High-end recycling

Some of the best places for clothes, bags and accessories shopping are high-end designer vintage store. These stores may sometimes be hard to find as they tend to be well kept secrets among their customers. Their assortment is normally much smaller and more selective than other second hand store, and prices are naturally higher. One example of such a store in New York is Michael's on 1041 Madison Avenue where you can find vintage Chanel jackets for around 850 USD, Michael Kors cocktail dresses for 300 USD and Ralph Lauren cashmere sweaters for 100 USD. Another example in Stockholm is La Guarderobe on Storgatan selling Prada, Balenciaga, Jimmy Choo, Missoni, Marni and other high-end brands. Several of my wardrobe favourites are from this store, such as a Balenciaga pant suit that looked like it had never been used and was sold for only 180 EUR (full retail price probably around 1200 EUR). Rumor says that a woman ones handed in more than 10 unused designer hand bags at the same time. So if you live in larger cities, spend some time finding these stores. It will definitely be worth the effort if your budget, like mine, does not allow for shopping these brands at full price.