Second Hand & Thrift Stores in NYC
Feb 23rd, 2000 | 10:20 AM
#3
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Posts: n/a
You might want to try the Spence Thrift Shop on the Upper East Side. A lot of the tony private schools seem to have these kinds of shops. If you're looking for designer clothes, these are the best cause they're the "used" clothes of wealthy New Yorkers. Also, there is a place on East 60th near 2nd, but I don't remember the name
Feb 23rd, 2000 | 01:39 PM
#5
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Posts: n/a
Coincidentally, the Washington Post just had an article on this on Feb. 13. I am pasting the article its entirety below, including a list of stores and addresses at the end, copied directly from its website (the formatting may get a bit messed up -- you can read a clean copy at www.washingtonpost.com):
Chanel Surfing
In New York, Getting First Dibs on Seconds
By Carol X. Vinzant
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, February 13, 2000; Page E01
Shopping in New York City can be intimidating and expensive. You always
have the feeling that you're being cheated or, at the very least, that some
insider somewhere is getting a better deal than you.
And usually you're right. When it comes to getting designer clothing cheap,
New Yorkers in the know don't just wait for a sale at Saks. And they
certainly don't read the ads in those loser tourist giveaway magazines in your
hotel room. They head to the Upper East Side, where they buy their designer
clothes at a cluster of high-end used-clothing stores known mostly to people
who live in New York.
New York, of course, has a restaurant-supply district, a garment district, a
Korean restaurant district, an Orthodox Jewish district and even a
neighborhood that sells lighting. The Upper East Side, in addition to its claim
to fame as home to serious museums and legions of residents who appear to
have been the inspiration for pre-Tina Brown New Yorker cartoons, has
become the neighborhood of consignment shops.
Sure, other neighborhoods may have a few, but the Upper East Side has an
advantage. It's where, to digress into business argot, the "suppliers" live. It's
the neighborhood of choice of women (and a few men) wealthy enough and
foolish enough to buy really expensive clothes and then tire of them when
they are still in really good shape. They drop the goods off at a consignment
shop, and a thriving marketplace is born.
(Rumor has it that Jackie Kennedy Onassis used to unload her treasures
here. No one is sure if that's true, but it's certainly consistent with her
affection for resale that was later revealed in the posthumous auction of her
belongings at Sotheby's. Unfortunately for consignment shoppers, the
provenance of the merchandise remains a mystery.)
If Jackie was a seller, she would have received the usual 50 percent of the
ticket price that all sellers get after an item sells. To keep the merchandise
moving, the stores continually mark down items the longer they sit on the
rack.
Mixed in with the consignment shops, which take only high-end merchandise,
are competing thrift stores. They have the same suppliers, but since the
proceeds go to charity they tend to get the stuff that isn't as desirable.
The consignment shops are small and usually hard to find, tucked away on
the second floor to save rent and, maybe, hide from tourists like you.
Shopping in some is an athletic event: There's a communal dressing room,
which sometimes has a special sales rack from which women can pick out
even more things to try on under harsh fluorescent light in front of strangers.
That's why wise women wear nylons, slip-on shoes and loose clothing for
fast disrobing.
Other stores are more gentle to their customers. La Boutique Resale lets
customers put in special requests and calls them if the coveted item arrives.
Didn't bring a friend with you? That's okay; manager Bobbie Lessner will tell
you honestly whether your butt looks big. "I have a great time with my
ladies," she says. Some come in regularly just to chat. "We have millionaires,
doctors, lawyers. All types shop here," says owner Jonathan Tse.
"I don't shop retail anymore. Why should I?" says veteran shopper Eve
Seligson, who could easily afford to shop anywhere but is such a firm
believer in the consignment shops that she bought her wedding dress at one.
She recently showed two friends the ropes. "It took me a long time to get
used to the idea of buying somebody else's shoes," she admits. "But a lot of
them have never even been worn. You can tell by looking at the sole."
Every store devotes a small section to Chanel, as if every woman in
America aspires to own the dainty, often bejeweled suits, which sell at retail
for $2,400 to $4,000. The Chanels (chained to the rack) here sell in the
$400-to-$800 range. So Seligson's friend and future sister-in-law, Sherri
Ben-Morits, has achieved a shopping triumph when she bags an attractive
peach Chanel suit for only $200.
"If I had gone in there looking for a Chanel suit, I'm sure I wouldn't have
found it," Ben-Morits says, absorbing the wisdom of the consignment
shopper. "You have to learn to be more . . . flexible."
Carol X. Vinzant, a writer for Fortune magazine, lives in New York City.
New York Consignment shops
A selection of used-clothing stores on the Upper East Side and other areas
Upper East Side
La Boutique Resale, 1045 Madison Ave. (near 80th Street), Second Floor,
212-517-8099; More middle range, but some couture
Designer Resale, 324 E. 81st St. (between First and Second avenues),
212-734-3639; More middle range, but some couture
Second Chance, 1109 Lexington Ave. (between 77th and 78th streets),
Second Floor, 212-744-6041; More middle range, but some couture
Bis, 1134 Madison Ave. (between 84th and 85th streets), Second Floor,
212-396-2760; New merchandise; top designers; quick turnover
Cancer Care, 1480 Third Ave. (between 83rd and 84th streets),
212-879-9868; Thrift; varied selection; not always cleaned
Council Thrift Shop, 246 E. 84th St. (between Second and Third avenues),
212-439-8373; Thrift; varied selection; not always cleaned
Spence Chapin, 1473 Third Ave. (between 83rd and 84th streets),
212-737-8448; Thrift; varied selection; not always cleaned
Michael's Resale, 1041 Madison Ave. (between 79th and 80th streets),
Second Floor, 212-737-7273; New merchandise; top designers; quick
turnover
Midtown
Kavanaugh's, 146 E. 49th St. (between Third St. and Lexington Ave.),
212-702-0152 (specializes in Chanel); New merchandise; top designers;
quick turnover
Keni Valenti Retro-Couture, 247 W. 30th St. (between Seventh and Eight
avenues), Fifth Floor, 212-967-7147 (by appointment only, due to their
celebrity clientele); New merchandise; top designers; quick turnover
Downtown
New & Almost New, 65 Mercer St. (between Spring and Broome streets),
212-226-6677; More middle range, but some couture
Tokio7, 64 E. Seventh St. (between First and Second streets), 212-353-8443;
New merchandise; top designers; quick turnover
What Comes Around Goes Around, 351 W. Broadway (between Broome
and Grant streets), 212-343-9303; Thrift; varied selection; not always
cleaned
© Copyright 2000 The Washington Post Company
Chanel Surfing
In New York, Getting First Dibs on Seconds
By Carol X. Vinzant
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, February 13, 2000; Page E01
Shopping in New York City can be intimidating and expensive. You always
have the feeling that you're being cheated or, at the very least, that some
insider somewhere is getting a better deal than you.
And usually you're right. When it comes to getting designer clothing cheap,
New Yorkers in the know don't just wait for a sale at Saks. And they
certainly don't read the ads in those loser tourist giveaway magazines in your
hotel room. They head to the Upper East Side, where they buy their designer
clothes at a cluster of high-end used-clothing stores known mostly to people
who live in New York.
New York, of course, has a restaurant-supply district, a garment district, a
Korean restaurant district, an Orthodox Jewish district and even a
neighborhood that sells lighting. The Upper East Side, in addition to its claim
to fame as home to serious museums and legions of residents who appear to
have been the inspiration for pre-Tina Brown New Yorker cartoons, has
become the neighborhood of consignment shops.
Sure, other neighborhoods may have a few, but the Upper East Side has an
advantage. It's where, to digress into business argot, the "suppliers" live. It's
the neighborhood of choice of women (and a few men) wealthy enough and
foolish enough to buy really expensive clothes and then tire of them when
they are still in really good shape. They drop the goods off at a consignment
shop, and a thriving marketplace is born.
(Rumor has it that Jackie Kennedy Onassis used to unload her treasures
here. No one is sure if that's true, but it's certainly consistent with her
affection for resale that was later revealed in the posthumous auction of her
belongings at Sotheby's. Unfortunately for consignment shoppers, the
provenance of the merchandise remains a mystery.)
If Jackie was a seller, she would have received the usual 50 percent of the
ticket price that all sellers get after an item sells. To keep the merchandise
moving, the stores continually mark down items the longer they sit on the
rack.
Mixed in with the consignment shops, which take only high-end merchandise,
are competing thrift stores. They have the same suppliers, but since the
proceeds go to charity they tend to get the stuff that isn't as desirable.
The consignment shops are small and usually hard to find, tucked away on
the second floor to save rent and, maybe, hide from tourists like you.
Shopping in some is an athletic event: There's a communal dressing room,
which sometimes has a special sales rack from which women can pick out
even more things to try on under harsh fluorescent light in front of strangers.
That's why wise women wear nylons, slip-on shoes and loose clothing for
fast disrobing.
Other stores are more gentle to their customers. La Boutique Resale lets
customers put in special requests and calls them if the coveted item arrives.
Didn't bring a friend with you? That's okay; manager Bobbie Lessner will tell
you honestly whether your butt looks big. "I have a great time with my
ladies," she says. Some come in regularly just to chat. "We have millionaires,
doctors, lawyers. All types shop here," says owner Jonathan Tse.
"I don't shop retail anymore. Why should I?" says veteran shopper Eve
Seligson, who could easily afford to shop anywhere but is such a firm
believer in the consignment shops that she bought her wedding dress at one.
She recently showed two friends the ropes. "It took me a long time to get
used to the idea of buying somebody else's shoes," she admits. "But a lot of
them have never even been worn. You can tell by looking at the sole."
Every store devotes a small section to Chanel, as if every woman in
America aspires to own the dainty, often bejeweled suits, which sell at retail
for $2,400 to $4,000. The Chanels (chained to the rack) here sell in the
$400-to-$800 range. So Seligson's friend and future sister-in-law, Sherri
Ben-Morits, has achieved a shopping triumph when she bags an attractive
peach Chanel suit for only $200.
"If I had gone in there looking for a Chanel suit, I'm sure I wouldn't have
found it," Ben-Morits says, absorbing the wisdom of the consignment
shopper. "You have to learn to be more . . . flexible."
Carol X. Vinzant, a writer for Fortune magazine, lives in New York City.
New York Consignment shops
A selection of used-clothing stores on the Upper East Side and other areas
Upper East Side
La Boutique Resale, 1045 Madison Ave. (near 80th Street), Second Floor,
212-517-8099; More middle range, but some couture
Designer Resale, 324 E. 81st St. (between First and Second avenues),
212-734-3639; More middle range, but some couture
Second Chance, 1109 Lexington Ave. (between 77th and 78th streets),
Second Floor, 212-744-6041; More middle range, but some couture
Bis, 1134 Madison Ave. (between 84th and 85th streets), Second Floor,
212-396-2760; New merchandise; top designers; quick turnover
Cancer Care, 1480 Third Ave. (between 83rd and 84th streets),
212-879-9868; Thrift; varied selection; not always cleaned
Council Thrift Shop, 246 E. 84th St. (between Second and Third avenues),
212-439-8373; Thrift; varied selection; not always cleaned
Spence Chapin, 1473 Third Ave. (between 83rd and 84th streets),
212-737-8448; Thrift; varied selection; not always cleaned
Michael's Resale, 1041 Madison Ave. (between 79th and 80th streets),
Second Floor, 212-737-7273; New merchandise; top designers; quick
turnover
Midtown
Kavanaugh's, 146 E. 49th St. (between Third St. and Lexington Ave.),
212-702-0152 (specializes in Chanel); New merchandise; top designers;
quick turnover
Keni Valenti Retro-Couture, 247 W. 30th St. (between Seventh and Eight
avenues), Fifth Floor, 212-967-7147 (by appointment only, due to their
celebrity clientele); New merchandise; top designers; quick turnover
Downtown
New & Almost New, 65 Mercer St. (between Spring and Broome streets),
212-226-6677; More middle range, but some couture
Tokio7, 64 E. Seventh St. (between First and Second streets), 212-353-8443;
New merchandise; top designers; quick turnover
What Comes Around Goes Around, 351 W. Broadway (between Broome
and Grant streets), 212-343-9303; Thrift; varied selection; not always
cleaned
© Copyright 2000 The Washington Post Company
Aug 10th, 2000 | 08:16 AM
#8
Guest
Posts: n/a
Whoops, make that "Jenna," not "Jenny."
I know you asked about vintage shops rather than secondhand/thrift stores but I bet that some of the places mentioned in this thread may have what you're looking for or can direct you to someplace that does carry vintage.
I know you asked about vintage shops rather than secondhand/thrift stores but I bet that some of the places mentioned in this thread may have what you're looking for or can direct you to someplace that does carry vintage.
