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Telegraph continued
It began life online (working in a similar way to eBay), but Lady Apsley quickly opened the barn as a showroom for drop-in visitors when some customers started asking for help. Initial support came from local friends, many of whom had perhaps never sold on their own clothes before - high-profile neighbours include Anne Robinson and Elizabeth Hurley (who donated items to the Tsunami Appeal held by the website).
With the dawn of the downturn, though, the agency has come to the rescue of hard-up damsels (and men and children) in distressed clothing everywhere, and has been appealing to new, more cyber-savvy customers. So successful has it become online - it now has 100,000 members and the website receives 3-4,000 unique hits a day - that Lady Apsley, who married Allen, Lord Apsley, in 1996, is closing the showroom to concentrate solely on the Clothesagency.com
"With the credit crunch building up, the second-hand designer market is taking off," she said recently. "There's such a call for second-hand clothes. People 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 gently used clothes aren't a badge of shame - they're a badge of honour."
Indeed much of the stuff is good. There are some high-street brands, but most of the pieces are designer. A quick rummage around her storeroom yielded a black/white wool coat by Celine, size 12, for £503 (RRP around £1,050), a Diane von Furstenberg emerald-green silk top, size 12, for £94 (normally around £155) and a couture two-tone Dolce & Gabbana dress, size 12, for £739 (normally in excess of £2,500). All in immaculate condition and all on trend. Other labels include Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Alice Temperley and Anya Hindmarch.
Sellers list items online at "buy now" prices, at a flat fee of just £1.25 per item for 28 days. Furthermore, there is the reassurance that there is a human who will respond to emails.
Lady Apsley will continue to run a concurrent service for her 10 best clients - buyers/ sellers whom she calls the "Top Drawer" - managing their sales and storing their items in her barn.
The "TD" clients have codenames such as "Peacock" and "Lapwing" on the website, but Lady A (as she is known to her staff), is tight-lipped. Total discretion is a necessity for her business.
One of her grand friends told me that, while staying with the Apsleys, she found some things she really wanted.
"But Sara wouldn't let me buy them as she knew I knew the woman who was selling them and she didn't want to run the risk of me bumping into her wearing her ex-clothes, which was quite the right thing to do."
Named friends, though not necessarily customers, include the Prince of Wales ("the kindest, most compassionate man"), and Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen's wife, Jackie, who has a home nearby. And then there's the impressive list of celebrities who donate their clothes for charity fundraising on the site.
You can buy a full-length Ben de Lisi gown once worn by Kate Winslet on the red carpet (size 10, £2,500), or a purple satin Richard Tyler couture dress from Emma Thompson (size 12, £1,479). All monies raised go to charities chosen by the celebrities; so far the site has raised £18,000.
Despite working in the fickle industry of clothes retail, Lady Apsley's approach lacks cynicism. "I don't really believe in fashion," she says, "I think you should just have some 'good friends' in your wardrobe."
And where better to look for friends than Lady A's online community?
Click here to go back
It began life online (working in a similar way to eBay), but Lady Apsley quickly opened the barn as a showroom for drop-in visitors when some customers started asking for help. Initial support came from local friends, many of whom had perhaps never sold on their own clothes before - high-profile neighbours include Anne Robinson and Elizabeth Hurley (who donated items to the Tsunami Appeal held by the website).
With the dawn of the downturn, though, the agency has come to the rescue of hard-up damsels (and men and children) in distressed clothing everywhere, and has been appealing to new, more cyber-savvy customers. So successful has it become online - it now has 100,000 members and the website receives 3-4,000 unique hits a day - that Lady Apsley, who married Allen, Lord Apsley, in 1996, is closing the showroom to concentrate solely on the Clothesagency.com
"With the credit crunch building up, the second-hand designer market is taking off," she said recently. "There's such a call for second-hand clothes. People 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 gently used clothes aren't a badge of shame - they're a badge of honour."
Indeed much of the stuff is good. There are some high-street brands, but most of the pieces are designer. A quick rummage around her storeroom yielded a black/white wool coat by Celine, size 12, for £503 (RRP around £1,050), a Diane von Furstenberg emerald-green silk top, size 12, for £94 (normally around £155) and a couture two-tone Dolce & Gabbana dress, size 12, for £739 (normally in excess of £2,500). All in immaculate condition and all on trend. Other labels include Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Alice Temperley and Anya Hindmarch.
Sellers list items online at "buy now" prices, at a flat fee of just £1.25 per item for 28 days. Furthermore, there is the reassurance that there is a human who will respond to emails.
Lady Apsley will continue to run a concurrent service for her 10 best clients - buyers/ sellers whom she calls the "Top Drawer" - managing their sales and storing their items in her barn.
The "TD" clients have codenames such as "Peacock" and "Lapwing" on the website, but Lady A (as she is known to her staff), is tight-lipped. Total discretion is a necessity for her business.
One of her grand friends told me that, while staying with the Apsleys, she found some things she really wanted.
"But Sara wouldn't let me buy them as she knew I knew the woman who was selling them and she didn't want to run the risk of me bumping into her wearing her ex-clothes, which was quite the right thing to do."
Named friends, though not necessarily customers, include the Prince of Wales ("the kindest, most compassionate man"), and Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen's wife, Jackie, who has a home nearby. And then there's the impressive list of celebrities who donate their clothes for charity fundraising on the site.
You can buy a full-length Ben de Lisi gown once worn by Kate Winslet on the red carpet (size 10, £2,500), or a purple satin Richard Tyler couture dress from Emma Thompson (size 12, £1,479). All monies raised go to charities chosen by the celebrities; so far the site has raised £18,000.
Despite working in the fickle industry of clothes retail, Lady Apsley's approach lacks cynicism. "I don't really believe in fashion," she says, "I think you should just have some 'good friends' in your wardrobe."
And where better to look for friends than Lady A's online community?
Click here to go back
     
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