Vintage Clothes - Where do you buy 'em?

[HisPiffness]

I really like vintage clothes, and I'd like to know where people scoop this shit up. I live in NYC, so if you have any spots you'd like to recommend locally I'd love to hear your recommendations. I hear Beacon's Closet in BK is good but I've never been.

Does anyone know of any good online stores? I've tried eBay from time to time, but in my experience, unless you know what you're looking for it can be cumbersome and too much to sift through (unless you have TONS of time.)

[toufu]

go thrifting...

[Furion]

Check out places like Salvation Army or places like them. They /sometimes/ have good stuff. A lot of it gets picked up right away by either people that work there or by those expert vintage shoppers that get everything right away.

I've found a lot of vintage watches in those small thrift stores run by seniors. A lot of the time they really don't know how much these watches are worth.

[Servo2000]

They have those slightly more upper-whatever thrift shops... Buffallo Something or whatever and the like. More likely to find decent stuff, but you're also typically fighting off yuppies for what ends up being relatively-beaten-and-worn clothing at about the same price as the stuff new in the first place.

If you're lazy you can give those a shot.

(edit: I have absolutely no idea if they have that particular company in New York, Beacons sounds fairly similiar)

[volta]

They have those slightly more upper-whatever thrift shops... Buffallo Something or whatever and the like. More likely to find decent stuff, but you're also typically fighting off yuppies for what ends up being relatively-beaten-and-worn clothing at about the same price as the stuff new in the first place.

If you're lazy you can give those a shot.

(edit: I have absolutely no idea if they have that particular company in New York, Beacons sounds fairly similiar)

yeah buffalo exchange. places like that are pretty good but not too different in price from new. good will and value village can be good sometimes mostly cause they're so cheap

[MiniW]

unfortunately in today's world time = money, so unless you are prepared to spend lots of time in thrift stores (finding good ones to go to AND going very often) or sitting in front of your computer for hours staring at ebay, your only choice is to go to those vintage "boutiques" where the good pieces have already been discovered and the prices highly jacked up.

it's a trade off certainly. personally though I do enjoy thrifting and for me half the joy of finding a good piece is knowing that I paid $10 or less for it.

[Guest]

^^Amen. Thrifting takes time but I swear by it - I've found some AMAZING things: T-shirt signed by Bill Murray, stunning Italian dress shoes, Rag & Bone jeans with the tags still attached...it's all so damn cheap that I'm not afraid to just WEAR IT like I'm supposed to.

My advice is to throw a dart at the "thrift store" page of your phone book and go wherever it hits. You might get crazy lucky, or you might strike out, but you'll almost always come home with some 2 dollar thing that you just couldn't not get.

[psyence]

There's this spot that my friend took me to when I visited NY during the summer called Search and Destroy. They had all sorts of vintage band tees and then some.

Address:

25 Saint Marks Pl

New York, NY

10003-7836

Phone: (212) 358-1120

Cross Street:

Between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue

[sphoxx]

http://www.ruestdenis.com/

[fadingblue]

what about that one store what goes around comes around or whatever its called?

is it any good?

[ProfMonnitoff]

There is no good thrifting in NYC because of all the people that are willing to pay retail prices for used clothing.

[Heartworm]

I do a lot of thrift store shopping... It takes some practise, but you can really find some insane stuff. I've found Avia 850 hightop sneakers, $500 Alan McAfee's (at $5), several other vintage english made shoes, vintage a Lee shirt and jacket, lots of other vintage shirts and ties, vintage sweatshirts, a pair of Lee Cooper selvage jeans and a Colorado Blue selvage jacket.

Don't just go to one store... If you do that, you'll be disappointed. Find 4-6 stores and go there regularly. I go once a week, takes a couple of hours and I really enjoy it. Explore the stores... They'll often have misplaced some clothing, and store one kind of clothing (ie. jeans) in several places... When you start getting to know the stores, you'll know where to look. I know my stores really good, and I often dig up amazing stuff just hasn't been found by other shoppers.

It also helps to learn about vintage clothing and methods of production... This takes time, but look for:

Jeans: Selvage of course, capital E on Levi's, Union Made on Lee stuff...

Shoes: Made in England on dress shoes, try to learn the traditional english brands... I can't really give pointers on sneakers, but I'm really satisfied with my Avia's.

T-shirts and sweats: Made in [not developing country], combed cotton, learn what loopwheeler material feels like, reverse weave on Champion sweats.

In general it's a good idea to see where the item has been made, as that's a pretty good indicator of the age and quality of the item... Domestic is usually best and oldest.

You could go to a "high end" vintage store, sometimes it's worth a shot... There's one place in my city that has an amazing selection of vintage sweatshirts (Russell, Champion, Hanes...) that they sell really cheap. I kinda miss "the hunt" when I go to those places though.

Ebay is also pretty good, but only for obscure stuff... Buying selvage jeans and other mainstream vintage is usually too expensive.

Good luck hunting!

[HisPiffness]

Does anyone care to name any thrift stores in NYC worth checking out? I realize people tend to be secretive about these spots so as to not blow 'em up, and I understand that completely.

Sometimes the stores that buy vintage stuff and mark it up like crazy are do-able, but other times they just charge rape prices that I cannot even deal with. One example is Flying A on Spring Street and the fact that they used to sell vintage Lacoste polos for around $50, which I found unbelievable.

[notesee]

What the fuck man? How desperate are you to get traffic at your website?

There is a thrift store on Broadway .. not far from the AA store which is 712, I believe. You could give that location a shot.

[twistedtrees]

Thrifting is like Crate Digging, you have to search for hours or days before you find one piece. But that one item will be a gem. I found some vintage 70's Nike Cortez for $4, sold on eBay for $80. My favorite find just because of it's hilarity is a floor-lenght, red-white-&-blue Dior Bathrobe/Nightrobe. It is beyond pimp. For $2.50 it was definitely worth it, only had 2 small bleach marks on it.

My recommendation is to stay away from big cities. Everything there is picked over. Go on a day mission to the 'burbs, or get ahold of someone who lives in a small town to buy you crates & ship them up there. Also, if you know anybody in the south, have them go to old farmhouse estate auctions. Probably find some old farmer jeans for dirt cheap.

[hawkeye]

Does anyone care to name any thrift stores in NYC worth checking out? I realize people tend to be secretive about these spots so as to not blow 'em up, and I understand that completely.

I'll tell you to check out Housing Works (just becuase I hardly go there) http://www.housingworksauctions.com/ they are all over the city. Also just go walk around the East Village, tons of little thrift stores around there.

[Head Ninja In Charge]

yeah buffalo exchange. places like that are pretty good but not too different in price from new. good will and value village can be good sometimes mostly cause they're so cheap

Only go here if you want to buy people's used American Eagle gear or Chuck's that are priced above retail.

[Faqir]

I really like vintage clothes, and I'd like to know where people scoop this shit up. I live in NYC, so if you have any spots you'd like to recommend locally I'd love to hear your recommendations. I hear Beacon's Closet in BK is good but I've never been.

Does anyone know of any good online stores? I've tried eBay from time to time, but in my experience, unless you know what you're looking for it can be cumbersome and too much to sift through (unless you have TONS of time.)

I just put vintage Rolling Stones & Clockwork Orange shirts up for sale in the supermarket if you are interested.

[cheep]

yeah.... i just go to independant thrift stores... ive found some amazing shit. the shirt im wearing today is a vintage hermes that i got for 3$... ive found a vintage yves saint laurent blazer that fits me like it was made for me for 8$ nice old selvage denim jackets, og nikes, etc...

you have to go alot... for a while i would go every day and maybe by 2 or 3 things a week... its just having an eye fro the good shit... like finding a needle in a haystack.

[RAISED BY WOLVES]

Yeah man, the outer boroughs and upstate NY are the lik for that shit. You're not usually gonna find anything amazing downtown for reasons already mentioned above.

It also takes some creative thinking about how to rock a piece once you find it. Little did I know that this vintage acid wash Guess joint from '89 would become a wardrobe staple (let alone that acid-wash would be the "new hot shit" soon after).

Also found some Visvims for 8 bones

A beautiful old Angels baseball jacket for 2

and some nice button ups and what have you.

[onemancult]

outer boroughs thrift stores or heavily-curated downtown thriftail emporiums is where anything good is at.

yes, i just coined a new word. if i see it in print in a month, i won't be surprised.

[RAISED BY WOLVES]

thriftail

Sounds like Hobo pornography...right up my alley (pun intended)

[onemancult]

Sounds like Hobo pornography...right up my alley (pun intended)

http://www.collegedowntime.com/funnypictures/images/Homeless_Porn_Not_Safe_for_Work.jpg