Rico's ladyfriend would love it

Sarh Maslin Nir has an article in The New York Times about second-hand clothes in New York:

It happened only once, but once was enough to fan a flame of desire that has burned ever since. As I ambled past a pile of crumpled clothes at a used clothing sale— a crushed blouse, a wrinkled pashmina, faded “mom jeans” configured in that terrifying ’80s silhouette that could give even Keira Knightley a muffin top— I spotted a rivulet of familiar pastel in the sea of castoffs. Gingerly, I picked the pile apart, pinching the barest corner of each grimy garment between thumb and index finger, reluctant to touch them. Who knew where they’d been, or what sort of person had worn them?
But, when I uncovered what lay beneath them, those concerns disappeared like last season’s Paddington bag. Under the pile of offensive and out-of-style rags were the swirling curlicues of an Emilio Pucci mini dress with a structured bodice that riffed on Madonna’s racy Vogue bra. I caught my breath. It was $5.
Finds like this help thrift and vintage shoppers steel themselves against the onerous task of sifting through racks of vile and/or unfashionable clothing that seem to make up 99 percent of most shops’ inventories.
But, in Manhattan, a host of vintage and consignment stores have done the work for you, selecting the best used (or more euphemistically, “pre-loved”) clothing and selling it at reasonable rates. Even some of the city’s thrift stores— where goods are sometimes less choice because they are provided by donations from the public— are pleasant, run by staff members who tastefully curate their stock.
Shops come in several varieties. Some thrift shops are run for profit, and some donate proceeds to a particular charity and are run by volunteers. Then there are vintage shops, specializing in retro clothing, often from a spectrum of eras. Finally there are consignment stores, where owners drop off their unwanted clothing to be sold, sharing a percentage of the profit with the store’s proprietor. The price typically goes down the longer the item remains unsold.
A search on Whitepages.com turns up more than one hundred of these types of stores. In Manhattan, we have narrowed the list to fourteen— hardly exhaustive, yet a good sampling of stores that have consistently high-quality inventory, as well as high turnover, which often enhances the chances of stumbling on a great find.
Connoisseurs will note that some of the most recognizable names, like Reminiscence and Screaming Mimi’s, aren’t on this list, on the theory that the lesser-known shops are more likely to hold overlooked treasures. In addition, we did not include well-known outlets like Goodwill and the Salvation Army, though the Salvation Army store in Chelsea (208 Eighth Avenue) is worth an occasional visit and the Goodwill on the Upper East Side (1704 Second Avenue) is a jeans collector’s dream: The second floor has more than 900 pairs of jeans (we counted) and each pair sells for $9.99.
While you might not find Pucci perfection for a fiver on your first outing— or even your tenth— the hunt is half the fun.
Promising sources of used clothing in Manhattan here.