Each year, we send more than 10.5 million tons of clothing to landfills, 95 percent of which is recyclable and reusable. Much of those clothing items, especially those cheap and easy poly blends, aren't biodegradable and end up taking up space on this planet for much longer than you ever wore them.
With that in mind, I decided to shop in my own closet first (I have a ton of clothes already) and when I do need to buy something, I made it a goal to buy small, buy local and preferably buy second-hand.
Anchorage has its share of thrift shops. We all know about Salvation Army, Value Village and the new Goodwill. And those places can be fun if you want to spend time digging. But Anchorage also has some unique second-hand, consignment shops that offer designer label items at a fraction of the cost.
I decided to check out some of our own, locally owned second-hand stores, and see if I could find anything worth adding to my closet.
My first stop was at Second Run Clothing Store. Located downtown in what's known as the SoNo District, Second Run is a cool little shop with an amazing assortment of clothes and accessories.
If you're looking for a special occasion dress, I highly recommend seeing what they have before you hit the big box stores. I was really intrigued with this darling little frock, but I have, alas, no special occasions looming anytime soon.
The store is well-laid out with designer and name-brand clothing, purses, tons of shoes and some super cute boots, jewelry and even vintage furs. The prices aren't Salvation Army low, but you can find things for very reasonable prices compared to what you'd pay for them new, and they often have sales. All the clothes I looked at were clean, stain-free and had none of that weird musty vibe so often found in some of the thriftier thrift stores.
After I perused Second Run for awhile, I decided to continue my investigation and stopped in at Plain Jane Consignment. Located in the strip mall on Northern Lights and A Street, I'd driven by it a hundred times but never stopped in.
Another well-laid out store, this shop seems to focus heavily on the designer labels, and their prices do reflect it. You aren't going to find that Kate Spade bag for $10 here, but I did find an older model Coach bag for $36! Pretty good deal. They had a huge assortment of jeans, the majority of which were reasonably priced, considering that most are upwards of $200 new.
I saw a pair of Paige Premium jeans for less than $50. They also carry some really fun household stuff, again, this is upscale, not bargain basement.
And I'm not even gonna tell you how much these Prada shoes were. They're Prada. 'Nuff said.
I finished out my second-hand search with another shop I've driven by a million times but never stopped at, The Clothesline Consignment Store. Cited as having "fresh and fun" re-sale clothing, I stepped in and found it to be as fresh and fun as they advertise!
Lots of clothes, jewelry, bags and shoes. Again, these aren't Value Village green tag prices. These are really nice, high quality, gently used items. They had a large 50 percent off rounder and I was really tempted by this J. Crew dress:
On Sale it was less than $20! And in near perfect condition. They have an upstairs area with even more stuff:
The salespeople were all very nice and when I found a cute necklace to purchase, the sales girl asked if I had a consignment credit. So if you need to clear your closets to make room for more, you can get store credit for your new used purchases! I didn't ask at the other stores, but I assume they have a similar policy. Just don't try to bring in your ratty ol' sweater with dog hair and holes, these shops will only accept the best quality items.
I was happy to find that there are local places in Anchorage where I could buy fun summer outfits and maybe even some cool winter boots (later, much later. I'm not ready to talk about you, Winter! You go away for awhile, please!) And most importantly, it's good to know there are local businesses that support recycling used clothing and lessening our impact on the earth.
Re-use, renew, recycle. Make it your mantra and remember, shop local, shop small, shop second-hand!
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