When you think of consignment stores, does big ol' warehouse full of your grandmother's old clothing come to mind? I know because I thought the same way. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about buying something that someone else (a stranger!!) had already worn and I hate digging through piles of clothing to come up with...nothing?! Well, what if that big ol' warehouse had a hip younger sister with an organized closet full of designer treasures? Rescue is just that! It's designed in a way that gives you that same relaxed feeling of shopping in a department store without the pompous, over-the-top service. In fact, the owners are a cool brother & sister duo - Jeralyn and Paul Mason! Jeralyn is sweet and sincere in her approach which is a nice balance to Paul's bona-fide too-cool-for-school demeanor - I mean that in the best possible way! It works. When you're shopping second hand, the last thing you need is in-your-face service. You'll want to concentrate on all the cool pieces on the rack and decide what you can do with the structured teal 80's blazer you've just discovered or the vintage heels by D&G that you can't believe you can actually afford. You need to be allowed to explore!
I've done so many blog posts on the interesting pieces I've found at Rescue:
Click here for the Rozae piece - so I thought it was only fair that I give you a first-hand look inside one of my favorite second-hand stores! Rescue is where it's at - You can take it from Jeralyn!
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| Jeralyn Mason and I - Photo: Hena (my sis) |
Gilda: What's the concept behind Rescue? What was your inspiration for opening this place?
Jeralyn: The main inspiration was that I was living in New York and I had worked at Beacon's Closet that's kind of a similar thing and we sort of felt like that type of store was missing from Boston. My brother was living here at the time - we both grew up outside of the city - so that was pretty much how we came up with the idea to have this store and then as we've been open, I feel like we've sort of evolved more into our current state which is like, keeping it boutique-y and really focusing on new trends because, you know, just because it's second hand, we still don't want it to feel like you're in a thrift store. That's not what we're going for.
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| Cool tats Jeralyn!! - Photo: Hena (my sis) |
Gilda: Who is the Rescue customer? What type of person comes in here to shop?
Jeralyn: You know since we've had this store...I think at our first location in Allston it was pretty specifically people who lived in the neighborhood but since we've moved down here it's really like, across the board. We have a lot tourists. It's a lot of college kids. We have people who are really into fashion who come in and sell all the time. Sometimes they don't even shop, they just sell. There's all these different types of customers I feel like.
Gilda: Who did you imagine would shop in your store?
Jeralyn: People like me and my brother. People who are into fashion but can't really afford the stuff that we like, you know, so it's so much easier to buy second hand and then recycle the stuff that you do spend money on. You know, just people who are into the good stuff but don't have the money (laughs).
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| They have really cool wall art that Jeralyn picks out herself! - Photo: Hena (my sis) |
Gilda: So I know you've heard of the GQ article where they named Boston worst dressed. How does it make you feel to hear that?
Jeralyn: Well I think overall I would kind of agree. If you are walking down say Landsdowne Street after a red sox game, of course it's the worst dressed but I don't think that means everybody here has terrible style or that you can't meet people with cool style. There are plenty of people here with really good taste. I mean, New York was on that list too! They weren't #1 but every city was on that list!
Gilda: What did you think you'd end up doing before you thought of opening up a store?
Jeralyn: I went school for Creative Writing and I did some internships with magazines for journalism and stuff which was kind of fun but I like this more. It's so much less structured and it allows me to be creative without being under a time constraint.
Gilda: Where did you guys come up with the name Rescue? My sister and I took a wild guess and thought it was because you guys were rescuing clothes? or fashion?
Jeralyn: Umm, it's actually from a song by Echo and The Bunnymen called Rescue. It's like an 80's British band. We were kind of toying with a couple of different names but we settled on this one pretty quickly. We just both really liked it. We like that band and we sort of just both wanted a name that was kinda just one word. Sorta like PSSSSHhh, this is the name! ...Rescue!! A lot of people think of it as rescuing clothes which wasn't really our intention but it does go with it. We wanted something that would go with anything. Like if we decided to add another location, we could add something to the name like a number or the street name like, Rescue- Newbury instead of a really long name that would be weird to add numbers to or something.
Gilda: I know that you guys take in items from customers, how selective are you? Can anyone come in and give you whatever they want in exchange for something they want? Where else do you get clothing from?
Jeralyn: The majority of it is that way. There have been a couple of stores that we've done little deals with where they'll give us some back-stock but that's happened pretty rarely and it's usually toward the end of the season when they have stuff that's left over. Anyone, can come in and trade but we really try and focus on the styles that we like and we try and make sure that everything is in good condition. We won't take anything that is obviously dirty, stained or ripped and we try to keep the focus on current trendy styles. We get a lot of people that try to bring in conservative designer stuff ...we love designer stuff but we want it to be wearable pieces. Nothing too formal. We're looking for more casual, ready-to-wear items.
Gilda: What are some of the cool brands passing through here?
Jeralyn: We've been getting in really good stuff lately. Umm, we've been getting Margiela, Helmut Lang, Stella McCartney stuff that's really cool, Alice & Olivia, A.L.C - I think that's what it is...they sell a lot of their stuff at Saks, umm...
Gilda: A few Rozae pieces!!!...(haha)
Jeralyn: Haha, Oh yea! We got a few Rozae pieces in too!
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| Men's section. You're allowed to express yourselves so much more these days! Go for it! - Photo: Hena (my sis) |
Gilda: What would you suggest as a good shopping strategy for someone who has never shopped at a consignment store before because I for one, used to think it was super overwhelming (I have obviously changed my mind)?
Jeralyn: Well, the way we do it here is we organize everything by color. That's how my brother and I organize our own stuff so that's why we do that. Some people don't like it. They want us to organize by size but it's too confusing for us plus, you know, for me size shouldn't discourage you from trying something cool because it's not in your size. So, I guess, for a second hand store, I think you have to have some kind of idea of what you want. Do you want to look at the jackets, or skirts, or purses? I always have a plan and I start with the shoes, then the dresses and the jackets. If I have no luck there, then I'll start going through everything else! (haha) But, those are my top 3 things to look out for. Those are always the best finds. This store is small enough that you can go through everything.
Gilda: What do you think sets you apart from all of the second stores around here? There are so many on Newbury Street.
Jeralyn: I think we really try to keep the focus on trendy, wearable stuff. Not just a bunch of designer stuff, like a bunch of suits or something (ha). That and I think we do...maybe this will change but we have the ability to be so specific with what we want because it's basically just us and we're in tune with each other (haha).
Gilda: How is it working with your brother?
Jeralyn: (ha) Umm, it goes back n' forth. We fight a lot obviously but we used to live together until a couple of weeks ago. I mean, you know, we fight a lot but at the end of the day not only is he my business partner but he's also my brother so I can't really hold a grudge.
Gilda: What's your favorite part of having your own store?
Jeralyn: For me, I especially love everything that goes into setting it up and how it looks and focusing on like, the image of the store and doing all of our design stuff and just really keeping that focus. I want to always be in line with our vision and not get side-tracked. And obviously the clothes and hanging out here - that's fun too!
Gilda: Anything coming up that my readers should know about?
Jeralyn: Umm, yea. Every other Sunday we do Rescue Night at The Model (7 North Beacon Street, Allston). We've been doing it for three years. It's like a DJ night. We play Punk, Post Punk, New Wave, New Indie music...stuff like that. We do that every other Sunday. We also have a tag sale every month. So the percentage off is based on the sticker color on the tag.
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| Racks on Racks....on Racks! =) |
Gilda: What item of clothing do you recommend everyone have in the wardrobe for the Fall season?
Jeralyn: A leather jacket!
Gilda: Yes!!! I feel the same way! (My sister and I look at one another and laugh)
Jeralyn: (haha) We have some really good ones I can show you!
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| It just fits, doesn't it?! - Photo: Hena (my sis) |
Gilda: What's your personal fashion advice for all the aspiring fashionistas out there?
Jeralyn: Ummmm...Just try to have fun and try to be interesting. It's so easy to just not want to bother, you know, but you always feel better when you do. People notice. You think they don't but everybody does.
Gilda: So, ...Bother! (haha)
Jeralyn: Yes, (haha) BOTHER!
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Rescue is a buy, sell, trade boutique located at 297 Newbury Street in Boston, MA
specializing in designer, modern and vintage. |
You're going to have to trust me and shop at Rescue. Here are 3 reasons:
1. Affordable designer clothing
2. Own a unique piece that you will find on no one else!
3. You can buy clothes, sell clothes or trade yours for theirs!
By the way, thanks for being patient with me this week! It's been crazy busy. I'm working on a cool logo for the blog that I will reveal soon. For now, I'm back in full affect and I can't wait to show you some of the cool things I've been up to. The pics of my Boston Fashion Week adventures will be up soon, just like I promised! xoxo
