Saving money and rescuing clothes

Jeralyn Mason and her brother Paul run the new buy/sell/trade boutique Rescue in Allston. (Erik jacobs for the boston globe)

Reuse and recycle. Both are familiar concepts when it comes to thinking about vintage and secondhand clothing. But rescue? That's something altogether different. It somehow suggests a more concerned and invested approach to cast-off clothing, and it's the philosophy behind Rescue, a new buy/sell/trade boutique in Allston.

The idea for the store came to Jeralyn Mason, 27, a native of Salem, N.H., when she was studying in New York City and working at the well-known secondhand shop, Beacon's Closet.

"It's a pretty huge buy/sell/trade store," she said. "I worked there for about four years, and that was when I started having the idea of doing my own thing."

With so much competition in New York and frequent complaints from her brother Paul, 25, who lives in Allston, that there wasn't anything like Beacon's Closet here, the siblings decided to fill a shopping void by opening a store in the neighborhood.

"In New York there are a few buy/sell/trade stores, and in San Francisco there are a ton of them . . . but as far as I know there are no others in Boston," Jeralyn Mason said. "The appeal of buy/sell/trade is that you can just come right in with a pile of clothes - they don't have to be the greatest clothes or anything - and you can get some cash immediately. Or you can trade this pile of clothes you don't want anymore for a few pieces that are brand new to you. It's like cleaning out your closet, but you also get new stuff."

Unlike other consignment or secondhand stores, Rescue's buy/sell/trade model gives customers their cut right away: 30 percent of their garments' proposed selling price in cash, or 50 percent in store trade.

"We just felt like with all the college students, especially in Allston, not wanting to spend full price on clothes is obviously an issue," Mason said. "And being able to trade them and get new stuff cheaper or get some money when you're broke and have to pay rent is going to appeal to people."

It isn't your parents' thrift store, Mason pointed out; she added that Rescue's approach is to focus on quality. "We don't want to have some disgusting, dirty, old-smelling thing for a dollar," she said. "We want to focus on nice things that are good quality that are modern styles. Even if they're vintage it's something that's trendy right now."

They also have designer labels on offer, and new items from lines like In God We Trust and Cheap Monday. Prices run from $5-$7 on the low end, to about $140 on the high end.

Sounds perfect for anyone who has a healthy respect for clothes. Because the truth is, sometimes you have to break up with a favorite shirt. But you don't want to throw it away. You just need someone to come along and rescue it.

Rescue, 252 Brighton Ave., Allston. 617-202-3838. www.rescuebuyselltrade.com