Cork is a complete treasure trove for anyone who is on the hunt for some second hand fashion gems. From curated vintage shops bursting with beautiful pieces, to charity shops supporting the circular economy, there are plenty of places to buy “new to you” pieces.
Cork is also the home to one of Ireland’s longest running swap shops, where a small donation and five of our own good quality pieces gets you access to a a room full of clothes to choose from, and second hand resale app Vinted just celebrated its first birthday in Ireland, so it has never been easier to avoid first-hand fast fashion.
Cork offers a mix of options that combine style, sustainability, and community spirit.
Cork Swap Shop
Cork Clothes Swap is a volunteer-run non-profit that aims to reduce textile waste by hosting monthly clothes‐swap events. Participants bring up to five clean, good-condition adult garments to swap, and are able to choose up to five items from the collection.
The events operate with a small donation, a minimum of €2, that helps fund the project. The organization does not accept unwashed, stained, ripped items, children’s clothes, shoes, accessories, underwear, swimwear or pyjamas, so you can be assured that the quality you bring to the swap shop will be matched by the other participants.
Since its inception in 2021, Cork Clothes Swap has hosted around 79 swap events and reports diverting over 6,500 kg of textiles from landfill.
It was founded by Joy O’Leary, who was inspired by a clothes swap she attended while studying in the UK and wanted to bring a similar experience to The Rebel County. You can find out more about them here.
Charity Shops
Of course charity shops are a classic method for acquiring some “new to you” clothes and accessories. Cork city and county has a number of brilliant charity shops that sell stylish, affordable clothes all while supporting essential charities. Unlike regular retail, your money goes toward helping people or communities rather than just profit, a feel-good fact.
Buying second-hand clothing from charity shops reduces waste and lowers demand for new production, contributing to the circular economy. Industries like fast fashion often follow a linear economy, which sees things being made, bought, used for a short time and thrown away. A circular economy keeps things in use longer by reusing, repairing, or recycling, which saves resources and helps the environment. Bringing you good quality clothes to a charity shop as a donation keeps them in use and contributes to that circularity.
From Oxfam to Enable Ireland to Vincent’s to NCBI and many more, there are charity shops on the high street of almost every Cork town.
Vintage shops
Cork’s vintage shops are some of the absolute best. They harbour curated selections of beautiful clothes from across the past few decades, from paisley dresses of the 70s to perfect 90s jeans. They are a great place to find staple pieces that will last you a generation thanks to the focus on craftmanship that previous eras of fashion valued, and for stand-out occasion wear a vintage dress or suit is always a winner. Here are just a few of Cork’s leading vintage shops:
- Miss Daisy Blue: Saint Patrick’s Quay, Cork City
- Eva May Vintage and Resale: Glanmire Bridge
- Sister Vintage: Kinsale
- Slick Vintage: Shanagarry, West Cork
- Peach Vintage Clothing: Midleton
Vinted
Vinted celebrated its first birthday in Ireland in November 2025, and the cost-effective app allows everyone to sell their old clothes simply. Just create a profile on the app, take some well-lit snapshots of your clothing item that you want to sell, upload them to the app with the description and set a price, and then people can find your item and buy it.
The app is very similar in user design to Instagram, so there is a main feed you can scroll through, looking at clothes other people are selling, and also click through to individual profiles to see all the items an individual is selling. Postage is built in to the app so you don’t have to worry about that.
