Closet Quickies in Kemang

This is where I got my pre-loved Stam. I can't quite remember how I found out about the shop, think it was idle clicking here and there online. I found out about it some 2-3 weeks before we were due to move back to KL and imagine my annoyance when I discovered it was just 5 min away from where we lived in Kemang. Dear Hubby thought quite the opposite of course, heaving a sigh of relief and patting his credit card at the same time.

If you're coming from Prapanca, just turn left at the traffic lights to get into Kemang. Go past Eastern Promise, the new condo on your left (name just escapes me at the mo), KFC on your right... all the way to the T-junction. Turn left there and then go down the road until you pass a mosque on your left. Closet Quickies is just a little further along from the mosque on the right hand side of the road.

They sell pre-loved clothes and accessories. I'm not too impressed by the clothes, some look like they really should have been binned instead of re-sold. I suppose you have to really dig if you want to score some bargains. But for bargain clothes, I prefer shopping at Heritage at Pejaten Village, they had some lovely Stella McCartney stuff in that day that did not fit my post-pregnancy blob.

They have plenty of shoes, some were really nice but none that fit my big, flat-footed self. Which was a good thing because here's where I draw the line at pre-loved stuff. I have no probs with secondhand clothes. Each time we're in the UK, I head eagerly to charity shops and pick up bargains for a quid or two. I even buy them for Connor, got him this cute parka for a $1.50 (the pound sign won't work on my keyboard so just imagine the $ is a pound sign). But not shoes. I don't like the idea of inserting my toes where other toes have gone before. It would have killed me if I saw a pair I really liked.

They had lots of cute bangles and I bought myself some. I have no idea why. I'm not really a bangle person. But I simply couldn't resist the ones I saw.

And finally... the bags. It was sheer luck that I got the Stam I think. Checked with the Marc Jacobs store in KLCC and found out that we'd paid a third of the current retail price for it. They had a Chloe there as well when I was last there but girls, before you start stampeding that way, it's not the Paddington. I have no idea what it was because I was dizzy enough from clutching the Stam. I also saw a yellow Tod's satchel somewhere close to the back of the store.

The outlet is run by the editor of Fashionese Daily, an online Indonesian fashion site. They were also featured in an article on secondhand stores in Jakarta Post. They have a not-often-updated website. I don't know why they bother having a website then. It disappointed me when I saw bags like the Chanel clutch on their site and then I can't find it in the store.

If you're patient enough and keep going back to browse, I think you'll stumble upon a gem or two one day. But if you're not that sort, no biggie missing the store. I kinda like it though. It's like a treasure hunt and it's really the thrill of finding the treasure that makes me adore secondhand shops.


Closet Quickies is at Jl Bangka Raya, No. 103, Kemang. Tel: +62-21-9124 0335