Shopping AND Sustainability? Sold.

This holiday season I had a LOT going on. And like any family with small children, these are all in addition to daily life raising two toddlers (already maxed out every day as it is) and running my other baby, my business. Okay so I had Christmas magic to prepare for and execute, of course. And then between Christmas and New Year’s I had an out-of-town wedding to attend that was also child-free, so I also had to prep and host my in-laws in between everything. Like, how??? (I promise I’m getting to the clothing consignment shops in Columbus part!)

Long story short I made it out alive. How? No clue. But you know what actually came through in a major way and helped my holiday craziness go so much smoother? CLOTHING CONSIGNMENT SHOPS IN COLUMBUS. I’m being so for real.

I totally love the idea of a consignment shop.

The fact that all items in a consignment store are secondhand make me so much more comfortable shopping there. I also enjoy how curated they are compared to straight thrifting, since my time is stretched insanely thin these days. You can, also, usually get unfathomable deals (especially for the quality) at clothing consignment shops in Columbus. I’m talking over 50% retail, for like-new quality. Another reason why I’m basically working for Big Consignment (TM) now is because the clothes there are simply more interesting than most clothing you can find in big box stores these days. The older I get the more I value my individuality (shocker lol) and I’m happy that consignment shops can support that for me.

A Professional Organizer’s Favorite Menswear Clothing Consignment Shop in Columbus, Ohio

Back to my holiday breakdown experience! So my husband needed a suit for the wedding, and even though there were hella holiday sales happening all around Columbus I wasn’t in the mood to buy anything else new. I did a little bit of research and found a luxury menswear consignment shop right in Clintonville, close to OSU campus, and we decided to check it out.

Eclectic Fashions felt like the kind of hole-in-the-wall shop you’d walk past a thousand times in Brooklyn. I was immediately in love. It was unassuming on the outside, and as soon as I walked in with my posse (hungry toddlers included!) as they were opening, we were immediately welcomed (not in a weird way!!!!) by the owned of the shop. Even though two young humans were begging me for another chicken nugget, I couldn’t help but to take it all in- many racks, organized by size, of suit jackets and pants of any color or cut you could imagine, perfect piles of sweaters (many of them wool), ties, belts, even SHOES (all perfect for work or an evening out) and even more fabulous goods toward the back that I’ll need to see more of next time I’m there.

As far as mens clothing consignment shops in Columbus goes, I felt like we had miraculously hit the jackpot. Micah quickly found a suit perfectly fit for a cocktail attire wedding in the shade of eggplant that, somehow???, didn’t need any tailoring at all! And he has skinny legs! I believe it was a Hugo Boss, and we were charged well under 50% market value. We also walked out of there with a pair of shoes for the wedding and probably his office, which were literally gorgeous but I forget the brand. The shop owner guided us to the sizes we needed as well as the feel we were going for without being overbearing in the least. In fact, we were definitely annoying customers (read: hungry toddlers). But he was SO friendly and chill that we are guaranteed to be back.

Eclectic Fashions: Menswear so fine you would never know it’s secondhand.

A Professional Organizer’s Favorite Womenswear Clothing Consignment Shop in Columbus, Ohio

Alright alright, back to the wedding. After ordering multiple dresses from online shops for myself and NONE of the dresses working out (everything fit so weird) I needed to act quickly if I was going to make it to The Monastery. With two days until the wedding, I decided to check out Second Chance in Grandview for a dress. I was so done with big box stores and disappointing online shops, and I hoped I could find a dress that was beautiful and unique at a consignment shop (since we had had so much success at Eclectic!).

I’ve been to other clothing consignment shops in Columbus before. They were just… fine. I find that many consignment shops either feel too much life thrift stores or just that they aren’t run by people who really care about the customer experience. Walking into Second Chance, though, was a totally different feeling. I walking in the day after Christmas and was met with complimentary coffee and snacks at a small table by the door! What?!! Once I gained my footing in the store I realized how massive it really was. There were fourish big rooms filled with very organized (by category) women’s clothing, accessories, shoes, bags, and more. The designer brands were staged up front and then the other clothing is spread out amongst the rest of the store.

I could tell the store was expertly managed! Everything was super clean, all dressing room clothes were hung back up immediately after trying on, there were multiple registers with friendly assistants throughout, and the clothing choices were incredible! Looking at all the different clothing options here really was so much more fun than going to a traditional retail shop because everything was unique and also in amazing condition. Each time I thought I was good to go, I found something else that I just HAD to try on in another part of the shop. There were goodies all over.

But did you find the dress?

RIGHT! I found my dream wedding guest dress at Second Chance toward the front of the store where they had all the holiday designer dresses staged. It was black and pleated and just fit so well. I couldn’t had found a more perfect dress for the occasion! The best part? When I went to check out there was an additional discount applied that I wasn’t aware of. So I got a $700 dress for under $100!

So, if you need to go shopping in Columbus, Ohio, you better make sure to check out Eclectic Fashions and Second Chance! They’ve gained a customer with me and I can’t wait to go back!

A Quick Rant on Buying Clothing and sustainability from a *Professional Organizer*

If you are in the market to purchase clothing, I believe it’s super important that you really love what you’re bringing into your closet. Each piece you keep in your closet to wear (I’m not talking about those sentimental t-shirts from high school- those need to be stored somewhere else!) should spark joy, fit you so well that you look forward to wearing them, and really feel like YOU. If you think through an environmental lens, as well, then purchasing clothing that isn’t adding any new pollution to our world is massively important.