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If sifting through op shops feels a little overwhelming but sustainable fashion is on your radar, consignment stores might be the answer.
And a new one has just popped up in North Canterbury, adding to the plethora of pre-loved clothing stores in the region.
Re.Clotheme owner Michelle Anderton said second hand clothes shopping was a real “now thing” as it was popular to be mindful and sustainable.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/Stuff
Michelle Anderton’s pre-loved fashion store, Re.ClotheMe in Oxford sells clothing and accessories on behalf of customers who no longer reach for the items in their wardrobe.
“These clothes just need to be loved again.”
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Consignment stores rely on people taking their unwanted but well-looked after clothes in, and in exchange for every item of theirs sold, they’re given a cut of the profits.
Based in the heart of Oxford township, 40-minutes drive from Christchurch, Anderton said since opening Re.Clotheme in October, her store had been “very busy, particularly on weekends” due to the “destination drivers” which includes World Famous Sheffield Pies, quirky eateries and quaint gift stores.
Opening the permanent site came after launching the store in a portacom building at her property in February “to gauge an interest and build up a following”.
Just eight months later, those small beginnings paid off, and now she sells from in the township and online.
Usedfully is on a mission to create a viable textile recycling solution in New Zealand to help divert 220,000 tonnes of textiles from landfill each year.
Re.clotheme adds to a number of independently-owned consignment stores around the region including Envie, Time and Again Sumner, Style Me, Lasting Labels, Nifty Markets, To Be Continued Pre-Loved, and ReLove Clothing.
Reasons for pre-loved shopping, include finding things that suit your own fashion rather than what’s in fashion in the high street, bargain prices and easing the amount of clothing going to landfill.
Textile waste is one of the country’s fastest growing waste streams – an estimated 220,000 tonnes of textiles going to landfill every year.
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Wear Else owner Tracy Jones has fashion in her blood, following in the footsteps of her father who had a passion for clothes, and her grandma who owned a dress shop in the 1950s.
Mini Moocher owner, Kelly Dobby said her store with the quirky name had been in various sites around Addington for more than 25 years, always keeping its name.
But the store had an unknown past that had Dobby, and many others, scratching their heads.
Though the store had changed hands a few times throughout its years, it was certain a Canadian woman and her daughter had opened it, she said.
KAI SCHWOERER/Stuff
Emelia Scott shops at Nifty a vintage clothing market which recently opened a store in Christchurch’s Cashel St.
“Something tragic happened in the family, and they sold it.”
A mystery she hadn’t been able to get to the bottom of, she said.
It hasn’t left a hex on the store though, seeing it so popular, Dobby had to turn clothes away because she didn’t have room.
She said many people shopped at consignment stores to save the “rummaging through” clothing at op shops, and some were wanting “higher end” items seeing some head there for their cup day attire, mother-of-the-bride outfits or even a bridesmaid dress.
A customer recently bought her bridesmaid dress and shoes from Dobby because “she was allowed to choose whatever she wanted” with just a restriction on colours. She spent just $84 on a dress and shoes, Dobby said.
The common thread of pre-loved clothing store owners is their passion for finding second hand gems and giving them a new lease of life, and for one such owner, the passion for fashion is in her blood.
Wear Else owner Tracy Jones was shaken from her site in the city during the earthquakes after just three years, but it didn’t stop her trading from her garage for the next six years before settling at The Tannery in Woolston.
Jones said she had always been into second hand shopping since being a teen in Canada, inspired by her dad who would nip to the US for a shop.
Her father’s mum also had a dress shop in the 1950s in Vancouver Island.
“It’s always been there, fashion, makeup, everything”, inspiring her since she was young, she said.
“I always had it in the back of my mind, eventually opening up a shop, and finally I did after years of working in retail.”
Wear Else focuses on what’s “on trend”, “good labels” and natural fibre fabrics including cottons and linens, she said.
“We want to have variety for everybody. Not every customer is going to want to pay $100 for a Trelise Cooper [garment].”
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