Style Tribes: The Fearless Buyers of Beacon’s Closet and Buffalo Exchange NYC
Photo: Amy Lombard
On a recent episode of Broad City, Abbi and Ilana reenact one of the most famous shopping scenes ever filmed: when Julia Roberts confronts a haughty Rodeo Drive saleswoman in Pretty Woman. In the updated Brooklyn version, the duo tries their luck selling used clothes at Beacon’s Closet, where they go head-to-head with a buyer who has clearly seen it all.
The Cut traveled from the Garment District to Astoria to visit the city’s nine Beacon’s Closet and Buffalo Exchange locations, the two chains with a choke hold over the city’s secondhand goods. We spoke strictly to buyers — the ultimate arbiters who yea and nay the merch — about their own personal style (inspirations include everyone from Rihanna to Stevie Nicks) and their craziest stories on the job. Click ahead for tales of incredible vintage coats, behind the scenes with the Broad City girls, and someone who “once found a vibrator in a tennis shoe.”
Caroline Yes, 33, Beacon's Closet (Greenpoint) "We love Broad City. I was so excited when they wanted to shoot here. They shot back in...
Caroline Yes, 33, Beacon's Closet (Greenpoint) "We love Broad City. I was so excited when they wanted to shoot here. They shot back in July. They were both so cool. I was like, ‘I’m really happy you guys are making fun of us,’ and they were like, ‘We’re really honored to be shooting here.’ I think that Ilana bought a pair of Chanel pumps, if I remember correctly. It was cool when they did the wind tunnel right here, like their grand re-entrance into the store. It was fun for us behind the scenes, trying to figure out what the sketch was going to be about. They shot before we opened. It ended up going into store hours a little bit, so there was an hour of chaos where customers were coming in and they were still shooting."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Kelsey Ledgerwood, 23, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "I’m like romantic vintage. In my 'holds' downstairs that will be in my closet eventually...
Kelsey Ledgerwood, 23, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "I’m like romantic vintage. In my 'holds' downstairs that will be in my closet eventually [laughs] I have a '40s gown with big feather sleeves. People bring in bags of their dirty socks and underwear — I don’t think they want to sell, I just don’t think they sort through it. If there’s underwear we tell them we can’t go through their buy."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Nina Carelli, 26, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "Today I was going for Blade Runner beauty-school dropout. I’ve been going through a more futu...
Nina Carelli, 26, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "Today I was going for Blade Runner beauty-school dropout. I’ve been going through a more future-inspired sort of phase, and I’m really interested in textures and layering and just having fun. I think Dion Lee does amazing textiles. I think Iris van Herpen — her construction is unreal. Christopher Kane's construction as well."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Richard Pedaline, 28, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "I just dyed my hair orange, so I’m trying to go more Japanese-style — more like Com...
Richard Pedaline, 28, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "I just dyed my hair orange, so I’m trying to go more Japanese-style — more like Comme des Garçons and Junya Watanabe, big silhouettes. I have on a Comme des Garçons top and a Margiela apron and just black jeans and Prada shoes. One of the first weeks of working here, I got a vintage Helmut Lang bulletproof vest. It was super-rare. It’s one of those gems that I’m just gonna keep forever. Clothing-wise, I guess the weirdest thing I’ve seen [here] is a bib, like a neck corset, that was all made out of monkey hair. It was super, super old and rare, and it was just like really creepy-looking. It had claws where it would clasp together. I think it was from the turn of the century." Photo: Amy Lombard
Katrina Feil, 25, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "My outfit today is pretty much what I like to wear every day: all one color, very basic. I li...
Katrina Feil, 25, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "My outfit today is pretty much what I like to wear every day: all one color, very basic. I like to be able to wear any shirt that I have with any bottom that I have, basically, and make it easier to get dressed. [My necklace] is like a mosaic bagel or something. I like very geometric jewelry."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Alex Penagos, 21, Beacon's Closet (Bushwick) "Working here makes you see things in a different way, I guess. The more I learn about certain ...
Alex Penagos, 21, Beacon's Closet (Bushwick) "Working here makes you see things in a different way, I guess. The more I learn about certain pieces and the time periods they come from, the more open I become to them. So I’ll find something really interesting and because of that think that I want to wear something. I’ve made that mistake, and I think everybody else here has made that mistake. When I first started working here last December I wore really bright colors and mixed them a lot. The only reason that was a mistake was because I wasn’t true to myself. I like to wear things that are more neutral or kind of one color, one print throughout."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Sean Monaghan, 27, Beacon's Closet (Greenpoint) Photo: Amy Lombard
Clare Looney, 26, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "I’m a total Pinterest whore; I’m always on there looking at things. Like old-fashioned icons ...
Clare Looney, 26, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "I’m a total Pinterest whore; I’m always on there looking at things. Like old-fashioned icons from Brigitte Bardot to the current runway shots. I’m also an interior-design fanatic. I’m a collector. I’m reading a book right now about how to let go of things. I’ve been here like four years, so it’s getting pretty bad [laughs]."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Julia Popescu, 35, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "I once found a vibrator in a tennis shoe. It was not a present buy, which means they were no...
Julia Popescu, 35, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "I once found a vibrator in a tennis shoe. It was not a present buy, which means they were not in front of me. So I wrote on the voucher, ‘Sorry, we don’t buy sex toys.’ They were beat-up sneakers that I wouldn’t have taken in anyway, but I can’t imagine taking in any shoe that had a vibrator in it. I want to say [the vibrator] was pink."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Karla Cornejo, 22, Beacon's Closet (Park Slope) "My favorite thing in my closet lately [is this sweater]. Actually, I was washing this...
Karla Cornejo, 22, Beacon's Closet (Park Slope) "My favorite thing in my closet lately [is this sweater]. Actually, I was washing this, and I shouldn’t have put it in the dryer, but it came out like this and I think it really looks good. The dryer just made its own design."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Karla Cornejo, 22, Beacon's Closet (Park Slope) Photo: Amy Lombard
Benjamin Stange, 27, Beacon's Closet (East Village) "Living in New York definitely changed my style a lot. [Before] it was a little bit more...
Benjamin Stange, 27, Beacon's Closet (East Village) "Living in New York definitely changed my style a lot. [Before] it was a little bit more hipster, like flannel shirts, super-skinny denim. But I lived in Ann Arbor. I lived there for six years, so I kind of did the hipster thing long before everybody else was sort of doing the hipster thing. I had long hair when I moved to New York, like I had the man-bun a long time ago. It’s a really big thing now, and so I just did it again. I like to wear comfortable simple things that are well made and sort of have a little bit of a twist to them. Maybe it’s a T-shirt that’s really long — almost like a dress — or these cool sort of tapered, baggy-fit pants. But they’re all really simple pieces, but you can put them together in different ways."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Emma Olson, 26, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "There’s such a fad for pastel hair and cool tones. I feel like this color’s kind of unfashionab...
Emma Olson, 26, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "There’s such a fad for pastel hair and cool tones. I feel like this color’s kind of unfashionable right now. Like, it was more present in the mid-'90s. And it’s an easy way to integrate color into my wardrobe. I’ve been working here so long that I’m sort of desensitized to clothing. I kind of just wear comfortable clothing now. I like distressed clothing, like kind of older clothing that shows some wear. I like clothing with holes in it."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Photo: Amy Lombard
Lauren Hendrie, 26, Buffalo Exchange (Williamsburg) "I got this alligator claw when I was in New Orleans, which is actually really common th...
Lauren Hendrie, 26, Buffalo Exchange (Williamsburg) "I got this alligator claw when I was in New Orleans, which is actually really common there. And I got it in this little voodoo shop. It was just so creepy and interesting. And yeah, I just love it. I wear it all the time. And my best friend has one, too. I did break one of its claws off not too long ago on accident, which was sad." Photo: Amy Lombard
Nina Chitadze, 26, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "I’m from a country called Georgia. I feel like I kind of take a little bit of style from eve...
Nina Chitadze, 26, Beacon's Closet (Manhattan) "I’m from a country called Georgia. I feel like I kind of take a little bit of style from everybody, from Coco Chanel to Frida Kahlo. I like to combine ethnical and modern and vintage together. I’m wearing [a] Jonathan Simkhai turtleneck, an Adidas oversize basketball top, J Brand leather pants, Topshop shoes, and Rodarte earrings. All from here."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Nina Lucey, 25, Beacon's Closet (Bushwick) "I want to say [my style is] like funky American. I like classic American casualwear with '60s, '...
Nina Lucey, 25, Beacon's Closet (Bushwick) "I want to say [my style is] like funky American. I like classic American casualwear with '60s, '70s, and '90s all strewn together in a shitshow of prints. You spend 40 hours a week with people — even when you work in an office, you’re like, ‘Wow those flats are really, really cute’ — and subconsciously or consciously you’re all sort of rubbing off on each other. But when you’re exposed to so many different things and so many amazing pieces like 1920s dresses with, like, current Yves Saint Laurent sneakers, you have to sort of decide, ‘That’s beautiful, but maybe that’s for somebody else.'"
Photo: Amy Lombard
Alexandra Patino, 24, Buffalo Exchange (Chelsea) "Right out of high school I decided I wanted to be in fashion. A lot of it came [abou...
Alexandra Patino, 24, Buffalo Exchange (Chelsea) "Right out of high school I decided I wanted to be in fashion. A lot of it came [about] because of self-esteem issues — being young and being picked on by kids saying, ‘Oh, you’re ugly,’ or whatever; silly things like that. I used to get really upset and not feel good about myself, and then clothes just made me feel so much different. I looked to clothes to make myself feel better. I like to say that the style that I have is every Spice Girl [combined], because each Spice Girl has their own individual personality and own individual style, and I just feel like I resemble a little bit of all of them."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Alley O’Shea, 30, Beacon's Closet (Park Slope) "I used to only wear vintage dresses and saddle shoes, like every day. I think being able to ...
Alley O’Shea, 30, Beacon's Closet (Park Slope) "I used to only wear vintage dresses and saddle shoes, like every day. I think being able to pick and choose and kind of play around — I’ve been here for three years — so being able to kind of see things come in and wear it once and if I want I can sell it back has given me really, like, freedom to try a lot of looks."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Alexandria Smith, 23, Buffalo Exchange (Boerum Hill) "My style is like a mix of classic stuff and my mom’s closet. I like stuff that h...
Alexandria Smith, 23, Buffalo Exchange (Boerum Hill) "My style is like a mix of classic stuff and my mom’s closet. I like stuff that has a little bit of history to it when I put it on, which is why I chose to work here, because I like to find treasures and stuff that looks like it was really special to someone. And then kind of put some love back into it. Rihanna can do no wrong. Anything she puts on, her confidence makes it work." Photo: Amy Lombard
Allison Press, 32, Beacon's Closet (Greenpoint) "One time I was going through a bag and I found a necklace that was literally like a vial of...
Allison Press, 32, Beacon's Closet (Greenpoint) "One time I was going through a bag and I found a necklace that was literally like a vial of someone’s blood. It also had a needle in it, so I didn’t buy it. I mean, it was a legit necklace, so it was cool, but we figured it would probably be a bad idea to get it."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Amanda Garrett, 36, Beacon's Closet (East Village) "We had a really cool pair of lederhosen last week that we actually did buy in. They were...
Amanda Garrett, 36, Beacon's Closet (East Village) "We had a really cool pair of lederhosen last week that we actually did buy in. They were just like the traditional greenish/gray German lederhosen. The lederhosen were probably like $25 because you want to respect the integrity of it, but it’s going to take that specific person [to buy it]. And we also just, up until a couple days ago, had a hamster onesie, like with a hood and everything. The hamster onesie was probably like $10. We definitely like to have conversation pieces in the store even if we don’t know if anyone will actually buy it."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Cadya McDonagh, 20, Buffalo Exchange (Boerum Hill) "My style is very eclectic. It depends on the day, what I like, how I feel, what I gravit...
Cadya McDonagh, 20, Buffalo Exchange (Boerum Hill) "My style is very eclectic. It depends on the day, what I like, how I feel, what I gravitate toward. I kind of like to describe myself as a ‘50s housewife, '60s mod, and '70s boho every day. Today I’m kind of comfy, kind of grungy."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Heather David, 24, Buffalo Exchange (Astoria) "Yesterday we had this awesome couple that used to ride motorcycles, and they sold us all of t...
Heather David, 24, Buffalo Exchange (Astoria) "Yesterday we had this awesome couple that used to ride motorcycles, and they sold us all of their motorcycle gear, like leather jackets, bombers. They were super-fun. [The] husband was just too old to ride. He seemed really bummed about it. And he was like, ‘Oh, maybe I’ll get a Vespa,’ and the wife kind of laughed it off like, ‘Vespa, that’s too cute for us to ride around in.’"
Photo: Amy Lombard
Jessica Burgwald, 25, Buffalo Exchange (Astoria) "Probably my favorite thing that I own (that I never wear because I’m afraid to hurt it) is...
Jessica Burgwald, 25, Buffalo Exchange (Astoria) "Probably my favorite thing that I own (that I never wear because I’m afraid to hurt it) is this 1960s Mama Cass–style robe. It’s like all psychedelic colors: Neon pink is the background, but then it has, like, huge oversize flowers. I got that one in Oakland. Oakland does this big citywide estate sale kind of — they call it the White Elephant Sale. I know that it can’t take a lot of movement because of the way it’s constructed; you’re not really supposed to move your arms around too much. I want to say it was like $24. But yeah, I really love that piece. I’m always afraid to wear, like, any of my vintage."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Janella Melendez, 22, Buffalo Exchange (Williamsburg) "Ever since New Year's I kind of made a resolution to kind of spice up my wardrobe. I ...
Janella Melendez, 22, Buffalo Exchange (Williamsburg) "Ever since New Year's I kind of made a resolution to kind of spice up my wardrobe. I used to wear a lot of colors and a lot of florals and be really girly, and now I kind of evolved to wearing a lot of black. I usually like to color-match and try crazy things, and I’ve never done the whole black thing before, so I just wanted to be a little more edgy. It’s something I’ve never tried before. I’m giving it a go, digging it."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Lain Kay, 28, Beacon's Closet (Greenpoint) "I’m a performance artist and musician. So I dress for being onstage a lot of times. I pick ...
Lain Kay, 28, Beacon's Closet (Greenpoint) "I’m a performance artist and musician. So I dress for being onstage a lot of times. I pick things that look like you’d be aboard a starship or [laughs] kind of like global citizen, like picking from different cultural signifiers. I sing [laughs]. And scream. I’m a screamer. Well, I’m from a punk background, so I used to scream a lot more, but lately I’ve been doing more melodic things, but they’re still like a little dark. It’s a little bitchy — catty, I guess, is a better word."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Leah Evans, 30, Beacon's Closet (Greenpoint) "The weirdest thing I ever found in a pocket is, like, a bag of dead crickets. Well, actually, ...
Leah Evans, 30, Beacon's Closet (Greenpoint) "The weirdest thing I ever found in a pocket is, like, a bag of dead crickets. Well, actually, no, I didn’t find it — a customer called and reported it was in a pocket of something they bought. Sorry, this was like years ago. I’m getting my story mixed up. But she was like, ‘Uh can I return this? There’s all these dead crickets in the pocket.’ I think it was for somebody’s pet. Probably a lizard. Also, I think it was a former co-worker who found a flattened mouse in the bag that she was going through, like at the bottom. There’s a lot of disgusting things. Like somebody accidentally grabbed their trash bags and brought their trash bags instead of the clothes. They were totally surprised as well. That all happened at the other location."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Lucy Randall, 19, Buffalo Exchange (Astoria) "We’re a little bit quieter. I think that it’s more like a neighborhood store than some of the ...
Lucy Randall, 19, Buffalo Exchange (Astoria) "We’re a little bit quieter. I think that it’s more like a neighborhood store than some of the other stores, just ‘cause, like, this store is like in a very established older neighborhood. So we’ve got a lot of people who come here to hang out, like older Greek ladies who just come here to chill. And we have a lot of regulars and we know all their names and we talk to them every day and say, ‘What’s going on?'
"I got this at the Williamsburg store, actually. I love it; it’s like my signature dress. It was, like, $12 at the Williamsburg store. I feel like a straight-up baller [laughs] every time I wear it. It’s like my power outfit. These are really dirty, but these [shoes] are Opening Ceremony and Adidas. I’m obsessed with, like, platforms. I’m already tall, but I’m just gonna lean into it. I like to stand in the subway and just be like, ‘I’m taller than all of you.'" Photo: Amy Lombard
Stephanie Williams, 32, Beacon's Closet (Greenpoint) "I’ve been dressing like this for a pretty long time. I feel like I adopted the whole g...
Stephanie Williams, 32, Beacon's Closet (Greenpoint) "I’ve been dressing like this for a pretty long time. I feel like I adopted the whole goth look in middle school, so I didn’t really sway from that. In my middle-school yearbook picture, I look like Wednesday Addams. And I’m surrounded by all blondes [laughs]. And I look really miserable."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Tiffany Collings, 34, Beacon's Closet (Park Slope) "I’m from the Midwest — I grew up in a town called La Porte, Indiana — and there’s this g...
Tiffany Collings, 34, Beacon's Closet (Park Slope) "I’m from the Midwest — I grew up in a town called La Porte, Indiana — and there’s this great church thrift store I go to every time I’m home. I was just shopping around and I found this hamburger necklace. It had everything on it, and I said, ‘This has to be mine.’ And, weirdly, I wear things that I think, Oh, this is going to get me a lot of compliments, and it’s this hamburger necklace that every time wins. I believe I paid 25 cents [laughs]."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Lily Ciccarone, 35, Beacon's Closet (Bushwick) "At the Manhattan store there was this floor-length, green fox-fur Roberto Cavalli coat. Actu...
Lily Ciccarone, 35, Beacon's Closet (Bushwick) "At the Manhattan store there was this floor-length, green fox-fur Roberto Cavalli coat. Actually, it was the same coat that Meryl Streep wears for a second in The Devil Wears Prada, but the one that she wore was red in the movie. But it was kind of patent leather, corseted. It was in the window and people signed up for it. I feel like we priced it around $400; it’s unusual for us to go that high."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Vanessa Monsalve, 29, Buffalo Exchange (Boerum Hill) "I’ve seen a lot of the trends that I love coming back. I’d love to see more of the 192...
Vanessa Monsalve, 29, Buffalo Exchange (Boerum Hill) "I’ve seen a lot of the trends that I love coming back. I’d love to see more of the 1920s. I really love flappers and jodhpurs and cropped hair. It was such a timeless age; it was so beautiful. Everyone was so elegant, like the way the men dressed with their hats and their suits — I would love to see guys dressed like that."
Photo: Amy Lombard
Photo: Amy Lombard
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