Vintage fashions more likely to be found in cities & thrift stores
By Kari Zuzack
Issue date: 3/5/10 Section: Focus
What goes around comes around.
It's a saying that the majority of us have heard at one point, whether it was through a personal experience or from that Justin Timberlake song.
The saying also describes the fashion industry perfectly. Whether we want them to or not, most trends that fall out of fashion eventually regain their popularity later. This cycle produces the entire area of fashion known as vintage.
Vintage is extremely important, because without the cycle, we'd just have a ridiculous amount of discarded clothing in a landfill somewhere.
But western Pennsylvania isn't the best place to find awesome clothing hidden in a thrift store. I don't think anyone is surprised by that. If you're going to an ugly sweater party, though, you've hit the jackpot.
You'd have much better luck finding fashionable vintage in a city. So next time you travel to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, do some pre-departure scouting out of vintage stores in the area.
There are several options for vintage shopping in Pittsburgh.
Avalon Exchange seems most promising. It has two locations in Pittsburgh: one in Squirrel Hill and the other in Mt. Lebanon.
Avalon is selective in the clothing it accepts, so you don't have to dig through a bunch of unwearable crap to get to the good stuff.
According to its Web site, it carries many high-end brands, including Marc Jacobs, Celine, Burberry, Escada, Dior and Manolo Blahnik-for all of the Sex and the City fans out there. Other vintage clothing stores located in Pittsburgh are Hey Betty! and Yesterday's News.
Philadelphia has even more options to satisfy vintage shoppers, which is fitting because it's on the opposite side of the state. Vintage Connection is a great little shop on the corner of 9th and Bainbridge Streets.
The inventory is relatively small but extremely well edited to only include those pieces that fit within the store's identity.
Plus, they had a really cute tiny dog when I was there. I love stores that have a cat or dog running around. They add a lot to the experience.
It's a saying that the majority of us have heard at one point, whether it was through a personal experience or from that Justin Timberlake song.
The saying also describes the fashion industry perfectly. Whether we want them to or not, most trends that fall out of fashion eventually regain their popularity later. This cycle produces the entire area of fashion known as vintage.
Vintage is extremely important, because without the cycle, we'd just have a ridiculous amount of discarded clothing in a landfill somewhere.
But western Pennsylvania isn't the best place to find awesome clothing hidden in a thrift store. I don't think anyone is surprised by that. If you're going to an ugly sweater party, though, you've hit the jackpot.
You'd have much better luck finding fashionable vintage in a city. So next time you travel to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, do some pre-departure scouting out of vintage stores in the area.
There are several options for vintage shopping in Pittsburgh.
Avalon Exchange seems most promising. It has two locations in Pittsburgh: one in Squirrel Hill and the other in Mt. Lebanon.
Avalon is selective in the clothing it accepts, so you don't have to dig through a bunch of unwearable crap to get to the good stuff.
According to its Web site, it carries many high-end brands, including Marc Jacobs, Celine, Burberry, Escada, Dior and Manolo Blahnik-for all of the Sex and the City fans out there. Other vintage clothing stores located in Pittsburgh are Hey Betty! and Yesterday's News.
Philadelphia has even more options to satisfy vintage shoppers, which is fitting because it's on the opposite side of the state. Vintage Connection is a great little shop on the corner of 9th and Bainbridge Streets.
The inventory is relatively small but extremely well edited to only include those pieces that fit within the store's identity.
Plus, they had a really cute tiny dog when I was there. I love stores that have a cat or dog running around. They add a lot to the experience.
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