LEE, Mass. — Elizabeth Conkey has moved her curated collection of thrift finds out of her guest room and into a storefront in downtown Lee. 

 

Friperie Berkshires opened July 3 in the former storage space of the now closed Karen Keenan Gifts.

 

"I buy secondhand women's clothing and resell it here. I'm like a collections curator, I would say," Conkey said. "I handpick everything with the idea that it would be someone's wardrobe staple or super high-quality piece that would last a long time."

 

She started started selling the clothes out of her house through Instagram in late spring. Conkey said she has always enjoyed thrifting growing up and that this is something of a hobby for her.

 

"I've always been an avid thrifter. I grew up going to consignment stores and thrift stores with my mom, and I've just enjoyed doing that, through present day, and I love doing it with my friends, or I love going and finding something for a friend and surprising them with it. Yeah, it's just like a fun outlet," she said.

 

She wanted to share those finds with more than just friends, offering lightly used name brands and quality clothing at an affordable price. 

 

"I love Lee, and I felt like it just needed a fun place for women to shop and find really stylish pieces without such a high price tag, because I feel like we have a lot of those kinds of stores in the Berkshires where you can get beautiful things, but you pay a lot for them," she said. 

 

Conkey gets many of her finds from secondhand stores, though she's also considering taking consignments at some point. She said it's a sustainable way to keep clothes out of landfills as some of stores will throw them out if they don't sell after a while.

 

"Every time I go, I buy 50 pounds of clothing, and I'm reselling it. I mean, I'm saving all of those clothes from going to trash island, as they call it," she said. "So, I feel like it's really important. So I'm doing a duty by providing the community with a service, and a fun place to go and shop, but also, doing something great for the environment in time."

 

Her clothing comes from all over New England and she seeks to find the best things for her customers.

 

"I carry pretty high-end things. I'm always surprised about what I find when I'm at Goodwill and Savers and consignment stores I source from all around New England," Conkey said. "So it's not just here in the Berkshires. I'll go to Newport, Rhode Island. I'll go to Connecticut. I'll go out towards Boston. So I'm really cherry picking the best things that I'm finding."

 

When she lived near Paris, she would see "friperies," or thrift shops, and that was one inspiration to open her shop.

 

"I'm kind of taking that idea of a very European way of being more sustainable with fashion and curating a wardrobe that has really high-quality pieces that you can kind of mix and match easily, and bringing it to the Berkshires," Conkey said.

 

"I feel like I also want to promote the idea that you don't need a million pieces in your wardrobe. You really only need 20 or 30 pieces, and you can mix and match for the seasons and with accessories. And it can last you a long time."