In a world where the oh-so-tempting boutiques of King Street are just around the corner, Love Me Again Clothing offers a shopping alternative where fashionistas can be eco-chic and not wear the same cardigan from Urban Outfitters that everyone else has.     
Once known for a fabulous traveling pink ice cream truck full of vintage clothing, Love Me Again Clothing Exchange has parked at 183 Coming St.
Before opening on Coming Street at the end of February, Jenny Nelson traded her pink ice cream truck’s rocket pops for recession-friendly duds and drove the mobile storefront to various music festivals, art galleries and private parties.
“I always wanted to open up a shop in Charleston but I couldn’t really afford rent, so I had the idea of doing it as a mobile business … and just tell people where I was going to be around town,” says petite and personable Nelson, wearing a Kool-Aid red romper, white and navy pinstriped cardigan and tan studded boots.
“I love that almost everything I wear is something that I’ve found that’s been worn before,” Nelson says. “I don’t like spending a lot of money on clothes.”
Visit Love Me Again and you can be dressed just as cheaply, and chicly, as Nelson.
Tucked in the bottom floor of a house just a few blocks away from campus, nothing indicates a clothing store except a small “Love Me Again” sign on the awning.
However, walk inside the hot pink and silver foil-covered shop and enter recessionista paradise. A $45 royal blue leather sheath dress with matching blazer is proudly displayed next to a shelf of vintage cameo brooches and antique jewelry, which run from $20 to $200. However, these are not the real gems that Nelson has for sale.
Dig a little deeper and you’ll find $35 Lucky Brand and Seven jeans next to $10 hunter green snakeskin pants, which Nelson has tagged as “perfect for your Aqua girl costume.” Most of the pieces, from an Obi Wan Kenobi tie to lace-collared silk blouses straight from Austin Powers, are between $8 and $40. Nelson’s $2 “harder to love” pile is the perfect place to find an everyday polo or gently used handbag.
Nelson’s concept is simple: She invites people who want to sell to bring in any clothes or accessories worthy of being “loved again” in exchange for “love bucks” that go toward purchases from the store, but you don’t need just love bucks to shop Nelson’s eclectic inventory.
“I try to find pieces that are vintage, which in my mind is something from the ‘50s through the ‘80s,” says Nelson, though she accepts all men’s, women’s and children’s styles. Browse the floor and find this season’s trendy denim dresses that you could pair with loud rayon blazers, complete with huge gold buttons and shoulder pads.
Besides relying on exchanges, Nelson does a lot of the shopping herself, visiting thrift stores in Charleston, Atlanta and her hometown, Chicago.
When hunting for pieces to resell, Nelson says, “I found that when I started in the summer, I would just picture all my good friends and their different body types and different styles.”
So, from stylish to outrageous, Nelson stocks outfits for every taste.
   “My first night open I had this silver thing … it looked like a spacesuit, elastic pants and a top with an orange stripe. Some guy on his way in just bought it and wore it out to a party,” she says.
Should you be looking for an embroidered ‘50s housewife apron or the newest member for your family of Hawaiin shirts, you won’t have to wait anymore for the pink truck to roll in.
“There were a lot of people who loved the idea and loved to come to the truck, but it’s definitely better to have a place where everyone knows you are going to be every day,” says Nelson.