When I tell a certain type of women that I’m not shopping in chains for a year, I often get a look that is a cross between horror and panic. Let’s face it – many women like to shop for clothes. It’s what keeps our economy going — or at least that what we’ve been told. Sorry, I’m not “buying” into it.
Don’t get me wrong. I love clothes! But I hate to spend lots of money on clothes, I don’t think I need tons and tons of clothes, and for probably the last ten years or so, I’ve been buying a good portion of my clothes used in re-sales shops and on Ebay. No one has signed me up yet for What Not to Wear so I guess I’m doing ok.
Since moving to Cleveland and taking a job as director of a city history museum, I do feel — and need –to dress up more often. So from time to time, I buy new clothes from a local boutique called The Orange Blossom. Pat Fuller and her staff always make me feel so welcome and special. They help me pick out just the right outfit for big events like our annual gala. To help out my budget, I almost always wait for their special sales to buy my clothes. I’ve purchased some wonderful pieces from them that will last a long time.
This Saturday, I hit a few of the local resale shops to see what was around for summer clothes. Here’s my haul for the day.
Among my purchases were a J. Jill shirt for $9.99 from Prior Attire on Keith Street (no website). Prior Attire is by 
far my favorite of the three re-sale shops in Cleveland. I always come away with something nice from the store.
A new store also on Keith Street is En Vogue. They are much more than a clothing re-sale shop. They have furniture and decorative items downstairs and clothing up. There I purchased a lovely blue Ann Taylor Loft shirt on sale for $5.50, a Croft and Barrow black and white top for $7.49, and a classy Laura Ashley watch that needs a battery for $6.49.
Finally, since I needed some new sandals, I swung by a local Cleveland institution, Becky’s Shoes (no website). Here’s an example of a store that’s fooled me until just one minute ago. I thought it was a local store. Nothing about it says chain. It’s not slick or institutional in feel. It doesn’t have that cookie-cutter feel that chain stores have. When writing these posts, I always check to see if the stores have a website and guess what folks. Becky’s fits our definition of a chain.
For the purpose of our experiment, Dan and I decided that a chain is a store or restaurant with four or more outlets owned by the same owner. Becky’s is in Cleveland, Knoxville, and Hixson, Tennessee and Rome, Georgia. I am extremely depressed as this knocks out a great source for shoe shopping in Cleveland!
What did I get at Becky’s before I knew it was a chain? An extremely comfortable pair of Josef Seibel sandals for $29.49. While I don’t know the exact price of the sandals, most Josef Seibel sandals retail for over $100. Great deal, but sadly my last at Becky’s.
The only other non-chain women’s shoe store in Cleveland went out of business, so it looks like shoe shopping will be in Chattanooga. The Orange Blossom carries a limited supply of women’s shoes, but the one brand I did purchase from them, La Plume, were not comfortable on my extremely hard-to-please feet.
So some shopping successes and a shopping lesson from the day. What would Stacy and Clinton say about my blog, my shopping, and my un-chained life? Guess what? Maybe they will let me know!
Prior Attire
2520 Keith Street
Cleveland, TN
423-473-0983
no website
En Vogue
2155 Keith Street
Cleveland, TN
423-473-7333
no website
Becky’s Discount Shoes
2767 Keith Street
Cleveland, TN
423-476-1465
no website
Tags: clothing, shopping, Stacey and Clinton, Stacy and Clinton, What Not To Wear
I love Prior Attire as well! Great stuff! They do have a website, I did the photos for their page it’s shoppriorattire.com