FASHION : Second-Hand Fame
Some celebrities will give you the clothes off their backs. In fact, a growing number of resale boutiques in the Los Angeles area are banking on it.
But some of these boutiques are doing more than turning profits (about 50% to 60% per sale); a few of these stores earmark part of their sales for charities.
While you may never look like Jacqueline Bisset, Farrah Fawcett, Kim Basinger or Joan Collins, to name a few of the actresses whose clothes are tucked away at shops like these, you can dress like them at a discount. Celebrity clothing usually sells for about 10% to 50% of the original price.
Some recent examples include a navy linen, silk-lined Ralph Lauren Polo jacket that once belonged to actor George Hamilton, going for $90 at the Melrose Avenue branch of A Star Is Worn, and a taupe knit Kenzo cape owned by actress Priscilla Presley, priced at $195 at Star Wares on Main Street in Santa Monica. Other hot tickets have included an autographed brown leather tour jacket owned by singer/composer Lionel Richie ($1,650), and a black and white leather jacket belonging to Michael Jackson that was worn in a Pepsi commercial ($2,000). Star Rags on Melrose Avenue has offered a red beaded bolero jacket and matching black spandex bustier worn by Madonna for $3,000.
A Star Is Worn even caters to stay-at-home shoppers with a mail-order catalogue filled with celebrity autographed collectibles, including a fur-trimmed waiter’s jacket and fedora worn by rock star Prince (“See Page 9, listed under Appolonia,” the catalogue instructs).
By and large, the majority of celebrity-owned items stocked by these stores are women’s evening wear and casual clothes by well-known designers ranging from Agnes B. to Louis dell’Olio for Anne Klein. Only Star Wares and A Star Is Worn regularly reveal the original owner’s identity on the sales tag. The other store owners say they’re sworn to secrecy.
“For the most part, people don’t really care whose clothes they are. They care about getting great clothes at great prices,” says Janet Snyder, of Jean’s Stars’ Apparel in Sherman Oaks.
“Most customers call up and say, ‘What do you have by Chanel in my size, instead of what do you have from Joan Collins,’ ” confirms Maureen Clavin, owner of The AdDress, a Santa Monica shop specializing in upscale resale.
Star Wares and A Star Is Worn are the only shops whose entire inventories consist of celebrity retreads. Most other resale stores of this kind depend on the closets of wealthy socialites to complete the stock.
“These very wealthy women actually spend more money on their clothes than a lot of celebrities do,” says Clavin. “They spend up to $500,000 a year just for their clothes, and then wear them once or twice.”
Which charities benefit from your purchases at such shops?
Proceeds from the sale of Joan Collins’ clothes at The AdDress go to children’s charities. Star Rags donates primarily to the AIDS Forum, unless a celebrity makes a special designation. Purchases from Star Wares support several causes: Heal the Bay, Music Against AIDS, The Wellness Community, Big Sisters of Los Angeles, Starlight Foundation.
Last year’s annual celebrity clothing fund-raiser at The Place & Co. in Westchester raised as much as $60,000 for People Assisting the Homeless. Proceeds from that store’s sales throughout the year have gone to causes such as CARAL (California Abortion Rights Action League), the Rape Treatment Center in Santa Monica, and the Southern California Counseling Center.
Other organizations benefiting from A Star Is Worn purchases have included the Pet Orphans Fund, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the Cerebral Palsy-Spastic Children’s Foundation.
Only one store, Star Wares, stipulates by contract (signed by the celebrity and the store) that 10% from every sale will go directly to charity.
Sandra Cruciani, owner of Star Rags, makes a personal donation, beyond the designated amount. Her donation is based on a sliding scale, depending on what a celebrity designates; if a star gives 40%, she gives 20%.
Store owners attest to various reasons for their charity affiliations.
“When I was young, I looked around at the poverty and the problems and thought, ‘When I grow up, it isn’t going to be that way,’ ” says Marcia Tysseling, 29, owner of Star Wares. “I know it’s corny but I guess I still believe that I can change the world.”
A Star Is Worn co-owner, Susie Coehlo, former wife of Sonny Bono, sees the store primarily as a business opportunity whose time had come.
“I had actress friends who were adding walk-in closets to their homes just to accommodate clothes they were no longer wearing,” she says. “After all, would you want to roll an Armani or beaded gown up, throw it in a bag and give it to Goodwill?
“A Star Is Worn isn’t nonprofit and we don’t pretend to be. I’m running a business. But if I can do something in which everyone walks away winning, then I will.”
RESALE DIRECTORY Some of the stores that use celebrity wear to help a good cause: The AdDress, 1116 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. (213) 394-1406. Jean’s Stars’ Apparel, 15136 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. (818) 789-3710. P.J. London, 11611 San Vincente Blvd., Brentwood.(213) 838-4649. The Place & Co., 8820 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 475-8288. A Star Is Worn, 7303 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. (213) 939-4922; 11677 San Vincente Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 207-1162. Star Rags, 7827 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood. (213) 655-5500. Star Wares, 2817 Main St., Santa Monica. (213) 399-0224.
