
DATE: Saturday, March 1, 1997               TAG: 9702280074

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: FASHION 

SOURCE: BY KIM WADSWORTH, SPECIAL TO THE DAILY BREAK 

                                            LENGTH:  147 lines

THRIFT, CONSIGNMENT SHOPS YIELD TREASURES

IF YOU'VE BEEN secretly stalking the aisles of thrift stores and consignment shops because you don't want friends to know where your cache of favorite fashion finds come from, then it's time to come out of the closet.

Hunters and gatherers of designer and vintage clothing have become a discriminating bunch who are hardly embarrassed when it comes to showing off a recent find.

Take Beth Bergman of Norfolk who, on a trip to Boston decided to check out a consignment shop that was rumored to carry unsold merchandise from the renowned department store Filene's. Rummaging through a shelf of shoes she discovered a never-worn pair of suede Prada sandals that had once retailed for more than $300.

Her thrift store price? Two bucks.

So what if they weren't her size. She bought them for a friend back home

``I knew I wouldn't stumble on a deal like that again so I had to buy them,'' she said.

This is the thrill of the kill. Finding a known label for less - a lot less - becomes the impetus for consignment and thrift store shoppers to return again and again.

For fashion foragers, the ``prize'' they consider as valuable vintage is often truly relative. On many occasions, when a family member dies closets of clothing are hastily shipped off to Goodwill and other organizations. It's in places like these that some rare finds are uncovered.

For Angela Phillips of Norfolk, foraging for fashion is a passion that has nothing to do with money.

``There's something about `thrifting' that's so exciting. And it can be a real treasure hunt. Several years ago I found an incredible set of signed vintage Miriam Haskell pearls at a thrift shop out west for $8. That's why I check out stores wherever I travel. It's not just a local habit.''

Phillips enjoys mixing and matching her vintage finds with her modern-day fashions. For her it can be a signature of style that makes a unique statement.

Looking for ``luxe'' - a term referring to luxurious clothing and accessories - in all the right places is easy for those in the know.

If the store is a vintage store, the clothing sold is usually owned not consigned by the owner. This means the clothing is carefully considered and is usually in good shape when purchased.

For a thrift or consignment shop, the location of the store is usually a good indicator of the quality of clothing that will be brought in by the consignee, who normally receives 50 percent of the selling price of the item.

Often consignment shops will donate a percentage of their sales to an organization, thereby attracting clothing donations from prominent boutiques in the area.

Once certain labels are spotted, fashion followers in the know are insatiable and will check back periodically in search of new discoveries.

Someone like Nora Wooton has seen it all. After managing Act II, a Norfolk consignment shop, for 16 years, Wooton had all the experience she needed to open her own store, Nora's, in Virginia Beach.

``I've learned to be very picky about what I take in,'' says Wooton. ``Interestingly enough, the consignee becomes my customer and vice versa.''

She is convinced that women are always looking for better quality for a fraction of the cost and try to dress for less.

``I don't have too many label shoppers, but if they hit on a well-known name that is high quality, they are ecstatic,'' she says.

Wooton is proud that such labels as Ann Taylor, Claude Montana, Genny, Adrienne Vittadini, Bernard Perris, Ferragamo, Bally and other European labels have graced her racks.

She has had wealthy consignees bring in boxes of clothes for a various reasons. One customer was ready to change her lifestyle and couture clothing no longer fit into her world. Wooton says all those clothes flew out the door in a few days.

That we are fascinated by other periods of clothing and that we are willing to wear what others have worn with an entirely new response to that style is what makes this form of fashion so unique.

In his book ``Style Surfing: What to Wear in the 3rd Millennium,'' author Ted Polhemus observes that decades of fashion find their way back into our closets, be it through vintage clothing collecting or the reinterpretation of an era in fashion.

``What is remarkable is the extraordinary extent to which fashion today exists and moves `forward' by recycling itself,'' writes Polhemus. ``By its own rules, yesterday's fashion should be as worthless as yesterday's news. Yet `the future' is an edifice built of old, long-discarded bricks.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot

Retro vintage clothing on display at Echoes of Time on Laskin Road

in Virginia Beach.

VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot

Nora Wooten of Nora's in Virginia Beach has sold consignment

clothing with such labels as Ann Taylor, Claude Montana and Adrienne

Vittadini.

LOCAL SHOPS

The following are just a few of the consignment and vintage

clothiers in the area:

Act II

816 A W. 21st St.