CLOTHES DESERVE A SECOND CHANCE
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Susan Reaver, above, in a pre-owned dress and new wrap from her boutique The Closet Chick, pays cash or offers store credit for traders.
|
|
The Closet Chick
Search and rescue: Three boutiques try to make vintage and pre-owned fashions new again
SUSAN REAVER had four successful secondhand boutiques in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but closed them all for the opportunity to live in Hawaii, where she found all the right ingredients for repeat success, the most important being an island full of shopaholics with limited closet space.
"I brought a few things from Canada, but Hawaii's very good for getting clothes," she said, though in her five months of operation she's learned "people seem to be very small here, so I've had to change my buying habits to accommodate that."
» The Closet Chick is at 2013 S. King St. Call 942-2442. Parking is off McCully Street, in the former McCully Chop Suey parking lot.
|
On racks neatly organized by color and category -- shirts, pants, skirts and dresses -- shoppers will find contemporary offerings that are current to a few seasons old, with familiar retail brands represented such as INC, Banana Republic and the Gap. The boutique also carries new jewelry and new velvet wraps from local vendors.
MOST ITEMS are in the $16-to-$25 range, although handbags by Coach and Louis Vuitton are priced in the hundreds. She's also hoping that those with a taste for luxury will bring in apparel and accessories from St. John, Fendi and similar brands if they are unable to wear or use them.
She pays cash or will offer store credit for clothing she accepts, although traders shouldn't expect to receive anything close to retail price.
"You won't get anywhere what you paid new, but with an accumulation of things you bring in, you can put that toward something else," she said.
Pieces are handpicked by Reaver out of items brought in by sellers she knows, and she's always looking for garments in step with trends.
Reaver said she's glad the idea of wearing pre-owned apparel is no longer as taboo as when she started her business in 1987.
"It's changed from, 'Can I use your back door so nobody sees me,' to where now I think people get a lot of pleasure from saying, 'Look what I got. I really got a bargain!' It's more acceptable to buy clothes pre-owned."
She also takes pleasure in knowing she's doing her part to get people thinking about recycling. And every two to three months, she'll take excess stock to a shelter or charity that can use the garments or pass them on to those in need.
"The comment I'm hearing most often is, 'Man, do we need a store like this,'" she said.