I’m a changed woman.
No, I haven’t re-found God or had a near death experience (thank the Lord), but I did find the holy grail of shopping- or at least my husband thinks I did! And can you believe it was only a half a mile from my house?
As you’ve probably figured out, I’m a clothes hound.
Since I only have so much room in my closet, every season I do a clean out. And whenever I need to find a new home for my very gently worn clothing, I take them to Your Best Friend’s Closet, a consignment store in Algonquin, IL.
In fact, here I am dropping off a stash:
I’ve been taking my clothes here for years, though I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never shopped here – that is until a few a weeks ago when I decided to take my first dive into consignment shopping.
The owner of Your Best Friend’s Closet, Marianne, says she’s “changing the face of consignment one best friend at a time” and I surely left a changed woman.
Marianne opened Your Best Friend’s Closet (YBFC) nearly nine years ago. She now has over 3,800 consignors and over 5,000 square feet of shopping fun. Can you believe over 25,000 people walk through the doors of YBFC every year? That’s a lot of people!!!
My shopping experience began with a meeting with my very own personal shopper. Yes, you heard me, personal shopper!
Meet Amy!
Now Amy isn’t just any person off the street. No, no, no. Amy began her career as a make-up artist and when she started outfitting models during photo shoots, she soon became a stylist to the stars. She had some big time clients she would shop with whenever they flew into town. Now you can only find her at YBFC!
And let me tell you, this woman’s got it going on!
Amy can look at your body type and know immediately what will or will not work on you. And can she accessorize?!
Want to be in the know when the next Louis Vuitton comes in? Amy’s your gal. She’ll make a note of the item you’re after and give you a call right when it comes in. No having to keep stopping in day after day to see if it’s there. She makes it easy for you to have first dibs! I love that!
After talking to me about my lifestyle and the types of clothes I like, she went and gathered not one, but eight complete head-to-toe outfits for me including shoes and accessories! Here’s the unbelievable part. Amy is so good at what she does that she unknowingly pulled clothes for me that I had brought in for consignment the day before. Given that YBFC gets something like 2,000 NEW ITEMS A WEEK, that’s quite a feat!
Here she is showcasing some of the awesome things she pulled for me:
Now I’m not going to go show you all the outfits Amy put together for me, just my favorite:
JUST KIDDING! I gotcha, didn’t I?
There’s one key thing you’ve got to realize when walking into YBFC for the first time, and that’s that like it or not, you’re going to have fun!
It’s definitely not your average shopping experience. Everyone working at YBFC loves their job and they’re not afraid to show it…and they have an intercom and they aren’t afraid to use it! Don’t believe me? Check out this cute You Tube video they made:
Introduction to Your Best Friend’s Closet
Ya, they made an announcement the day I was there parading around the store in this get up. People were laughing and screaming. It was a hoot!
You get the feeling after spending time in YBFC that well, you’re in your best friend’s closet! People don’t just shop there because of the great merchandise, they shop there because they’re among friends and it’s fun! Where else can you shop and every few minutes find yourself in the middle of an all out celebration? Fill your Savvy Shopper Card (a frequent buyer’s program) and bells ring, people cheer. This is what I call all out enthusiasm for shopping, and I love it!
Here’s a quick look inside the store:
Everything is organized by color and type of item. Price tags are easy to see and read. No rummaging through piles in this store.
And shoes? Did someone say shoes?
Did you see cute little Marianne peaking out there on top?
And that’s not all….!!
And what blew me away…designer clothing and shoes…and lots of it!
Are you drooling yet?
Don’t get too excited about the black and white checked Manolo Blahnik’s you’re about to see in the next picture, ‘cuz they’re mine, all mine!
My heart skipped a beat when they fit perfectly…just like Cinderealla! Oh ya, my first ever pair of Manolo’s…eat your heart out, Carrie Bradshaw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And by the way, here’s almost the exact same pair available at Neiman Marcus, only I didn’t pay $675, not even close!!!
I absolutely cannot wait to share all the great outfits Amy put together for me, but you’re going to have wait. I’ll be showcasing each of my stellar outfits over the next couple weeks in my “What I Wore” blog posts. Trust me, you won’t want to miss it! The first one will be featured tomorrow, so make sure to check back!
In the meantime, why not head over to Your Best Friend’s Closet? You never know what you might find!
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