London, Paris or New York seems like the most obvious choices for the hunting fashionista. But be aware, Berlin has several hidden secrets when it comes to this Gebiet.
Second Hand Shopping Guide for Berlin Berlin is maybe not the first city that pops into mind when you think about shopping vintage or second hand apparel. But seek, and ye shall find. From thrift stores in Friedrichshain to high fashion in Charlottenburg, Berlin can serve all needs and budgets when it comes to old, smelly, used clothes.
Dress lovers beware, this might be your heaven in Berlin. Kleidermarkt is a chain of several second hand and vintage shops in Berlin and other German cities. In Berlin there are four branches, two of which are gigantic. In some of their stores you can even buy clothes by the kilo… 17,99 euros for one kilogram of t-shirts or jeans, and even cheaper during happy hours once a week.
This is one of the largest second hand stores we’ve ever been to. Humana at Frankfurter Tor, with it’s five floors, it’s more like a department store. If you are looking for vintage fashion, and got a limited budget, this is the place to go. From lederhosen over H&M and seventies glam to old DDR fashion, you’ll find it all here. One floor is dedicated to “stuff” – board games, old records players, china and furniture. If you’re really lucky, you’re at Humana during one of their biannual sales, where the price drops to as low a 1,50 euro – for each and every single garment. Besides the flagship store in Friedrichshain, Humana Second Hand has branches all over Berlin. The second largest is located at Alexanderplatz, and there’s also a quite well-stocked branch at Schönhauser Allee. The others are quite small in comparison, but you’ll nevertheless find interesting stuff there.
Designer clothes
Momsenstraße is a parallel street to the famous Kurfürstendamm shopping avenue in the western district of Charlottenburg. On this street, and some surrounding side streets, quite a large number of second hand and vintage shops have gathered. Several of them are investing in well-known designer clothes, with slightly higher price tags than their colleagues above. A Geheimtipp is Madonna on Mommsenstrasse 57. Here you you’ll find designer clothes for a fraction of what they were like new, although, they’re not exactly giving them away.
Checkpoint smells like it should. Old army clothes, heavy overcoats and some new stuff crammed in and old theater in Kreuzberg. Maybe not the top choice among Berlin’s second hand stores, but there is still something for everyone and often moderate prices.
Stiefelkombinat has two stores, both of them located at one of Berlin’s hottest intersections, Eberswalder Straße/Schönhauser Allee, right next to the metro Eberswalder Straße. The selection consists of clothes, shoes, strange old gadgets and furniture. The price level is slightly too high, but here’s at least a lot of fun stuff to browse and if you’re lucky, you might make a deal. Open late, until 10 pm.