HOT PICKS
What: Rag*Trade Happy ClothingWhere: 4600 NE Second Ave., Miami; second floorHours: noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 1-6 p.m. SaturdayInfo: 305-573-1478; ragtradeco.com.What we love: Travilla gown, $115, above.Why: This long evening gown in shades of pink, beige and brown looks a little like a Neapolitan ice cream, a plissé effect by Travilla, a California couturier who used to make costumes for Marilyn Monroe.What: Anthropologie cocktail dress, $42.Why: This chic black and white cocktail dress is made with heavy lined cotton and looks great with polka-dot heels from Proxy ($18) and a small vintage Lee beaded bag ($20).What: Stop the Genocide in Sudan T-shirt for men, $12.Why: How appropriate, in a shop owned by a former political science student.Rag*Trade Happy Clothing isn't easy to find. But then, it's no ordinary shop. Stephanie Spiegel's trading place is as secret as can be. Word of mouth brings her customers in, and regulars quickly become used to finding the shop, upstairs in the back of a building on Northeast Second Avenue.
The secret: You come here to trade your stuff. Rag*Trade is one of the few places in town in which you really can get something for nothing.
Spiegel, 23, grew up in Sunrise and graduated from Florida Atlantic University and the University of Central Florida, majoring in political science and woman studies, before deciding on opening a clothing store.
She found a niche market and an 800-square-foot boudoir on Craigslist.org, and decided to take a chance in the up-and-coming Buena Vista/Design District area.
''Miami was lacking this type of store and this type of vibe,'' Spiegel said. ``It's filled with expensive boutiques and shopping malls, and I wanted to provide an alternative.''
First-time visitor Alicia Francis, 24, who works as a hairdresser a block over, found a ''cute dress and a cute T-shirt,'' and said she ``likes that you can find something unique here.''
Another visitor to the store, Chris Puech, a Paris fashion stylist, marveled at the very concept of exchanging your clothes.
''I think it's funny to get clothing that way, feeling like you're at somebody's house, sitting around the living room couch, looking at retro dresses and shoes,'' she said. ``We really have nothing like this in Paris.''
Spiegel, a longtime recycler, specializes in ''green'' clothing and accepts vegan bags and shoes (no leather involved). A smaller corner of the shop is dedicated to men's clothing.
Rag*Trade also carries several lines of new clothes by local designers, including KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid), which has a series of recycled slips that have been dyed funky hues by Bridgette Kelly and Karin Zamborno. The refashioned slips are light and airy sundresses perfect for the Miami heat.
Spiegel says her revenues are split evenly between traded and new items. ''Since opening a year ago, the store has supported itself very well,'' she said.
Each month, she also rents out her large parking lot for local artists to sell their wares and people around the block to meet in a convivial environment. The next event is April 5.
