw a liveried chauffer deliving a box of clothes there. VERY high end, quality things with prices to match. Fun to look through though. There's another shop like it on the same street, or there was.