It’s a dilemma that leaves many a modern-day damsel in distress: what to do with all the clothes, shoes, jewels and accessories you once loved, but no longer wear. Sure you could give them to the op-shop. But that stings when you’ve splashed some serious cash on a garment that’s still in great nick. Another alternative is eBay. Or you could have a market stall. But let’s face it, these require Time. And. Effort (not to mention money).
Happily, the winds of change are blowing in Melbourne and a retail revolution is getting quietly underway. Currently in its infancy (more a zephyr than a full-blown gale), this is a change that promises to shake up the way we shop. Forget shopping till you drop. This is dropping off your previous shops for someone else to love. And the best bit? You earn cash dollars or in-store credit for your former favourites.
Introducing ‘Penny Lane Clothing Exchange’, Sydney Rd Brunswick’s most fashion-forward kid on the block. In little over a year it’s found a niche providing quality, gently loved clothes, shoes and accessories to women of all ages, and most shapes and sizes. By providing women a place where they can sell the garments they’re no longer wearing, the business also helps keep clothes out of landfill so they can recirculate and be re-worn, re-lived and enjoyed anew.
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‘I wish I could claim this idea as my own’, says business owner Peta Stephenson, ‘but this “Cash for Fashion” model is actually an American one’. In fact, it’s widespread in the United States, where it had its humble beginnings in Tucson, Arizona, in 1974. Trailblazer company ‘Buffalo Exchange’ now has 48 stores in 17 states and is a sartorial staple for fashionistas and misters alike. ‘Crossroads Trading’ has been in the mix since the 1990s, providing another US alternative to traditional retail.
It’s easy to see where their popularity comes from. Clothing exchanges tick a number of boxes. They provide new loving homes for garments that were, at best, languishing at the back of someone’s wardrobe and, at worst, destined for landfill. They’re a haven for those who enjoy thrifting, offering great clothes and accessories at a fraction of the price. They’re an alternative to mainstream, cookie-cutter shopping because every piece is a unique one-off. They’re also a great way for the uninitiated to dip their toe into the wellspring of second-hand shopping because they offer carefully curated pieces that have been handpicked for their quality and design. No musty op-shop smells. No sifting through piles of worn, tired pieces to find that hidden gem.
Best of all? They encourage shoppers to re-use. To do away with the unsustainable fast-fashion model of buy today, chuck tomorrow. Clothing exchanges remind us that ‘new’ doesn’t have to be ‘brand new’. It can simply be ‘new to you’. The buzz of going home with a new garment is still there, but it’s magnified because you know it’s a really unique find. Somehow it takes the fun and challenge out of shopping when you can just go and grab a garment in another size. Finding an item that’s perfect for you when there’s only one of them in store? Well that’s just priceless.
Clothing exchanges like Penny Lane emphasise style over fashion. They require a bit of innovation, creativity and a DIY attitude on their shoppers’ part. You’ll find some of the latest trend-driven, ‘must-have’ pieces but, better yet, you’ll discover a veritable treasure trove of sartorial gems that only need the spotlight of a new inquisitive eye to make them shine. Breathing new life into old pieces is a win-win for your fashion stakes, your wallet and the environment.
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Borrowing a business model is one thing. Getting a new business up and running on your own is another. Just how did this one-time academic (yes, she even has a PhD), take the leap from research fellow to retail fashionista? We’ll let Peta fill in the gaps!
Opening a recycled clothing store on my own, with no prior experience and few start-up funds, might not have been such a big decision if I’d had a background in fashion retail, or any kind of retail for that matter. But I had neither. In fact, I’d never owned any kind of small business before. In my previous life I’d worked in the University sector. So what prompted me to leave the relatively privileged and rarefied world of academe for a risky, bricks and mortar venture at a time when we’re consistently told online shopping reigns supreme? And why would I choose to make the switch while at the top of my university game?
Some people study to get a job. I’d studied to avoid getting one. I couldn’t bear the idea of working 9 to 5 to further someone else’s interests, so opted for the student lifestyle for not one, two or three, but four degrees. I was fortunate to receive scholarships back to back for my Masters and PhD, and followed those up with two postdoctoral fellowships. There’s no doubt I had a dream run professionally. I didn’t have to teach and spent my time researching my own topics on my own – just the way I liked it.
And on a personal level I achieved more than I’d set out to at university. My initial goal was to complete my PhD in Australian Studies. Following that I aspired to re-write my thesis as a book, which I did. After that I was fortunate enough to receive another four years’ funding to start a second major project, which I also wrote up as a book. And it was this second book that helped confirm what I’d felt all along – that clothes play a vitally important role in helping us define ourselves. I also became increasingly aware of their transformative power.
You see, my second book was about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who have converted to Islam and become practising Muslims. I was fortunate to speak with a number of my interviewees on several occasions over a long period of time. I was fascinated by the way their growing identification with Islam was evident in the change in the clothes they wore. The women usually adopted a more modest mode of dress and donned the headscarf or hijab, and in some instances, the niqqab or face veil. The men often wore robes, skullcaps and grew beards.
Colleagues at the university wondered how I could possibly go from researching Indigenous Muslims to flogging pre-loved clobber. But for me there is a connecting thread between my previous and current roles, and it’s got to do with identity. Whether you’re adopting a new faith or trying a new way of dressing, you’re making a decision about how you wish to self-identity; you’re actively choosing how you want to express your inner self to the outer world.
My transition to Penny Lane Clothing Exchange was also relatively smooth because during the last couple of years of my time as an academic I started an image consulting business called Dresscode, which offers four main services: Style, Colour, Wardrobe and Shopping. My goal at all times is to help women sidestep mainstream fashion to find their own signature style. After all, fashion is a top-down directive. It doesn’t care about you. Style, on the other hand, is all about you – your body shape, your proportions, your unique colourings. Your assets and flaws. We all have a healthy dose of each, regardless of what size we are. But who’s going to see your flaws if you’re showing off your assets?
Self-knowledge is the key. Once you understand the styles that most enhance your body shape and proportions and the colours that best complement your natural colouring, you’re able to put an end to the guessing game.
Dresscode is designed to help put women in the driving seat when it comes to dressing. When we’re told that what was hot last season is now definitely not, we feel dissatisfied with the clothes we have (and ourselves), and so we consume more. We buy into fads and fashions, regardless of whether or not they suit us. Make no mistake; mainstream fashion is designed to make us doubt ourselves. When shopping the latest trends there’s always the fear that we’re not living up to the appropriate standards. But when we choose (our own signature) style over fashion, everything we buy reinforces us. We’re strengthened and supported, rather than diminished, because each new garment is purchased to tell our individual story in our way – rather than what some designer tells us is the right way to look this season.
I find my image consulting skills are a real asset at Penny Lane. Let’s face it; it’s very, very rare to receive unbiased help when clothes shopping. In fact, it’s usually pretty hard to get any help at all. If you’re after a stereo, car or almost any other consumer good, you can expect that the shop assistant will know what they’re talking about. It’s not the case with fashion retail. At Penny Lane I strive to combine a new mode of retail with old-fashioned, one-on-one service. The shop is set up with the mirror on the outside of the fitting room so I can help women work out if the garment is right for them. Many times I have talked women out of taking a piece home because I didn’t think it was flattering enough.
My goal is always to encourage women to think about their bodies and clothes critically, but without being self-critical. It’s upsetting when women come out of the dressing room saying they were ‘too fat’ for a garment. I always reassure them that it’s not about their being too big, only that the garment was too small. It’s the garment’s fault. Not theirs!
I also try to help women make more with less by only buying clothes they really love and want to wear time and again. If a woman is umming and erring about a garment at the shop, I tell her to walk away from it. I won’t settle for less than hearing ‘yes, I really love it’ from Penny Lane customers. Having read Linda Grant’s wonderful book The Thoughtful Dresser I, too, think of clothes as ‘fabric friends’, and I encourage other women to follow suit. To see their fabric friends, like their animate ones, as worthy of care, love and attention, and to consider whether any new friends are going to get along well with their established circle of friends. Before making a new fabric friend I encourage Dresscode clients and Penny Lane shoppers to think of at least three other friends they’ve got at home that their new addition will coordinate well with.
I also hope to encourage women to see second-hand clothes in a new light. I purposefully added high-end touches to the fit out of Penny Lane and tried to give it a boutique feel. Just because clothes are second hand, doesn’t mean they’re second rate. And because they’re pre-loved, these clothes have stories to tell. They’ve been places, met people, done significant things. They’ve fallen in and out of love, gone on dates, been to weddings, funerals, Christenings. When women sell their garments to Penny Lane, I invite them to write on little swing tags a few lines about the piece and what it meant to them. It’s my hope that these ‘clothes lines’ help the new owner fall in love with the garment, thereby cherishing and looking after it. Finally, I also hope that I am able to continue growing in my newfound role, financially of course, but also socially and spiritually. So far it’s been tough and rewarding in equal measure. But it’s certainly a feel good role that helps others and me to be and do better.
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Hold onto your hats Melbourne. If Peta’s got anything to do with it, the winds of change ushering in a new retail experience might just become a gale force!
