Vintage shopping is undergoing a personalized revolution

By Kayla Curtis-Evans

Vintage shopping can be the most elusive treasure hunt. Sometimes it’s truly an arduous and time-consuming task, but it’s worth it for the buzzy thrill. Finding that one true gem can be an exhilarating dopamine hit.

But the reality of many thrift or secondhand shopping experiences is that they aren’t always efficient. It can be daunting to sift through packed stores. First-timers may find it overwhelming, and seasoned vets may just want to skip straight to the sweet stuff.

I’m always looking for a more personalized experience while vintage shopping, and stopping into some of the Brooklyn-based locations below is like shopping from your dream closet. Why spend hours and hours sifting through vintage bins when you can have a connoisseur do it for you? As this new frontier of secondhand and vintage shopping coalesces, Brooklyn Magazine tapped a few local dealers or curators to discuss how they bring the best to their buyers.

Allison’s Archive
248 McKibbin St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
When I first stepped into Allison’s Archive, I felt like I had entered a dream closet from an early 2000s rom-com. Allison Dickerman grew up in New York, studied textiles in college and her early experiences in the fashion industry led her to begin her own operation — but she wanted to do it her way. Allison’s Archive is an appointment-based private showroom that allows for a one-on-one client-focused experience where shoppers are given time and space to not only shop a curated selection but to learn about the pieces and where they come from. She prides herself on her curatorial abilities and believes that vintage and secondhand shopping are the ideal alternatives to your local Zara.

Says Dickerman: “I was seeing a gap in the type of experience and curation that NYC’s it-girls and vintage enthusiasts were craving versus what was available. There were very few, if any, showroom experiences open to the general public. With the popularization of vintage shopping both in-stores and online, it is only natural for people to seek the next type of innovative shopping experience. Everyone loves the classics like Roberto Cavalli and Dior by Galliano. Recently I’ve noticed lots of Gucci by Tom Ford being used by celebrity stylists. Something unique to my showroom is that we also have a collection of embellished silk gowns from the early 2000s, from lesser-known designers, but beautiful nonetheless. Perfect for weddings or birthdays.”

Junkyard Thrift
56 Bogart St #408, Brooklyn, NY 11206
Olivia LaRossa is behind the ultra-feminine miniskirts and flouncy tops curated for Junkyard Thrift, which she started in 2016, just four years after she began thrifting out of a desire to individualize her style. Yearning for pieces that weren’t just carbon copies of what could be found at her nearest mall, she started collecting vintage pieces, going home, and researching each brand to dive into the story behind each piece. The aesthetic she curates for Junkyard usually leans toward Y2K trends, but she also offers a bundle service so her shoppers can really fine-tune their look.

Says Larossa: “Thrifting takes a lot of time and energy that some people don’t have or want to expend. By shopping with me, you get access to the absolute best pieces I can find — whether that’s at the Goodwill bins, thrift stores or from private wholesalers and collectors I work with across the country. Come into my sunny studio with friends, have a little drink or snack, and try on the pieces I’ve curated that probably fit your style. My bundle service is relevant to both first-time vintage shoppers and experts, as it’s an easy way to refresh your wardrobe or get new clothes for a certain event. It takes a lot of thinking and work out of the equation for my customers because they are given pieces they love and can put together outfits on auto-pilot.”

Desert Stars Vintage
By appointment only — address provided upon scheduling
Janelle Best of Desert Stars Vintage started thrifting in the 1990s, inspired by her desire to recreate the outfits she saw cascading down high fashion runways. Nine years ago, she began selling clothing on her stoop and it attracted lots of local business — so much so that Best opened up her own store called Shop86 which became something of a community hub.

After striking gold by coming across a 5,000-piece archive of hand-painted, silk pieces from Europe last year, she decided to open up the front room of her apartment as a personal showroom. At Desert Stars, she specializes in special pieces or looks for events, noting that a lot of shoppers are often enthusiastic about her extensive range of corsets.

Says Best: “The vintage scene is heavily saturated. The job has definitely gotten harder since it feels like everyone is doing it now. For first-time vintage shoppers, I think sourcing from personalized shopping experiences is a way for them to ease their way into the vintage experience. It’s a little less intimidating than sifting through thrift stores with little to no sense of curation. In my showroom and stores like Shop86 and Seven Wonders Collective, each vendor heavily curates their racks, making it a really great experience and way of finding hand-picked, unique gems.”

fffranshop
By appointment only — address provided upon scheduling
Fran Dominguez began selling vintage during the pandemic to fund her New York City apartment, and before long she realized she could upscale the operation into a full-blown business. She prides herself on showing others the secondhand way, sharing the environmental ethos of buying used or vintage pieces. Inspiration-wise, she usually pulls pieces reminiscent of the fashion in “Sex in the City” and “Girlfriends.”

Says Dominguez: “I’ve always loved shopping second hand/vintage. The thrill of finding pieces that have lived an entire life before you and still resonate with you is truly so exciting and almost addicting! I feel like it’s hard to feel that way about modern fashion especially when you consider the conditions in which they were created. With personalized vintage shopping experiences, I think it’s a great way to introduce vintage to those who might not think it’s for them. It’s also a solution for people who simply don’t have the patience to sift through racks.”

By Liv Handmade
293 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Liv Reinertson’s foray into the colorful world of vintage clothing began in the East Village. She was introduced to a woman named Delaney who ran a small vintage store called Cobblestones across the street from her apartment she was raised in. Delaney gifted Liv her first pair of vintage heels when she was just 8. Fourteen years later, Liv, fueled by a love for vintage and dedication to curbing fast fashion, opened up her own brick-and-mortar shop. Delaney was the first person she called. It’s now been three years since By Liv Handmade opened up in Williamsburg, and she hopes to foster the kind of unity that Delaney did all those years ago.

Says Reinertson: “Anything I make or sell here at the shop is something that I would put in my own closet. It has resulted in the fostering of a gorgeous community. I actually recently formed a friendship with a child who reminds me a lot of myself when I was young. I had the pleasure of giving her her very first pair of vintage heels. Maybe she will open a shop in her early 20s and give a pair of vintage heels to a little girl too, I’d like to think that she will. There is much less early 1900s garb on the market which kills me because that is some of the most incredible clothing on earth. It’s inspired me to start reworking pieces from this era that are no longer in wearable condition into something new. But recently, we’ve started stocking some incredible independent designers that our usual vintage lovers have been flocking to, like Meg Beck, Mary McGrath, Madeline Malenfant and more.”

Raiden Co.
Raiden operates mostly online, but occasionally by appointment in New York and Paris
Raiden Francis didn’t start out with the intention of launching his own vintage luxury shop. He began a personal collection of rare pieces, leaning toward the ‘80s and ‘90s hip-hop eras, and then shortly after began selling these finds to friends. He matches certain products to his shoppers’ aesthetics, doing the bulk of the hard part for them. He notes that, lately, his clientele has been into avant-garde designers including archive Alexander McQueen, Pucci, and Gucci by Tom Ford — but Raiden is taking his operation one step further and plans to launch his own line.

Says Francis: “My options were to sell my vintage Gucci or go bankrupt shopping and partying. The aesthetic goal for my shop was sleek glamor. I wanted my clients to have rare pieces in their everyday wardrobe and pull them off with little effort. I have noticed that more clients are buying unidentifiable vintage designer items. Customers no longer want to buy items with monograms or what everyone else is already wearing.”

GEM
Online search engine platform
GEM is an online platform that positions itself as the Google of vintage fashion. It allows users to type in a certain item or designer, and sources all results from various secondhand shopping destinations — eBay, Poshmark, Depop, and more — so shoppers can see every available option to make sure they are finding the best quality deal. GEM also represents the new frontier of vintage or secondhand shopping, as it operates completely virtually, providing access to those who may not have the time or resources to visit showrooms or curated shops.

Says co-founder, Liisa Jokinen: “I’ve been shopping secondhand all my life. Being from Finland, it had been a trend for a while. When I later moved to New York, I thought, ‘There must be a better way to connect people like me to the items they are searching for.’ That’s how I came up with the idea of a search engine. Shopping secondhand is such a celebration of not only sustainability but also an expression of personal style. However, I began to understand that there are a lot of individuals who can’t thrift shop in person. Maybe they’re young mothers with small kids at home so they really don’t have time, or perhaps they are people who live in more remote areas. This platform is especially accessible to people who have any kind of disability. I understand that it’s a privilege to be able to shop this way.”