To Be Worn Again

I went to Brighton for a Christmas shopping trip to look for all things vintage and I found myself in To Be Worn Again shops. I hit the Sydney Street shop first because its nearest to the train station, in fact the first shop I went in. Sadly, cash in my pocket but nothing tempting me to part with it. They have a lot of 80’s gear and its overpriced, nothing here for true vintage lovers. Lots of rails outside but not good quality or vintage. The staff were disinterested in the customers and chatting to themselves. Worked my way through the laines and some time later found myself at Kensington Gardens. there was more vintage in here but again quite pricey compared to neighbouring vintage shops. I found a few things to try on and I wish I hadn’t! A woman behind the till was also dealing with the fitting rooms and her manner and the way she spoke to me was incredably rude. When I get into the changing rooms I didn’t bother trying anything on, I waited a few minutes and left. As an overall experience, compared to other vintage shops in Brighton the standard is low.

Not to sound like an old gimmer but I used to love shopping in snoopers paradise and places like this as I couldn’t afford to buy expensive clothes and used to enjoy grabbing the odd bargain in a second hand shop. Now its ‘trendy’ to wear someone elses shirt that they’ve perspired in for a good 15 years, you have to pay double. Not sure I get it really.
Still, there are some nice bits and pieces in here if you like your vintage jeans and Fred Perrys.

‘To Be Worn Again’, or to be sold again; this time at twice the cost?
You hear so many good things about vintage clothing stores, and they’re considered to be so very cool, but every one of the ‘To Be Worn Again’s’ are filled the a lot things you’d find in a charity shop.
I’ve been in to look for a few inexpensive t-​shirts, hoping to steal a bargain, but found that you generally won’t find anything nice below £10, if not higher.
Beyond Retro is a better bet for most vintage fans; the items still cost a lot, but it actually seems like they’ve worked out to pluck the best of vintage clothing, rather than getting charity shop clothes and multiplying the price by 5.

To Be Worn Again, Brighton’s bulwark of second hand clothing, now has another retail outlet in Kensington Gardens, adding to the outlet at the top of Sydney Street and the warehouse on Providence Place. This behemoth has everything you could want in a second-​hand store: huge selection, cheap prices, and now another shop to browse through! Don’t give these shops a miss: the warehouse is the best for wealth of choice, but this new shop seems to be their new place to stock the more traditional of your items, meaning you’re more likely to find something you can wear more frequently here.
I’ve been shopping at To Be Worn Again for the past 5 years, and the whole set-​up has always been a welcoming one. Service is friendly across the branches, and they all seem to have a good idea which of their shops stocks what. You may need to travel a bit if you’ve gone to the wrong branch, but once you get there the wealth of choice is amazing. I’ve seen everything in to be worn again: leather jackets, t-​shirts, hats… They seem to have a couple hundred of each item of clothing you can think of. If you’re a second-​hand clothing whore, like myself, this is the best place in Brighton to go.
Apart from their excellent store policy, selection and service, To Be Worn Again also seems to offer the best prices on their merchandise. You pay much less than market value, but not excessively so: you won’t walk away with hundreds of new things for just a couple of quid, but you will be pleasantly surprised. Beyond that, they seem to specialise in stocking more peculiar items: nothing to risqué, just pieces that could be fashion disasters or masterpieces if worn with the right combo. If you’re going to a costume party or running a play, this is the best place to find costumes or costume ideas.
In the end, To Be Worn Again is an open secret. Everyone in Brighton knows it’s the place to go for second hand stuff. There are more upmarket places, like Traid in the Lanes, and cooler places, like Beyond Retro, but nothing beats finding a jacket that compliments your wardrobe perfectly for under £30. If you haven’t been, go. Now.

HALF PRICE SALE!
There is a half price sale on everything in all three To Be Worn Again stores right now.
Brighton’s favourite vintage and second hand clothing shop, well before that temptress Beyond Retro turned up, is having a huge sale. This only happens every once in a while, so make the most of it.
The warehouse has still got loads of good coats and shirts but has moved all the shoes to the new shop in Kensington Gardens, so if it’s shoes you’re after-​head there. And the Sydney St TBWA has more vintage knitwear and shirts.
A good excuse to buy something you’ve been eyeing up for a while, if someone else gets it you’ll probably only see it again on them.