The short answer is: Yes, depending.

I read a fun, girly book several years ago when I was living in a old one room studio in Lincoln Park. The book fit very well with the romantic elevator in the building that had a metal gate you had to close, the hardwood floor, and the clank of my window AC. That book was called Cupid and Diana, and it was “chick lit” before the official onslaught of chick lit.

The main character in that book has a consignment store that she just can’t make profitable until some changes are made. The book made consignment stores seem romantic and fun. As a result, I have looked for Diana’s shop here in Chicago and several other cities I’ve lived in since I read the book.

Well, no luck, until very recently.

Follow up:

As a rule, consignment shops, especially here in Chicago, are dingy and fairly depressing. Ratty shoes get tossed in a corner, there are half-empty display cases that look like they were fished out of the dumpster at the last minute. Their webpages, if they have any, look like the fallout from an explosion at a granny wallpaper factory. And usually, they are stuffy, like a nursing home for elderly clothes.

I decided that some of my older designer items were doing no good in my closet and I wanted to sell them. Especially some of my older purses, so I could buy new purses. Well, one shop on Milwaukee Avenue, that will remain otherwise nameless, accused me of trying to sell them a fake Kate Spade. I know my purse is not fake, because I bought it from Neiman’s myself several years ago. The salesperson’s insistence it was fake was based on the fact that her purse liner wasn’t the same color as mine. I was horrified and angry at her.

That turned me off on consignment for awhile, until I found Sheldon’s Closet on Armitage in Bucktown. It’s a bit out of the way and I only stumbled on it by accident while driving by. Sheldon is a delightful person who is picky about what he consigns. Shoes fly off his shelves. The last time I was in there, he had Prada shoes, St. John Sport, Oscar by Oscar de La Renta, Tahari, Coach, Steve Madden, and other designer items. Everything is presented nicely in a loft-like setting.

Sheldon’s items don’t look like someone’s dirty clothes, which is what I was starting to think about all consignment shops. His only problem that I can see is that he or Eddy are not always there when Sheldon’s sign says they are. That’s annoying. However, this seems to be a problem with boutiques overall. I’ve walked by several boutiques that weren’t open when the sign said they would be, and one handmade sign on one of these shops said, “I’m late sometimes.” Ugh.

The Czarina approves of Sheldon’s Closet. Sheldon will make you think twice about having to buy new, and it’s a great place to recycle your designer things and get some money in the bargain. His terms are 50% and you discuss how much he’s going to sell it for, so have an idea what you paid for it before you go. Make sure to make an appointment so someone is there.

Sheldon’s Closet
Sheldon House
Eddy Key
773-772-2847
2105 W. Armitage
Chicago, IL 60647
carefree_60649 at yahoo dot com