Best Place to Buy Armani on the Cheap

It's a misnomer to call the Buffalo Exchange a vintage-clothing or thrift store. Nearly a fourth of its eclectic inventory is brand-new, cherry-picked from debut lines of contemporary streetwear that escape the notice of larger, more corporate, mall-based fashion chains (Denver's Capitol Hill location is one of 24 nationwide). If a new indie line's catching a buzz at the MAGIC fashion trade show in Las Vegas one week, it's headed for the racks at the Exchange the next. The store's bread and butter, though, is "recycled fashions," and its heavily pierced in-store buyers excel at mining the garbage bags and laundry baskets trade customers bring in. Prices are generally lower than those at consignment shops offering similarly high-caliber brands and rare finds. We've walked out of Buffalo Exchange with a classic KISS tour shirt ($100 on eBay), a mint-condition Armani pullover ($180 new) and a pair of barely used leather Skechers ($80 new), all for less than sixty bucks. The store's soundtrack is also suitably fashionable: No canned Top 40 here; just the best in edgy indie rock and electronic ambient. Herdy up.