The stretch of Wilshire Blvd. in the City of Santa Monica’s dotted with great eco-shopping opportunities — including a few fantastic consignment shops that offer pre-loved, high-end designer fashions. I drop by these from time to time when walking home from the library or Whole Foods — and though I kind of want to keep them a secret, thought I should share how I manage to afford designer brands while keeping my closet as green as possible.

The first of my recommended consignment shops: Fashion Therapy. This pleasantly pink store’s inviting and friendly, with well-organized racks full of pre-loved high-end designer clothes that make eco-fashion shopping fun.

The shoes are especially well organized:

For consignment store newbies: shopping at these stores will save you a lot of money over brand new pieces from the same designers — but that doesn’t mean that shopping pre-loved is always cheap, as this coat illustrates:

But you can still get many gorgeous, affordable pieces, like this pretty blue Betsy Johnson dress, on sale for $127, when I dropped by on Tuesday.

Fashion Therapy has an especially fantastic sale rack, with prices going all the way down to $20 for a Max Studio shirt.

As always — No shopping’s green if it’s wasteful shopping. Remember that a good wardrobe — especially a good green wardrobe — requires planning, not just snatching up items because they happen to be cheaper. And of course, the greenest clothes are the one you already own.

Fashion Therapy. 2305 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. 310.264.2577.

Update, 1/30/10: Pre-loved fashion shopping in Santa Monica: A Walking guide — 7 stores, 2 miles!

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