Story & PhotoS by Julie linnekin - Quintessential Barrington Magazine

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Garments, shoes, accessories – and a shopper’s budget – find new life in the resale shops dotting main streets across the country. Quintessential Barrington followed three of the Barrington’s savviest bargain hunters – Caroline Donahue, Sarah Dombek and Kellie Mullany – to five shops located within walking distance of downtown Barrington to learn some bargain-hunting secrets. It’s a crisp Tuesday morning in March and Station Street is bustling. A woman is rushing down the street with her arms full of books and bags. She stops to chat with a shop owner who has just stepped outside. There is laughter between them and then the woman continues down the street, adjusting her belongings as she fishes for her keys. So begins another day for Laura Knecht, owner and artisan of Re De Find, a resale shop on Station Street. She brings out her signature mannequins, one by one, and sets them up around a table as if they will soon be playing a game of bridge. Each are decked out in vintage couture, heavily accessorized with beads and baubles. One wears a skirt made of forty-some scarves, and a strong breeze brings her to life. Cars slow down to take a second look and Laura’s Re De Find is open for business. Re De Find is one of several secondhand stores thriving in Barrington. Some specialize in clothing, while others are all about furniture and home accessories. There is even a store called Rainbow Records that sells used record albums and recycled music. What is the draw to these shops and why are they growing in popularity? What once had the stigma of being a place to go in desperate financial times now seems to be an accepted solution to paying full price. Is it all about stretching the dollar, or could it be that people are being more conscious about recycling? Are we making a statement against trendiness, which in fact has become a trend itself? We decided to find out. Making your way into Re De Find evokes an “Alice in Wonderland” response. Every crevice of this shop is a creative display of retro, repurposed, and reinvented items. To the left are racks of clothing and vintage hats. To the right, jewelry, handbags, belts, eye glasses, cowboy boots. Laura is perched at her counter which doubles as a showcase for her high-end jewelry pieces. She takes a phone call from her pink 1950s telephone. “Re De Find, this is Laura. Is it vintage? Yes, I’d love to see it. Oh I do it myself. Sure, I’ll take a look at it, gladly.” All the while, Laura is busy infusing creativity with everything she touches. Customers come in and if they are not already a friend of Laura’s, they quickly become one. Her energetic spirit is welcoming and people linger for quite some time, just taking it all in. In between customers, Laura shares thoughts about resale boutiques and her belief that what was once old is new again. Laura opened Re De Find in the summer of 2009 driven by a passion for fashion, antiques, vintage clothing and a love for recycling. A lifelong artist, Laura sees the value in helping others to reach their creative potential. She carries local artisans’ creations, including that of high school and college girls, who have showcased and sold their ideas at the shop. Ellen Quade, an art major at Iowa University, has made clever skirts and decorative pins from men’s silk ties. Megan Karande, a 2009 graduate from Barrington High School who is studying molecular biology at Princeton, enjoys sewing for Laura while she is home on break. Her Anthropologie-like skirts, made from aprons, pillowcases and tablecloths, can be found at Re De Find. Aimee Mazzenga, a freshman at Columbia College who studies photography, was hired to help with marketing. Laura feels it is her way of gathering kindred spirits. When asked why young women in particular are shopping the second hand racks, Laura Below: The scarves that make up this “skirt” at Re De Find are sold individually. The dress form was purchased from a sewing factory in Baltimore. This mannequin, named Hope, is one of seven mannequins belonging to Re De Find.
Sarah Dombek is a junior at Barrington High School who is planning to study anthropology at Cambridge. believes that fashion-savvy girls are seeking out a unique look. The idea of going to the mall and buying something off a rack where there are twenty of the same is no longer appealing. The more unique you look, the more interesting you become. One of Laura’s youngest customers, Sarah Dombek, grew up with an appreciation for beautifully crafted jewelry and couture. A junior at Barrington High School, Sarah shares stories about digging through her fashion-conscious grandmother’s jewelry boxes and playing dress up with the exquisite pieces. As a young adult, her interest in this vintage lives on. Sarah wore a custommade necklace belonging to her grandmother with her homecoming dress. “Imagine sticking your hand in a jewelry box loaded with necklaces, pulling out seven of them, all unique, and then twisting them into one – this is what it looked like,” Sarah said. “I wanted to dress differently. I stopped wearing pants,” she added. Re De Find was waiting for her with open arms. Laura recalls the day Sarah came in and purchased a pair of men’s eyeglasses – a copper-framed pair from the 1950s that resembles a vintage Ray-Ban style. Discovered at an estate sale, they were buried amongst office supplies in the drawer of an old writing desk. She has successfully combined vintage, vogue, and her prescription. “I love the history behind them and to think that a man wore these so long ago,” she said. Who doesn’t love a bargain? According to American Research Group, 12 to 15 percent of Americans of all economic levels are spending their money at the 30,000 resale, consignment, and thrift shops in the United States. “The slumping economy may draw people in, but once they visit a resale shop for the first time, they are pleasantly surprised at the high quality of merchandise and are forever hooked on a new way of smart spending,” said Kitty Boyce, president of the Association of Resale Professionals. As we progress from a disposable to a recycling society, people feel more comfortable consigning, selling or donating unused items rather than tossing them in the trash. Parents can buy their growing children clothing – a homecoming dress, suits for the workplace, and even high-end designer items for a fraction of the retail price – giving them more money to put toward vacations, college education, and retirement accounts. Sandy Conrad, co-owner of Double Exposure Elite Resale, has been in business for five years. Specializing in women’s designer labels, she has a built following of both consigners and shoppers. Double Exposure’s 6,000-item inventory is run like a clock. Paula Conrad, co-owner and sister-in-law of Sandy, sits at the computer behind the counter and handles accounting. They have four employees that photograph items and plac them on eBay, sorting through, documenting and ticketing new arrivals. Sandy determines which items will be brought in to their inventory. Market research tools are used to determine an item’s value. The consigner’s privacy is maintained by using initials when identifying them in conversation. Use of the Internet gives consigners a global marketplace. A Moda in Pelle Firenza pink leather coat is shipped to Sweden, and a blouse is packed for a customer in France. Sandy’s schedule for the next day includes a stop at Louis Vuitton to authenticate some hand bags, a visit with a regular consigner on Chicago’s North Shore, and a pickup of couture arriving from New York. Kellie Mullany is in seventh grade at Prairie Middle School. 122 • Quintessential Barrington | QBarrington.com
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Story & PhotoS by Julie linnekin - Quintessential Barrington Magazine

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