12th March 2025
Charlotte and Gabby, what is ‘Through Your Wardrobe’?
Through Your Wardrobe is a preloved consignment agency. We sell secondhand clothing and accessories on behalf of our clients. We also sell a small quantity of overstock from various brands and sample pieces. We offer the boutique shopping experience at a more affordable price point by promoting the reuse of garments, often in brand new condition, ultimately reducing landfill and the circular fashion economy.
What is circular fashion and why is it important?
Circular fashion is the more sustainable approach to buying clothing. The aim is to prolong the life of the garments, keeping them out of landfill and making a wardrobe refresh that is a bit more affordable. As a community we need to reduce the consumption of new clothing and use what is already available. We feel it is important to use every garment as much as possible, so much goes to waste before its life is over.
What are your backgrounds and what led to you joining forces?
We are sisters, despite looking nothing alike! We have both had a keen interest in fashion for many years, both serial shoppers and have had boutiques before. Gabby has worked in clothing retail her whole career and Charlotte has always kept some sort of retail enterprise going whilst working in other roles. 2022 saw the beginning of working on Through Your Wardrobe full time with our first store in Rye, East Sussex. Tunbridge Wells store followed in 2024.
Tell me more about how your shop in Chapel Place works.
We offer an agency style selling process. We ask that anyone wishing to sell through us makes an appointment through our website to come and show us what they have to sell. We will pick out the items we feel we have a market for and research the pricing across various different platforms to make sure we have a competitive price to sell effectively. Once the seller has agreed the pricing, we get selling and offer the items in our stores for around 8-12 weeks. When the items sell, we pay into a UK bank account on a 50/50 basis. To buy from us, we are open 6 days a week 11-5pm Monday to Saturday in Tunbridge Wells and 7 days a week in Rye, 11-5pm. We also offer private shopping experiences, free of charge, generally in the evenings, so that we can tailor our stock to your party. Available to book online.
The fashion industry is currently ranked as one of the worst in terms of its impact on our planet. Are things getting any better?
The consumption of new clothing is continuing to grow, year on year, and many of the garments produced are of questionable quality. We wholeheartedly back the concept of buy once, buy well. A well-made garment, using sustainable materials, will always outlast a cheaper, poorly made garment. We offer the opportunity to buy these well-made garments at a fraction of their retail price.
What’s on the rails of your Tunbridge Wells showroom?
We always have a wealth of exciting items in both our stores at any given time. We have appointments to take in new items every day, so it is worth popping in regularly to see what has come in. We stock many pieces by a range of labels such as Chanel, Prada, Burberry, Isabel Marant, Margaret Howell, MaxMara, Alexander McQueen, Me+Em, Wyse, Cos, etc. We have many items starting at £20.
Tell me about your private shopping events.
We very much prefer getting to know our customers in person and whilst we have a website, we like the old school in person shopping experience. The private shopping evenings give us the opportunity to showcase our whole inventory and tailor sizes to your party. We suggest a max of 12 people each event as this allows us to select and advise individuals on a selection that they may not otherwise try, if shopping alone. We can work to your brief or just facilitate a fun shopping experience. There is no obligation to buy, we provide complimentary prosecco for each group, bookings usually take place from 6.30pm to 10pm but we are open to specific requests.
Thank you for joining the TN card family. How do you thank members for supporting you?
We are offering a 10% discount on everything when shopping with the TN card in our Tunbridge Wells branch. There is no limit to the number of transactions.
How can businesses support you?
As with many retail businesses in the area, we need to showcase our items to as many customers as possible. The more buyers we have, the more sellers we can work with! We currently offer four selling appointments each day, with a max of 20 garments per appointment. If we sell through at a faster rate, we can offer more appointments to sell.
Through Your Wardrobe
13 Chapel Place, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1YQ
thetncard.com/through-your-wardrobe