Brisbane's Best Vintage Design Shops
by Jodi Panayotov
Love designer gear but not the price tag? Head for one of these boutiques where someone else has already paid the high price and good condition classic pieces can be snaffled up at a fraction of the initial price. For buying new clothes is like buying a brand new car – the minute you get inside it and take it home the value plummets. Similarly, buy a classic and, just like the car, it doesn't date.
They may be scattered across town, with some hiding off the beaten track but here are some of Brisbane's best places to find discounted recycled labels:
Cinderella's Closet Clayfield
This charming boutique is a melting pot of vintage, new and pre-loved designs, with most falling into the latter category. Being in racing territory, here's the place to come for as-new hats, fascinators, bags and all the trimmings while amongst the in store clothing labels expect to find barely worn pieces by fashion luminaries such as Sass & Bide, Burberry and George Gross.
Second Gear Paddington
Only astute shoppers manage to dig this little gem up, while those in the know keep it to themselves. For tucked away in a secret mini arcade in the base of a 1980s commercial block is this postage stamp sized boutique that is always brimming with an immaculate collection of recycled local and international designer wear by the likes of Lisa Ho, Sass and Bide, Valentino, Escado and Collette Dinnigan.
Leona Edmiston Vintage Fortitude Valley
Devoted Leona fans will already be onto this recently opened outlet, the only store of its ilk to be found in Brisbane. An old world war igloo that once stockpiled munitions now stocks classic Leona – a mix of pre-loved consignment, last season remnants and the odd sample piece at dramatic discounts. An added bonus is the clothing exchange incentive, with those offering up pre-loved gear getting a voucher for 50% off the next in store purchase.
Love My Vintage Clayfield
Don't be fooled by the name or the location in a town home in a leafy residential Clayfield street, for Love My Vintage is an Aladdin's cave of fabulous pre-loved on-trend designer fashion. The entire ground floor living and dining rooms have been transformed into a boutique, with racks of clothes and accessories from top shelf local to world renowned labels. Stella MacCartney, Christian Lacroix, Alice McCall, Chanel and Easton Pearson are some of the sizable possibilities to be unearthed here, with owner Kerri ready to help with both sourcing and styling.
Secondi Hawthorne
A touch of vintage has found its way into the mix at Secondi, although mostly it's about good condition pre-loved fashion, from formal evening and race wear to blazers, trousers, suits, sun dresses and jeans. To go with the outfits are plenty of quality accessories – shoes, hats, belts and so forth in equally good shape.
Maryon's Shoes Rosalie
This is about the other known and loved route to a bargain – the designer clearance store - and nobody does it better than Maryon's. Upstairs in the old Rosalie School of Arts and one time Beverly Theatre resembles an eccentric shoe library, with some 10000 pairs stacked high and randomly in rows. Christian Lacroix, Givenchy, Dolce & Gabbana and Armani lie haphazardly entwined waiting to be picked over and taken home and all can be bought here at a fraction of normal retail price.
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