A hefty price tag has come to denote the following: quality goods, a designer outfit, or a new piece of clothing that looks 20 years old. Evidence of this phenomenon abounds in stores like Abercrombie & Fitch and Urban Outfitters, where retailers strive to make costly clothes that look like they were produced decades ago. From current reproductions of ‘70s logo tees to artificially worn jeans, every price tag is $20 higher than genuinely worn counterparts, which are patiently waiting to be found in any second-hand clothing store.
I own one Lacoste polo shirt, bought sometime in middle school because the alligator was cute, peering up at me from the $3 bin at my local used-clothing Mecca. Now, the alligators seem to be taking over the planet. But if the whole point of finding vintage clothes is to eschew the overpriced faux-used clothing phenomenon in favor of cheap, bona fide worn perfection, success will be fleeting here in Georgetown. If you limit your search to M Street, you’ll find a rip-off rather than the perfectly ripped jeans you’re so desperately searching. Expand your horizons with these vintage retailers-and don’t be afraid to rifle through the special bins. You never know, you might take home a new pet.
Goodwill has been and always will be the bastion of second-hand taste, and the greater D.C. area is blessed with not one but six of their traditional retail stores. Even better, Goodwill’s Best Kept Secrets store adds whipped cream and a cherry to the second-hand delicacies at Goodwill.
Meeps Vintage Fashionette and Nana, both on U Street, provide refuge for plenty of abandoned vintage T’s, jeans, shoes, hats, jewelry, and even dresses. Both boast ample selections of high-quality clothing at reasonable prices, and Nana also carries new clothing and bath treats.
If you own recently bought clothes that have never been anywhere but the back of your closet, bring them to Mustard Seed and give someone else the chance to love them. Peruse the merchandise others brought in to sell, which is mostly trendy women’s clothes, and when you’re done, trade in your duds for someone else’s.
Venders proffer their wares every Sunday a little closer to home at the Georgetown Flea Marke. Offerings run the gamut from furniture to organic fruit, clothing to jewelry. Though prices can be inflated-it is Georgetown, after all-some bargains are waiting to be found.
Second-hand stores are worth a second glance-because fashion runs in a circular pattern, because designers doubtlessly overproduced then just like they overproduce now, and because buying a $5 shirt when your friend paid $50 for its knockoff is chicken soup for the soul. If the thrill is in the chase, vintage stores are the extreme shopper’s adrenaline sport.
Goodwill’s Best Kept Secrets is located at 5838 N Kings Hwy, Alexandria, VA. Meeps Vintage Fashionette, 1520 U St. N.W. Nana, 1534 U St. N.W. Mustard Seed, 7349 Wisconsin Ave, Bethesda, MD. Georgetown Flea Market, Hardy School parking lot at 34th and Wisconsin Ave.
