Consignment

With clothes prices out of this world today, sometimes the best thing one could do is shop consignment.

Yesterday my friend Kenya and I went to two little consignment shops: The Buffalo Exchange and Funky Monkey. I had mixed feelings about the prior (which I will get to in a moment) but I would like to start off by saying that if you have a Buffalo Exchange, you need to go there! The service is extremely helpful and the clothes are better priced.

My mission was that before I went to visit my best friend in Kansas this summer, I was going to buy a vintage dress and a plaid shirt. I had it in my head and when something like that gets up there it's nearly impossible to come.

Well, my mission busted BUT the shops were amazing. Buffalo Exchange sells gently worn clothes, shoes, purses, and accessories. The saddest thing is that the shoes, accessories and purses cost about as much as they would at Ross or Wal-Mart or TJ Maxx so that's not really a plus. But if you hit the 50% off racks first, you might find some modern goodies with hot labels for a very lost price (ranging anywhere from 4-10.00 shirt; 10.00-30.00 jeans, etc).

But back to my story. When I first got there, I asked some of the workers at the front desk how I could find some specific pieces dating from 20's (which I knew would probably not be there) all the way up to very early 70's. They told me just to shop because it was all mixed in. Well, I looked up and down the dress racks for vintage clothes by myself and found about two (all in S which DO NOT fit my M-L frame btw). Slightly disappointed, I told my friend I wanted to leave after trying on a few shirts.

In the back, as I was getting ready to try on some things, the curtain directly in front of me swings open to one of the dressing stalls and I instantly broke the 10th commandment. This girl was standing there in a 1960's floral blue rayon halter sun dress. I thought to myself, "I looked up and down these stupid racks and overlooked that masterpiece? And now it's not ever going to be available to me again? How....?"

When she closed the curtain again and the shade of green left my eyes, I turned to one of the fitting room employees and said, "I need help! I'm trying to find a vintage dress dating between the 50's and 60's but I can't find anything!"

I definitely spoke to the right person. She was obviously a vintage-a-holic as well as knew the store. I just gave her my sizes and she flipped through dresses so fast and only found the styles that I was asking about (or modernized vintage, which works just as well). Some of the pieces she pulled off the racks were blah and marked down to 10.00. Others were absolutely stunning. She pulled this 50's style Calvin Klein mint green summer dress with criss cross straps in the back and I instantly fell in love (but saw the $30.00 sticker and had to say goodbye)! Just for fun, I even tried on a white halter Marylin Monroe replica (I'm pretty sure was used for a wedding) and thought it was hilarious. I just wanted to sit under a vent and let the bottom fly up, it was that authentic looking.

To make a long story short, I only bought two shirts at Buffalo Exchange (a pink plaid for $9.00 and a 60's style teal and brown floral pattern for $9.00). But that lady found about 25-30 dresses to my liking and was so friendly and helpful I now want to recommend that store to anyone who is interested in going.

The second place we went to was called Funky Monkey--a sweet New Orleans boutique with all the oddity attached. This store leaned more on the costume side as well as JC Penny prices with less vintage pieces. Just for fun, I tried on a $80.00 original 1950's dress (which said it was a large but really ran like a small) and a $30.00 flapper costume dress (complete with pink fringe and everything). That was fun but fruitless. The accessories on the other hand were reasonably priced costume, Victorian and vintage jewelry. Styles ranged from real cameo's to authentic earrings worn by some hippie in the 60's. I thought about buying an $18.00 cameo choker but put it back instead knowing that it was just eye candy.

Anyway, I guess my point is that you can find a lot of cool clothes at consignment shops and if you don't have "vintage" stores in your area like Minnesota's Via Vintage or Mississippi's The Attic you can probably find some nice pieces at thrift stores or consignment. Of course, it doesn't have that "brand new" clothes smell and you might have to paw a little more intensely, but the prices are much more economical.

To oddly sum it all up: don't diss consignment. Yeah; lol; that's it.

BTW: Afterwards we went to eat dinner at Whole Foods. I felt bohemian chic that entire day.

~Rose