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| Elle - Spring/Summer 2009 | How to get what you want this autumn |  | Laura Emerald: Laura, 30 from Liverpool uses clothesagency.com to sell her barely-worn designer pieces in order to buy new clothes.
'I've raised up to £300 for a pair of designer shoes that I couldn't walk in' says Laura. 'There is a listing fee to sell each piece but this is stated before hand and is not a percentage of your sale, so your profit remains all your own. Plus, you can also become a member of the agency and receive benefits such as free monthly listings', she explains.
This month she is selling a designer trouser suit, two pairs of designer sunglasses and a wallet that was an unwanted birthday present. She hopes she'll make enough to bag these new autumn 2009 pieces. Grey jumper with embellishment, £189, by Day Birger et Mikkelsen. |
istock analyst online - 27 October 2008 Lady Apsley's Online Clothes Agency Booming | (Source: Western Daily Press (Bristol UK)) It was dubbed "Black September", small businesses were hit hardest and now the country is entering a recession, according to Mervyn King. But business is booming in spite of the credit crunch for the owner of a second-hand designer clothes agency in Gloucestershire. Lady Sara Apsley has been forced to close her shop in Cirencester and focus on the online arm of her Clothes Agency - which has a staggering 100,000 members.
"The business took off more than I meant it to," she said. "With the credit crunch building up, the second-hand designer clothes market is taking off. There's such a call for second-hand clothes. People pay a fortune for good, decent designer clothes - they want the quality, the cuts, the fabrics that you can't get on the high street but they can't afford it. People recognise that gentler-used clothes aren't a badge of shame - they're a badge of honour."
Lady Apsley, who was recently appointed vice president of the British Legion, started a small designer clothes online business in 2005. Her friends joined the group and bought and sold designer jackets, suits and clutch bags online among themselves.
To read the full article, click here or go to the istock analyst website. |
Daily Telegraph - 5 November 2008
Lady Sara Apsley's new chic from the clothes agency: gently used designer clothes
 | The only piece of new clothing that is allowed in these credit-crunch times, it seems, is the cloak of guilt. Who dares to splash out when the monthly budget demands cutbacks?
But even though there are unworn clothes in our wardrobes - £4.7 billion-worth in the UK, according to Oxfam last month - it doesn't stop us craving something new. Thank goodness, then, for an unlikely knight in shining (second-hand) Dolce & Gabbana. | Lady (Sara) Apsley, 43, may be a countess-in-waiting, married to the heir to the Earldom of Bathurst (which will bring a rumoured £46 million inheritance), and living on the 15,000-acre Cirencester Park estate, but she is savvy when it comes to cost-cutting chic. Four years ago, she opened a second-hand clothes business in a converted barn to suit her own wardrobe dilemmas. "I have to buy good dresses for all the charity functions we do and I thought it would make sense to sell them on, so I could buy some new ones," she says. "But when I went to a dress agency they were rude and dismissive. I tried that online auction site [ebay.com], but it wasn't a pleasant experience and nothing sold for what I knew it was worth. I thought that there must be another way and when I found there wasn't, I had a light-bulb moment." And so the Clothesagency.com was born.
To read the full article, click here or go to the Telegraph online.
| Star PR! | You Magazine, June 2008 |  | For worn-only-once-bargains go to......... Lady Sarah Apsley's second hand clothes website is a favourite drop off site for the inner royal circle - and the place to snap up its worn-only-once pieces. Anyone can log on and purchase items, but there's a small membership fee for those wanting to sell their seconds via the website. If you're not particularly net savvy, the site's Top Drawer service will photograph and list your pieces for a small additional fee. Unlike Ebay, there are no bidding wars or dodgy fakes, just good quality clothing for men, women and children.
BEST BUYS Salvatore Ferragamo shoes (£93); Jaegar shirt (£14) - at time of going to press
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| Cotswold Style | July 2008 |  | Business is still booming 'Sex and the City' was bound to be a smash hit with that word in the title and women in their millions watched it religiously. But in the process they got totally hooked on the designer wardrobes as sported by the four heroines and now, if anything, business in at least one area of the designer world is booming. You'd think that with 'credit crunch' and 'economic downturn' on everyone's lips the frivolous world of fashion would be suffering. But not in one little corner of the Cotswolds. This is Lady Apsley's revolutionary Clothes Agency which is not only a two-storey business just outside Cirencester but also an online store (clothesagency.com) which has more than 100,000 members worldwide and celebrates its fourth birthday. Nearly new Dolce & Gabana, Prada, Gucci, Hermes, Alexander McQueen, Emilio Pucci and Diane von Furstenberg (to name but a few) can all be found gracing the pages of clothesagency.com, enabling us all to quench our thirst for a top brand but without breaking the bank.
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Western Daily Press, June 2008
Clothesagency.com With more than 100.000 members worldwide, the online store Clothesagency.com has grown phenomenally fast in the four years since Lady Sara Apsley set it up. 'We have members from literally the four corners of the globe,' says Lasdy Apsley, wife to Cirencester Park heir Lord Apsley, who founded the Clothesagency.com to sell 'nearly new' clothes by top labels from Dolce & Gabana to Diane von Furstenberg.
It's easy to see why when you can buy a lovely green silk Whistles dress for £49 brand new, still with its price tags and a third of the £150 recommended retail price. Other examples of clothes on sale include a gorgeous blue Ronit Zilka double-breasted coat in pure wool for £65, which has been worn but is in excellent condition and would cost nearly £400 new; and a Gloria Vanderbilt bridal gown, which was on sale for £395 and has since been reduced again to £148. Check out www.clothesagency.com or visit the showroom in a converted 18th century barn just outside Cirencester. It's open on weekdays from 9.30am to 5.30pm. Call 01285 885283.
| Good Housekeeping, June 2008
25 of the best fashion money-savers 10 - Grab a bargain on the internet - or make money, if you're willing to sell. Although it's fiddly to get the hang of, Ebay is a treasure trove of cut-price clothing. Other sites to try: fashionspace.com; clothesagency.com.
We know which one we love, don't we girls!
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| Glos Echo | Weekend, June 2008 |  | Snap up some designer bargains If you're after Manolos, Jimmy Choo, Gucci, Dior, D&G and more, as worn by SJP and co in the movie, try the newest trend and online store, ClothesAgency.com for the ultimate designer bargain.
Founded by Lady Apsley, it's a treasure trove of new and nearly new labels. As well as buying and selling online, visitors can browse the showroom at Unit 9, College Farm Buildings, Tetbury Road, Cirencester, Visit www.clothesagency.com or call 01285 885283. |
Express & Star, June 2008
Top tips to beat credit crunch Ten things to do to save money during the economic crisis, which have worked for me, writes blogger Charlie Cashdan.
If you can't live without the occasional splurge on designer finery, check out the website Clothesagency.com, founded by Lady Sara Apsley, where wealthy people can sell their designer cast-offs and the rest of us can scoop a bargain. I saw a Prada bag on there yesterday for £89.99 and worth over a grand!
To read the full article click here.
| | Glos Echo | Weekend, May 2008 |  | Designer agency is celebrating Well-heeled online store ClothesAgency.com, founded by Lady Apsley, is celebrating its fourth birthday. With more than 100,000 members worldwide, it sells nearly new designer labels from Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and Gucci to Hermes, Alexander McQueen, Emilio Pucci and Diane von Furstenberg. Lady Apsley, who lives with her husband Lord Apsley at Cirencester Park, has found herself at the helm of a fashion phenomenon. "We have members from the four corners of the globe," she said. As well as buying and selling online, visitors can browse a packed showroom in an 18th century converted barn at Unit 9, College Farm Buildings, Tetbury Road, Cirencester. It's open Monday to Friday 10am-5pm and on Saturday by appointment. Visit www.clothesagency.com or call 01285 885283 for details.
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The Lady, May 2008
For that special occasion If an outfit for a very special occasion is proving elusive, why not try the free membership at www.clothesagency.com. Offering new and nearly-new pieces, this agency is now in its fourth year and it gives you the chance to buy designer clothes at seriously reduced prices - for instance Jimmy Choo shoes at less than a third of their retail price.
| Daily Mirror, May 2008
Fashion tips: How to look good and survive the credit crunch Fashion gurus at handbag.com share with Mirror.co.uk 10 ways to tackle the credit crunch and keep your wardrobe looking hot... By Julia Robson 27/05/2008
Perhaps the most obvious way to fund a lavish fashion lifestyle is to trade in stylish seconds. eBay was every fashionista's best-kept secret long before the rest of the world discovered it (along with www.fashionexchange.co.uk and www.clothesagency.com).
To read the full article click here.
| | Portland Mercury USA April 2007 | 
 | FashionSpring Cleaning with ClothesAgencyby Marjorie SkinnerI am getting into the spirit of the season with some spring cleaning of my wardrobe. I’m not sure if it’s normal to get as much pleasure out of this process as I do: Trying on literally everything that I own and analyzing whether or not it’s time to give it the boot. Do I ever wear it? Does it even look good? Too tattered? Ugly? Oh, the hours of fun. Then it’s off to the Red Light where I might get enough money selling them to buy a nice sandwich, and give the rest to charity. That’s because I’m small-time, but women in the big-time go through the same process, and their castaways are from Armani and Chloé, for instance. Thanks to the internet, you can have clothing swaps with such people, but frankly I am extremely wary of EBay. The British site ClothesAgency is similar, but more straightforward: There’s no auction/bidding/waiting/strategizing, just straight you like it, you buy it. It also is all high end clothing-specific, either unused or barely used. And you don’t necessarily have to use PayPal, which also gives me the willies. It’s also cheap to sell, should you have anything worth selling. Here is an example of a nice find (because 80% of the point of spring wardrobe cleaning is making room for new things): A fabulous example is a mini-dress from the aforementioned Chloé, brand new with the tags still on. The price is 75 British pounds, which if you roughly say is twice that much in US dollars, means it’s $150. Compare that to a never-owned Chloé dress, which will run you $1,000 at minimum, and potentially well over $5,000.
Comments Posted At last! Someone else has discovered this site - its getting real big in London, especially for folk who are a bit wary of Ebay (right there with ya Marjorie!) - Ive been buying it up - last week took delivery of the most gorgeous Prada bag EVER. The overseas shipping has been a godsend and they're sooooo reliable - rock on Clothes Agency - and enjoy! Susie.Posted by: Susie Erikson | | | Vogue.com News, | April 2007 |  | | ONE WOMAN'S JUNK |  | "WE all talk about recycling of newspapers, cardboard and composting but very few people have mentioned the tons of clothes and accessories languishing at the back of our wardrobes literally gathering dust," says Lady Apsley, founder of online second-hand store and recently re-branded environmental initiative CLOTHESAGENCY.COM. Sound familiar? "The idea is straightforward and simple - if one person doesn't want a particular handbag, pair of shoes or trousers - in fact any garment - then I'm sure that someone somewhere in the world would be delighted to own the very same piece - giving it a complete new lease of life." Since she first introduced the site in 2004, membership has leapt from 2,000 to 20,000 worldwide so there's no shortage of new material. The site operates much in the way as online auction sites but instead of all that pesky bidding you simply log on to www.clothesagancy.com, pick your dream piece and pay the amount displayed. The selection for sale, which includes men's, women's and childrenswear, is impressive - as are the prices. £69 for a brand-new knitted Chloe dress, anyone? Go on. Do it for your planet. (April 25 2007, AM)
Leisa Barnett |
| | Sunday Observer, | April 2007 |  |  A new season means new clothes and everyone's gone absolutely shopping mad. It's one thing lusting after the latest summer dress, but quite another when you can't afford it. New research shows that today's young women spend around 80 per cent of their average £18,000 salaries on clothes, shoes and bags, putting most of it on to credit and store cards. This means fashionistas end up spending at least half a week's wages every month paying off credit-card interest alone. If you've overspent and need to pay off your debts, Lady Sara Apsley may be just the fairy godmother you need. Her clothing website www.clothesagency.com aims to help women sell their unwanted clothes and buy other items for a fraction of their retail price. Unlike eBay, The Clothes Agency allows sellers to name their price, so there is no bidding war, and there are no commission fees, although sellers must pay £1.25 to list each item. 'We all have ever tighter budgets to follow and simply because you've not worn something for ages, it doesn't mean it has no value to someone else,' says Apsley. On the site now, you can pick up bargains like a Reiss summer jacket for £30. There's even a celebrity section where you can pick up an ex-Kate Winslet Ben de Lisi gown or one of Nicholas Parsons' elegant vintage suits. Who could resist? |
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