The Alter Eco

The store owner is very friendly and helpful and they have awesome jewelry!

If I told you how many stores I went to looking for a dress you wouldn’t believe me.
I needed a dress for a friends wedding. I’m doing a reading so I want to have something nice to wear while I totally freak out on stage in front of 150 people. I went to retail shop after retail shop. Nothing. I don’t mind spending money on a dress but I really have to be in love with it to spend over $ 150.
I called the Alter Eco and Angelique informed me that they had an abundance of dresses in my size. Yay! I went in and not only did I find a dress I loved, I found 3 and one was a Laundry for $ 60! I had a hard time choosing but I finally decided on a vintage (or at last vintage looking 1950s-​esque) Ann Taylor summery dress for $ 27. Be still my heart!
There are some vintage selections there but I wouldn’t say that is the main focus of this store. The focus is clean, brand name, well cared for clothing that is well organized. The shopping experience is very boutique like and pleasant.

I don’t think vintage and see the styles from the early-​mid nineties flip past my eyes. Cause we just aren’t old enough for all that just yet! For this reason, it seems to me that this is the bastard child of thrift/​vintage/​consignment stores– for the area, at least.
I didn’t find anything that appealed, though it might not be a bad place to throw together a costume come Halloween time, especially if it involved an ugly bridesmaids dress or two.
I maybe just need to frequent this place enough to find the goods?
The lady was very nice to my sister and I, she let us know she was closing soon, so we curbed our browsing. And thanked her on our way out.
The storefront isn’t all that inviting either. Several doors and a few stairs are involved before you actually get in. This could just be the price you pay when you open up a store in this awkward area of town? Who knows!

This place is like a dream come true. Great selection, lots of different labels ranging from H & M to Marc Jacobs. I could spend so much money here and always need to exercise a lot of restraint.
Angelique is friendly and helpful and great at explaining how her business works. I look forward to chatting with her again on subsequent visits.

I was really looking for shoes and they are literally just starting to take them. The owner, Angelique was very nice and helpful though, giving it a good «want to come back periodically» vibe. Mostly modern clothes with a sprinkling of vintage. Lots of vintage as well as modern jewelry though, which is a plus.
They are still taking winter consignments and will start taking spring items in march (they follow the calendar unlike national stores, some of whom have bathing suits out alread y (Target!!!)

My favorite laundromat is just next door to this place, so I stopped by this afternoon. I really *wanted* to like Alter Eco, but damn, I’m not paying $ 12 for a Coldwater Creek vest that looks like it’s from 1993!
Consignment stores are tricky — they have to charge more than thrift stores because part of the cost of the item goes to the consignor. However, in return, you’d expect the quality of the merchandise to be superior to that of a thrift store. Right now it’s not. I did spot a cute spring green Coach rain jacket marked down from $ 150 to $ 98, but I’m not an XS, and it’s not rain coat season. There was also a BCBG dress for $ 70… used.
This place kind of reminds me of Craig’s List — people want more for their stuff than it’s worth because they have a misconceived notion of its value. but perhaps the inventory will improve and the prices will be worth the item. I wish her the best of luck. It’s not easy being a small business owner.

Talking to the owner gave some insight to her challenges as a business. First off, this place is STRICTLY consignment. The benefits are clear, less cash upfront, no scrounging at estate sales, or rummaging through Goodwill for finds: the shop relies solely on US for its inventory. (Consignors are given 40% of sales of their items.)
As I haven’t taken stuff over yet, I’m not sure how discerning they are but I’d imagine that as the store fills up they could afford to be more picky. There are certainly some coveted items to be had, but for now they could really use an influx of pizazz. So how’s that for motivation to eat out, get plump and grow out of your hot duds for the benefit of fellow fashionistas everywhere?!

Ya know, at first, I had seen this store and driven by it a few times. To be honest, I did not give it much thought and thought it was a consignment store for wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses and that ilk. Come to find out, through Unilocal, I learned it is a clothing consignment store for the ladies. Well, I met Angelique, the owner today and she was a very lovely young woman. She was great, very helpful and friendly. The quality of the consigned clothes is okay, three star worthy. I would definitely come back a few times a season to check out the new inventory. It is a very small store, but it is nicely laid out and it smells so clean and new. I like the name, too! This store is a welcome addition to Allston.

This is a very cute little store with a lot of potential. I normally would have never gone into a store like this, but the owner pays a lot of attention to making her windows displays attractive and it worked.
I usually wait for the 66 right in front of the store, and every single day there would be an adorable outfit displayed in the window. One day I saw this gorgeous sundress with green flowers on it, and that sucked me into visiting. But I was on my way to work, and had to come back in a few hours.
By then, it was gone, turns out many others thought the dress was gorgeous too. When I went in, the owner was already preparing a new cute outfit on the mannequin. What an excellent move.
She was really really nice and chatted for a bit, but continued to do her own thing and let me shop, assuring me she was there if I needed anything. The store is small, yes, but it has a lot of growth potential. The clothes are cheap, cute, and trendy. I’m really happy that she puts up all the mannequins, because it definitely puts ideas in your head for outfits.
Good store, I can’t wait to see where they go.

I’m not really a stylsih clothing kinda girl, and would probably never have walked into The Alter Eco, had I not met Angelique.
But I was pysched to meet another young woman business owner in the Allston/​Brookline-​ish area and started swinging by.
Of course I wound up buying stuff– which says a lot about a store if it’s totally not your thing, and you’re not there specifically to shop but you find things that work for you anyways– i.e. a rad little vest and a pink panther tank for only $ 2!!!
So:
Great customer service
Honest opinions
Something for everyone (trust me on this)

Super easy to consign with, I found the owner very nice and extremely organized. I did not end up buying while I was there, but I was impressed with the stock and the prices, which I thought were quite reasonable.

I was originally going to give this place only 4 stars, but after thinking about it for awhile, the Alter Eco has amazing potential, so I’m bumping it up to 5 stars.
The Alter Eco is really really tiny, however, Angelique the owner, has done a fantastic job of displaying a wide variety of clothing, and managing to have a ton of inventory in such a small place. This place lacks the pretentiousness of places like Second Time Around, and manages to be extremely affordable. There are plenty of consignment stores out there that take advantage of the inventory they get and completely gouge the prices. Very rarely did I see anything above $ 50 and maybe the most expensive thing I saw was around $ 80. Everything was in excellent condition, and Angelique made me feel totally at ease. She informed me that her selection changes daily which is great because you can come in and find different items! I settled on one top that I really loved, and I was eyeing a purse, but my wallet was telling me no :(
This is an amazing addition to the Allston area, and I hope this place flourishes! It’s definitely on my list of top vintage places.
Oh, one other thing, all sales are final, but I’m sure you wouldn’t want to return anything you buy from here anyway!

I’m rating this a little higher than I might otherwise, because it’s obviously brand new and shows signs of being a good place. Bring in your clothes to sell! Allston/​Brighton needs a new thrift store. This one is organized and clean and while they don’t have a lot of clothing yet, what they have is good quality and reasonably priced.
update: I visited a month later and found the shelves just as sparse and almost nothing in my size. The owner has said that she will try to find more items in different sizes and I appreciate that. The clothes are stylish and it is a cute shop.

New vintage/​consignment store on the Boston front! This location JUST popped up in Allston in the last week or two and will officially open for business tomorrow! Angelique the owner has been taking consignment all week in preparation for the BIG opening.
So what makes this place stand out?
Style Wise: Angelique is still figuring out what exactly she is going to carry in the store but she calls it «cool stuff» and I agree :) Think all the good stuff at Urban Renewals without digging. Also, in the next few months she is going to start carrying new, but environmentally friendly purses and clothing.
Consignment Wise: Since she is looking for «cool» clothing, you don’t have to worry about things being LABELS only. Its a ⁴⁰⁄₆₀ cut.
The store is still growing, so drop by with your stuff to help add to the selection.