At any one time, 2nd STREET, a brand-new secondhand fashion retailer at Elm and Broadway, gives thousands of “gently used” clothes and accessories a second chance.
But it was likely a different kind of chance—the chance to get first crack at any market-fresh bargains—that caused dozens of shoppers to line up before Saturday’s 10 a.m. grand opening.
And it was a different kind still that emerged as customers attacked the racks, where, it turns out, items are more likely clustered by color or vibe than by size, giving those who spend more time looking a better chance to find a good fit.
But it was a fourth kind of chance that had someone like me, whose interest in fashion trends waned about a decade ago, flipping through the racks even with no intention to buy: the opportunity to whirl through thousands of novel and nostalgic styles, patterns, textures, materials and palettes. It felt like browsing a huge art gallery, with some of 2nd’s stock actually resembling fine art. A representational top was intricately embroidered with traditional floral detail. A modernist sweater offered simple but striking landscape with sky, mountain and grassy plain. A postmodern top fused a prep school sweater vest and two collared shirts—one for business and one for the beach—into a single zany garment. A pair of shoes, if you can call them that, had white gym socks fused right into the rubber soles, reaching humorously up the calf and finishing with the requisite cuff. A word art sweatshirt spells “LIP” across the breast until you notice that the first letter, an “S,” has slipped—get it?—and fallen down to the belly.
I also enjoyed the exposure to contemporary Japanese fashions, which have a dedicated presence here due to 2nd STREET’s founding in Japan and its whopping 700 stores there, which likely offer similar sections for American designs. It was almost as entertaining to browse the store’s few cases kept under lock and key, where premium designer bags, clutches, wallets and watches from the likes of Gucci, Louis Vuitton, TAG Heuer and Jimmy Choo range from dozens to hundreds of dollars—but maybe not as many dozens or hundreds as they would elsewhere.
This time of year, it’s also fun to spy pieces ripe for Halloween costumes: ruffled shirts and blouses for pirates or vampires; supersaturated tops straight out of Saved by the Bell; wool-lined denim jackets for trekking up Brokeback Mountain; cozy earthy sweaters capturing the essence of The Dude; a sheer effervescent top or flowing metallic skirt that could produce the effect of water, air or outer space. But the most visceral joy for me came from a pair of neon pump-up Reeboks somehow styled after Nerf guns, which also reminded me of the Super Soakers with which my brothers and I used to blast each other.
Since my last browse on Sunday, it’s possible every last one of these items has been snapped up and replaced by something else. Which speaks to two more kinds of chances at 2nd STREET: the chance to recoup some cash by selling the store your own gently used items; and, because others are selling, the chance to find new and different inventory each time you return.
Can secondhand feel new? So far, even if some items are more gently used than others, 2nd STREET is proving it can.
2nd STREET
272 Elm St, New Haven (map)
Daily 10am-8pm (buying hours until 7)
https://2ndstreetusa.com/...
Written and photographed by Dan Mims.
