With this scorching summer soon coming to an end, we are already fantasizing of those fall days with a bit of a chill in the air, the leaves changing colors, fall shopping at pdx consignment shops, and switching our closets out from dresses, skirts, and tank tops, to sweaters, ankle boots, and beanies. 

Mark your calendars because we begin taking fall consignments August 15! 

To help with your daunting purging adventure, we have gathered some tips and tricks as to what to bring to your local pdx resale shop, what we will be looking for, what will sell quickly, and how to lessen the stress of going through your closet. Ready? Let’s do this! 

First, let’s go through what to keep an eye out for when going through your closet so you know if it will be something that will do well at the shop. 

We are always delighted to take in…

Ankle Boots

We tend to see a million black booties, which are great timeless staples, but ankle boots sell faster if there is something special about them (fun pattern, bright color, interesting details). Also, waterproof booties fly off the shelves because we do live in Portland afterall. 

A few brands that we love to see: Sorel, Aquatalia, Blondo. 

Cardigans

The perfect transition piece to add to any wardrobe. The softer the cardigan is, the better!

Brands we love to see: Eileen Fisher, Barefoot Dreams, any Nordstrom or Anthropologie brand. 

Sweaters

All hail natural fibers! We are suckers for anything cashmere or wool. Who wants to wear a hot, itchy sweater? Not us! 

Brands we love to see: Eileen Fisher, Vince, Rails

Jeans

We take denim all year-round but they tend to sell best during the colder seasons. Because we only have so much space, they have to have something special about them. If there’s an interesting embroidery detail, they are high-waisted, or wide-legged, bring them in! 

Brands we love to see: Madewell, Mother, Free People, FRAME   

Accessories

Anything that will elevate an outfit! We’re talking beautiful, colorful scarves, wool hats, belts, and funky sterling silver jewelry (any funky/cool/quality jewelry). 

Brands we love to see: 925 Sterling, Rag & Bone hats, Tiffany & Co. 

Those are just some ideas of what to bring in to us. If you aren’t sure, bring it in anyway! We take consignments any day that we are open, no appointment necessary. 

Now that you have a rough idea of what we are looking for, let’s talk about editing your wardrobe. 

Before you begin to tackle all of that, grab something to drink, eat a snack, take a deep breath, and begin. This part can be a little stressful but stick with it, it will be worth it in the end. 

My recommendation to start everything off is to take everything out of the closet and throw it on the bed. This helps you visually see how much you actually have and forces you to finish the task cause you’ve gotta sleep later, right?  

Here comes the hefty part. Go through each and every single piece you have on that bed. If it is something you wear a lot, is still in good shape, and you plan on continuing to wear it, throw it in the keep pile. Easy. 

If you love it, but it has seen better days, doesn’t quite fit right, get rid of it! If it’s damaged or stained beyond repair, trash it. There are some good local services that recycle textile goods. Ridwell is one that comes to mind. 

Items that you are unsure of, put them on, look at yourself in a mirror. If it doesn’t fit quite right, the color doesn’t do much for you, but it is in otherwise good shape, consign it. 

If you have an item that you are on the fence about, keep it around for a little bit longer. A trick I use is this: hang everything backwards. Each time you wear a piece, place the hanger the correct way. At the end of the season, see what is still facing backwards and get rid of it. Chances are, if you haven’t worn it this season, then you probably won’t wear it again and at that point it’s worth trying to make some money off of it and replace it with something that you will actually wear.

This one is something I struggle with, but if you have an item that holds some sentimental value or was a gift you no longer wear or ever wore, it’s time to say goodbye. If it isn’t serving you anymore, there is no need to keep it around. If you feel bad about selling it, gift it to someone you know who will love it. The idea is to send it off to a happy home where it will actually get some use.  

The main goal at the end of the purge is that you are left with a solid closet of items you love, that the pieces work well together, and you avoid the “I don’t have anything to wear” feeling. 

The other goal of this whole process is to have a solid stack of items to sell to Portland consignment shops. What I usually do is this: go through my rejected piles and determine where they will be going. If they are stained, ripped, or have any type of unfixable flaw, send them on their merry way to a textile recycling center. Otherwise, they might have a chance being sold to one of many Portland’s consignment shops.   

*Keep in mind how items are presented when you go to sell them, it makes a difference!

An important step is to create selling piles according to where you think the items will sell best. For example, any piece you have that is in amazing shape, you spent a good chunk of change on, is cute/interesting/of quality, send it to us, Here We Go Again! If an item is cute, in good shape, and the brand is one you might find at the mall, it might be worth trying your chances at other local resale shops. 

At the end of the consignment/selling trip, whatever you are left with can be donated to a local charity shop. We recommend Main Spring! 

Once you have gone through the whole purge, make sure your rejected items don’t come back home with you. They already got the boot.  

Now, doesn’t that feel better? Take a good look at your closet. Does it look cleaner, more organized, and full of clothes you actually want to wear? Good, cause it should! Now when you go get dressed in the morning, it should be a breeze. 

Until next week,  

Dre