IT BOASTS more designer labels than an episode of Sex And The City, but this fashionista's paradise is not in Manhattan or Chelsea.
The 'boutique' in question is, in fact, Scotland's most upmarket charity shop.
The Oxfam clothes store in the heart of Glasgow's trendy West End attracts a constant stream of designer items that have been ditched by affluent residents.
The stan
dard of garments donated to the Byres Road outlet is so high that clothes from budget labels like Primark and George at Asda are routinely rejected.
The charity said other stores in Edinburgh and Aberdeen were also regularly receiving deliveries of designer clothes, but believed that Byres Road outstripped all others in the glam stakes.
Chloe Paddington handbags became a must-have for A-list celebrities ever since Victoria Beckham was photographed with one dangling from her delicate wrist.
The leather Parisian design-house bags, which come complete with a trademark padlock, routinely sell for more than £800. But in recent months two of the coveted accessories have been donated to the thrift store.
The Byres Road shop currently has one of the bags, in perfect condition, on its shelves for a heavily discounted but still formidable £110.
Other high-profile items include a £375 Miss Sixty leather jacket, now priced at £40, and a dress by the same label which has been reduced from £110 to £14.99.
A vintage Ozzie Clark dress recently sold for £250, while labels such as Chanel and Jean Paul Gaultier routinely turn up.
Assistant manager Sophie Brill said the shop's location, close to Glasgow University and the city's bohemian Ashton Lane, meant they were never short of well-heeled donors and bargain-hunters.
"We are very lucky to be positioned in an ideal area. Our main customers are the West Enders, young affluent professionals.
"They recognise the higher quality of items that we are looking for and are also willing to pay that little bit more for things they want to buy."
Young high-earners are those most likely to donate barely worn expensive gear to the shop.
"Sometimes people come in with shabby binbags, but when you open them up they are full of designer clothes," she said.
"We know our market and just won't bother putting out clothes that we know won't sell. Because of that we don't bother with Primark or Asda George clothes, as they are not what our customers are looking for."
A recent survey showed that a quarter of Britons earning £50,000 or more regularly frequent second-hand shops and car boot sales.
Charity shops also received a boost when Kylie revealed that her iconic gold hot-pants, which recently went on display at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Museum, were the prized result of a trawl through nearly-new stores.
Judith Robertson, head of Oxfam Scotland, said the sale of designer clothes helped in their main goal of alleviating poverty in the developing world.
She said: "The money raised by the shops is crucial in helping us fund projects in over 70 countries around the world.
The full article contains 516 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
