Earlier this year we opened our St. Clair Shores location to accompany our flagship store of eight years in downtown Clawson. Our SCS location is more easily accessible to our friends on the east side and sits right off I-94. Where Clawson has that historic downtown charm, St. Clair Shores features a much larger space with a bigger selection for you to shop. Click through to the full post for a tour of our St. Clair Shores location and what we think makes it special!

In today's post, we're chatting with five fashion bloggers about their approach to shopping resale. We'll share tips from wardrobe stylists with experience shopping for women across the size spectrum, to local plus size bloggers who love the treasure hunt that is thrift shopping. Read on as they share why they love to thrift and their top tips for making the most of your resale shopping experience!

​Here at HIPS, we deal in brands ranging from cheap, fast fashion like Forever21+ to higher-end designer accessories from Coach and Kate Spade. Some resale stores cater to specific niches and classes of product, but our speciality is plus size fashion and accessories for all. That's why we buy and sell brands from across the pricing spectrum. We know that some of you are looking for a bargain. Others are looking to mix-and-match brands for an eclectic, signature look. And others are in search of those high end designer finds. We try to deal in a little bit of everything!

​Read on for our guide to buying and selling different brands here at HIPS. See which offer the hottest trends, the best overall value, and the most lasting power. For us, it's not about the brand. It's about providing choice, wearability, and fabulous finds!

Looking for some summer style inspiration as the season winds now? Need some ideas for refreshing your existing wardrobe? Wondering which pieces you can score on summer clearance to help you stretch your closet AND your wallet? We'll look at three plus size fashionistas with totally unique personal styles and see what we can learn from each. Let's turn up YOUR summer style so you can take on the rest of this season with confidence!

​1. It's friendly to the environment - Most people who don't donate or use a resale shop just throw their clothes away. We all know trash goes straight to the dump where it sits and sits for years.

2. It's cheaper - It's no surprise that resale sells below the cost of the big named stores, but when you add the coupons of resale stores, you're actually getting more bang for your buck.

3. It's easier to show your style - when you go to a big brand store, you get what they have in style. When you go to a resale shop, there are multiple styles from multiple places and times.

4. Fewer crowds - We've all seen those big crowds at malls around the holiday. Skip that drama and go resale! While there might be multiple people shopping at once, it never feels like its a crowded mall. 

5. Something different every week - You'll never know what a resale boutique will get in their stores. Every time you come in, you'll find something new! 

Summer has arrived, and that means dressing to keep cool and look hot! Here at HIPS, we have everything you need to elevate your summer look. A few colorful, trendy accessories and an effortless maxi are all you need to transition your spring wardrobe into summer.

​From stylish sandals and sunglasses to breezy maxi dresses and skirts, we have all your summer essentials. Take a look at our latest selection of summer apparel and accessories in today's post, and stop in weekly to see what's new!

When you shop with an independent resale store like Hips, you're getting a personalized experience. We inspect every piece that comes through our doors to curate a selection of fabulous styles we think you'll love. We look for stylish, current season items in excellent condition. We're not the place to buy your basics, but we pride ourselves on dealing in special pieces you can't find anywhere else. Here's a look at eight of our favorite types of pieces to buy and sell at Hips!

Here at Hips, we buy and sell brands of every sort. Most of you are familiar with department store brands and names like Lane Bryant, Torrid, and Avenue. So we want to spotlight some lesser known brands that we think you should know about. These are smaller indie labels, brands that design and produce their apparel here in the states, or companies that stand out for some special reason.

​We carry everything from budget brands to designer labels here at Hips, and we understand that many of you are looking for a bargain when you shop resale. Brands like Kiyonna and IGIGI do have higher price points, and we want to explain why. We hope you'll see that you're still getting a bargain and great value for your money by shopping these brands with us!

Our tulle skirts are customer and staff favorites. We carry them in blush and black in sizes 14+.  We've seen so many women rush over to the skirts, gush about how pretty they are, and then ultimately pass because they're just not sure how to style them. To help, we've created this look book on five ways to wear a tulle skirt. Each look illustrates a number of styling tips to make tulle skirts more approachable and wearable for a variety of occasions. Once you see their versatility, we hope you'll give our tulle skirts a chance because they are so fun to wear!

Stop in-store to take advantage of our "model discount"! We now offer a 20% off coupon to customers who model what they try on in-store. Who better to model our styles than our customers?!

​All you have to do is step out of the fitting room to show us five different looks you try on. We'll photograph you in each of the five looks, and we only ask that you let us repost on our social media channels. Of course you're free to repost the photos and share with all your friends! Many of our customers follow us on social media, and they want to see our clothing on women just like them. They want to see how pieces fit and how to style them, and we believe our customers are the best people to help with that.

Think of our model discount as an opportunity to play dress-up and hang out with us. So many of you step out of the fitting room for our opinions and walk around the store to test the fit and comfort of our clothes. We're just asking that you let us photograph what you try on so we can share it with other customers.

If you don't like how a certain outfit looks on you, you don't have to model that one. Pick your five favorites to show off. This is the time to try some styles you might not otherwise take into the fitting room. Try the bodycon skirt, the crop top, the tutu. Maybe the piece won't work for you, but it might inspire another customer to try it for herself. Sometimes we just need to see a garment on an everyday person to realize we can make it work, too! That's exactly what we're trying to do with this new model discount: inspire!

Liz from the plus size fashion blog With Wonder and Whimsy recently stopped into our Clawson stores to take advantage of our model discount. She tried on a number of looks and picked her five favorites to model and photograph. She built head-to-toe outfits and added jewelry and accessories to make the looks her own. As you can see, we carry everything from work attire, to casual weekend wear, to the latest styles and trends. Liz obviously loves color and print, and you can click here to visit her blog for even more outfit inspiration and styling tips. It's always fun to see what our customers put together, and we can't wait to see the outfits you'll create!