Want to dress like Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and The City) or Wilhelmina Slater (Ugly Betty)? Then head to INA’s Consignment Shop where Patricia Field, Costume Designer, shops for the stars.
Appearing with the cast of Ugly Betty at the Paley Center for Media on Wednesday, April 29 (see article on the front page), Field told the audience she visits several places frequently to find the fashionable clothes for the actors she dresses. A favorite destination is Century 21, she said, a downtown store well known for its variety and reasonable prices. Her other pick is INA’s Consignment, with four locations for women and one for men in the city.
We visited the one on Prince Street in Nolita. We can see why Field loves this store. The racks are filled with beautiful, practically new, designer clothes. One of the sales people told us that the merchandise comes from people in the fashion industry—models, magazine editors—as well as “every day” people who just happen to dress like they are in a TV show or movie. Right now, the shop has “lots” of clothes by Chloe, Louis Vuitton (including some purses), Dries von Noten, and Yves St. Laurent. We also spied some beautiful dresses by Diane Von Furstenberg that were under $200, a real steal. In fact, we were shocked by some of the prices. We had expected that even second hand, the designer clothes would be out of our price range. They were definitely within our range and would certainly give us the chance to buy a designer we wouldn’t be able to touch at retail.
One downside is that most of the sizes are small—sizes two through eight, although the salesperson told us that they do get larger sizes depending upon the people donating the clothes. (After all, not all the actresses, models, and magazine editors, are teeny-tiny, right?) And if you can’t find clothes to fit, there’s a great selection of shoes, purses, and jewelry to keep you satisfied.
Each one of INA’s Consignment stores gets different merchandise because of location. The store on Prince Street gets more models, while the store in Soho recently sold off clothing that was worn on Sex and The City.
INA’s Consignment Shops
Noho men and women
15 Bleecker Street between Lafayette and Bowery
212-228-8511
Soho women
101 Thompson Street between Prince and Spring
212-941-4757
Nolita women
21 Prince Street between Mott and Elizabeth
212-334-9048
Men
262 Mott Street between Prince and Houston
212-334-2100
Uptown
208 East 73rd between Second and Third Avenues
212-249-0014
www.inanyc.com
