Baltimore's consignment scene includes several stores owned by older women. Image by Pexels from Pixabay

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Donna Jenkins curates The Zone, a popular vintage store in Mount Vernon she opened in the 1980s. Her shop is “a good place to get good deals on both fashion-forward and ordinary clothing,” Jenkins said. Photo by Laura Melamed

Lisa Shannon runs a consignment shop in Mount Washington. Photo by Laura Melamed

Donna Jenkins, 68, owner of The Zone, a popular used clothing store in Mount Vernon, remembers how she discovered her love of vintage. “It was ’77, and I hated the clothing of that time period,” she said, “so I started hunting around for other clothing.”  

Jenkins, then a senior at the University of Maryland, found a warehouse in D.C. full of industrial bales of old clothes for sale. The owner, the son of a Philadelphia rag dealer who had inherited the old clothing from his father’s business, would pop open the bales for people like Jenkins, who were shopping for something different to wear.  

“The stuff would just lie around on the floor and you would just go through piles, try something on, if it didn’t fit, throw it back down, dig around a little more,” Jenkins said. “So I went to him and said, ‘Hey, do you want someone to hang that stuff up for you?’ and so I got a job.” 

That job led her to a career in consignment. “It had nothing to do with my major — which was art history — other than that I was using my eyeballs,” Jenkins said. 

Now The Zone has been in business 43 years, and Jenkins is a local legend.  

At The Zone and Baltimore’s other consignment shops, shoppers can get a great deal on high fashion while reducing waste and contributing to a more sustainable world. And many of these shops were founded by women now over 50, who have dedicated their lives to the hunt for unique clothes, shoes and jewelry for their customers. 

The Zone 

Jenkins frequents thrift stores nationwide to find high quality clothing for her shop. “I do the hunting for you,” she explained.  

Half of her store is vintage clothing, and the other half includes good, usable denim, sweaters, cotton and linen — “anything that seems like really good fabric and a good design,” she said.  

Her customers are often people who have the means to buy new clothing but don’t want to contribute to fast fashion, that is, cheaply made, throwaway clothes.  

“They don’t want that,” Jenkins said. “They want something that’s more durable…There’s a lot of consciousness about that.” 

Jenkins has always had an eye for quality. When she was working at the warehouse in the late 1970s, she befriended a coworker with a degree in clothing and textiles. The two went into business together, becoming street vendors in D.C.’s Dupont Circle and at the Adams Morgan Festival.  

Working outside took its toll, though, so she started looking for an affordable brick-and-mortar shop.  

Jenkins ended up in Baltimore because a friend from college invited her to sell her clothing in the back of his mother’s craft store on Charles Street in Mount Vernon. Jenkins’ clothing sold a lot more than the crafts, and eventually it became her store.  

“I didn’t even plan that,” Jenkins said. “I didn’t really know what I was going to do.” 

Lisa’s Luxury Consignment

Lisa Shannon, 62, owner of Lisa’s Luxury Consignment in Mount Washington, has always known that, as she puts it, “Fashion is my passion.”  

Shannon started out in retail at the age of 18. She received a scholarship to study commercial art and fundamentals of design from Baltimore City College. She became a model at 23, working with Flare Modeling Agencies, one of the first Black-owned modeling agencies in Baltimore. Later, she freelanced, doing murals, face painting and designing prom and wedding dresses. 

Shannon was working as a manager at La Chic Boutique, a consignment shop in Mount Washington, when she bought it from the owners and rebranded it as Lisa’s Luxury Consignment LLC.  

Her shop opened in January 2020, right before the pandemic, so she “had to survive almost a year on faith and support of the community and trying different ideas,” Shannon said.  

In the spring of 2020, for instance, she hosted happy hours on the wraparound veranda outside her shop on Friday evenings. A few visitors wandered into the shop, wearing masks, and bought unique designer tops, pants and skirts.  

Shannon also hosted fashion shows and skate parties. She visited public schools and taught students how to build an affordable, sustainable wardrobe. “I also donated prom dresses to schools,” she said.  

Now that business is picking up post-pandemic, Shannon is excited to share her fashion knowledge with more people in the community. Shannon brings her dog, Sammy, to work with her every day, and he is excited to meet customers, too. 

ReDeux Apparel 

ReDeux Apparel, a consignment shop in Roland Park, houses a carefully curated collection of designer labels. Its curators are co-owners Jan Braun and Linda Eisenbrandt.  

Their shop sits in a cozy nook of stores, somewhat hidden away in a charming outdoor space where, twice a year, you can shop at the ReDeux Apparel Sidewalk Sale.  

Braun was inspired by her mother, a world traveler and shopper. From her mother, she learned to spot the latest trends and choose quality fabrics.  

Eisenbrandt was an interior designer before she was a consigner. Putting together colors and textures comes naturally to her. She loves to help her customers combine the old with the new. “Re-use, Refine, Re-wear, Rejoice,” is their motto, Eisenbrandt said. 

ReDeux Apparel donates clothing to Johns Hopkins and the Maryland nonprofit Success in Style.  

Last Tango

Ella Rosson, 68 opened her cozy Pikesville shop, Last Tango, in 2000.  

Before she opened Last Tango, Rosson was creating knitwear for Neiman Marcus. Rosson grew up in the Russia and learned to knit when she was in school in Saint Petersburg. She has a degree in library science and loves treasure hunting.  

“We want to find treasure,” she said. “I am sure my customers, when they come here, they are trying to find treasure. Most of the time, they are successful. It’s just a question of what you see as treasure. Sometimes it’s a ring. Sometimes it’s a scarf. Sometimes it’s a dress.”  

Rosson sees her industry as a way to time travel, in a sense. 

“A consignment shop gives you a variety of things — you can go through time and just to be able to touch and see things that have not been around for a while,” Rosson said.  

“I love to shop consignment myself because it gives you the ability to find something that’s not widely available,” Rosson said.  

“You want to be you,” she added. “Everyone is different.”  

Shoppers are invited to sell their clothing by appointment only. Contact each store at the number below:

The Zone, 813 N Charles St. A, Baltimore, (410) 539-2817.  

Lisa’s Luxury Consignment Shop, 1501 Sulgrave Ave. #104, Baltimore, (443) 869-2247. 

ReDeux Apparel, 5002 Lawndale Ave., Baltimore, (410) 323-2140. 

Last Tango, 1017 Reisterstown Rd., Pikesville, MD, (410) 484-9958.