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Kiwi trendsetters trying to save money and the planet are fuelling an op shop sales boom. While sales of new clothing and softgoods fell 9 per cent in the year to June 30, op shop owners told the Herald on Sunday they had never been busier.
Sales at central Auckland's Op Shop, on K Rd, have skyrocketed 50 per cent in the past six months. Mt Eden's Salvation Army Family Store is doing even better, with transactions doubling in a year.
While op shops were formerly associated with grungy teenagers and the needy, fashion experts said designer-clad suburban princesses no longer shunned them.
Like recycling and eco-friendly grocery bags, the "preloved vintage" look gave the environmentally conscious shopper green kudos, while the quality was often top-notch, they said.
The "frugalista" trend even has celebrity endorsement. Hollywood A-listers such as Kirsten Dunst and Lindsay Lohan have been snapped hunting for bargains.
Fashion designer and K Rd Op Shop co-owner Kim Decke said there was no longer any shame in rifling through your local second-hand store.
The store she owns with fiance Eric Weichert is a treasure trove of cheap frills - with most garments priced under $20. It has items from the likes of Zambesi, Cybele, Armani, Hugo Boss and Huffer in stock.
Another mecca for shoppers with an environmental or banking-related conscience is Recycle Boutique on Auckland's Queen St.
Owner Nick Harvey's concept has proven so popular he has opened a second store in Wellington, as well as running Paper Bag Princess on K Rd.
The Auckland branch, which sells customers' clothing on a sale-or-return basis - has become so popular that staff have become overloaded with preloved fashion.
Half the changing rooms have been turned into temporary storage rooms and the store has temporarily stopped taking new stock.
Fashion writer Stacy Gregg said op shopping no longer had any negative connotations as a well-picked "vintage" look was considered a "badge of superiority".
"The previous preconception about them being mothballed, smelly places that you went to if you didn't have enough money has gone right out the window. It shows true style if you have the ability to pick something off an op shop rack and make it work, more so than if you went into Prada."
Op shoppers told the Herald on Sunday they found the experience "exciting" and were constantly picking up bargains.
Student Sarah-Jane Gray, 20, has been visiting K Rd's op shops for years, and said she hardly bothered with buying from Glassons and other high street stores any more.
"The stock is constantly changing and you're guaranteed to get something no one else has. It helps you develop your own style."
Mother-of-one Jo Winter said she could spend hours in stores such as Recycle Boutique.
"It's almost overwhelming in here, there is just so much stock."
But she reckoned there were still some stores out there worth avoiding: "You want to make sure the clothes are clean."
