Eugene offers a wide range of thrift and used clothing stores. If you don’t mind buying clothes that someone has owned before you, this is a great way to get a stunning designer wardrobe for a fraction of the cost. Buying pre-owned clothing is good for the environment too – think of it as “fashion recycling”! This is a guide to the stores I’ve found to have the most up-to-date fashion and high-end designers, for the lowest prices.
My favorite by far is Buffalo Exchange, located at 131 East 5th Avenue, near Fifth Street Market. They have a large selection of women’s clothes and shoes, and also a smaller men’s section. They also offer one of the best deals for selling your gently used clothing – 35% of the price they will sell it at back in cash, or 50% back in trade. I’ve found that many of the other stores buying clothing want to just give you a flat price, leaving them open to sell your items for substantially more than they paid you for them. With Buffalo Exchange, you know exactly what you’ve made on your clothing.
Buffalo rotates their clothes to a sale rack as well, offering anywhere from 50% to 75% off. A recent trip netted me a beautiful Cynthia Steffe suede and rabbit fur coat for only $16, a coat which normally retails for $385 new. I also came away with a brand new Dolce & Gabanna skirt for $24 and several gently worn Splendid knit tops for around $14 each. I’ve often found Betsey Johnson, James Perse, Custo Barcelona and Michael Stars as well as other “runway” designers. Add to the great selection a friendly, trendy staff, and quirky music choices to shop by – plus a wild collection of costumes to choose from at Halloween – and you’ve got a fun place to find your designer goodies.
Just down the street and around the corner is the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop, located at 555 High Street. I have regularly found great boutique clothing there by Eileen Fisher and Three Dots, as well as gently worn clothing from our local mall stores, such as Banana Republic and Hollister. At a recent visit they had a Gucci purse for $50, and Prada shoes for $45. They also offer a wide variety of Halloween costumes, and have a “vintage” section where I have often found amazing ethnic pieces. St. Vincent de Paul also specializes in antiques from England, so it’s a good place to find that special sitting chair or end table.
Further downtown is Bon Ton Exchange, located at the corner of East 14th Avenue and Pearl Streets, which offers more conservative fare, great for the office. They have a regular sale room that offers great savings, and several times a year have a 50% off almost everything in the store sale. (Jewelry is usually excluded). They usually have a lot of lines like Liz Clairborne, good standard fare for work days.
Deluxe, at 1331 Willamette Street, features not only young-minded gently used clothing, but purses and other items decorated and created by local artists. Clothes are arranged by color, making it easy to find the right piece in just the right shade.
There are quite a few other thrift and used clothing stores in Eugene, but in my forays for gently used higher end designer clothing, the above businesses have been the best destinations, letting me get the most mileage for my money while also recycling my existing clothing and keeping it out of the landfills!
