Toscana & Chianti News

Fashion

The new frontier of shopping

It is every woman’s dream to be able to wear garments by famous designers or elegant or casual garments to suit a specific occasion and to be able to renew the wardrobe with every change of season.

With the crisis raging, soaring prices and the halving of salaries, fulfilling this dream sometimes seems impossible.

Luckily, there are stores such as vintage clothing shops or shops selling high-quality second-hand clothes, which allow you to purchase garments in good condition at discounted prices.

The most popular items? Handbags, coats, costume jewellery, sometimes shoes... and it is also common to find collector’s items that have long ceased to be produced.

In addition to the above, there are also clothing shops operating on a sale-or-return basis, which basically means that: the shopkeepers display garments deriving from private individuals (used garments in good condition or new but unused garments), or old stock from other shops, and sell them to the public.

An example of clothing shop operating on a sale-or-return basis is Florence’s “Glam”, which opened its doors back in January and is located in Via Frà Bartolommeo.

Allegra, the owner, has been kind enough to explain the philosophy underpinning stores like hers.

“First and foremost, the garments displayed in shops operating on a sale-or-return basis must be cheap; secondly, if the shop sells second-hand clothes, they must be in mint condition: if you want to sell us clothes you no longer want, you cannot expect to sell them at the price you originally paid for them, be they designer garments or not.

Seller and client enter into a contract lasting two months, a timeframe corresponding to the amount of time the garments remain in the shop to be sold to the public.

Once the 60 days have expired, the client is paid for the goods successfully sold to the public and any goods unsold are given back to the client.

If the latter does not want their goods back, they are donated to charities, as set out in the contract.

The prices are those set by the Financial Police’s price list, which must be affixed in the shop, something that many fail to comply with.

At a time of financial crisis requiring all sorts of sacrifices,” Allegra continues to explain, “stores like mine are among the most sought-after. I also believe that shops operating on a sale-or-return basis are a great way for young designers on their first foray into the world of fashion to promote their clothing line (if they already have one).”