New York’s shopping scene is second to no other city on the planet. Every single luxury brand has a presence in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The department stores of 5th Avenue and the boutiques of the West Village are all world-renowned for a reason, but there’s plenty more to this city than luxury brands and decades-old retail institutions. NYC has some of the best vintage shopping in the world. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, given the city’s history of style and elegance.
Thousands upon thousands of the world’s most fashionable people have at one time lived in New York, so the used threads on offer are of the highest quality imaginable. There’s a thriving used clothing industry across New York’s Five Boroughs, you just have to know where to look!
As you scour the racks for the perfect vintage find, don’t carry more than you need to. It’s easy to head to a convenient Bounce luggage storage location in NYC to drop off any extra bags. Then, you’re free to browse for as long as you like. Here’s a quick guide to the best vintage shops and retro stores in New York City:
Best vintage stores in Manhattan
While Brooklyn gets all the headlines for hipster cred, OG bohemian stretches like the East Village and Lower East Side are lined with timeless vintage shops. Here are a few of the best:
- Landline Vintage: Situated on the Lower East Side, this shop epitomizes the shabby-chic aesthetics that have long been associated with the neighborhood. Expect much of the selection to be from the 80s, and you’ll find some real gems from upscale designers like Valentino, Agnes B, and Vivienne Westwood.
- Metropolis Vintage: One of the key East Village retro meccas, this irreverent shop near Washington Square Park has been the setting for hundreds of celebrity shopping sprees (tastemaking icons Rihanna and A$AP Rocky being the most notable examples). Expect vintage T-shirts from the 90s and plenty of sports memorabilia for casual looks.
- Hamlet’s Vintage: This Greenwich Village collection is filled with designer pieces from decades of stylish New York transplants trying to make rent by selling their out-of-season clothes. Most of their stock focuses on the white-hot 90s aesthetics (hello Gen Z), but you’ll find pieces from as far back as the 1940s, as most of Manhattan has used this former flea market as their dumping ground.
- Treasures of NYC: One of New York’s most renowned vintage stores is (of course) open by appointment only, as this place has received shout-outs from dozens of celebrities who raid their selection of vintage and unique designer items from yesteryear. SOHO’s Treasures of NYC is in the class of vintage shops where the whole point isn’t to get a deal on used clothes. It’s a curated collection of one-of-a-kind items that cannot be found anywhere. Their clubhouse books up a month in advance, so plan accordingly.
The best vintage shopping in Brooklyn and beyond
In the past few decades, Brooklyn has become synonymous with urban cool, largely in part because of its stellar vintage shopping scene. Queens is certainly on its way, so you’ll have plenty of racks to shop through once crossing the East River. Check these out:
- Thrift Lab: Situated on the fourth floor of an unassuming building in Greenpoint, Thrift Lab focuses almost entirely on sourcing chic items from Europe. The time periods vary widely as the primary focus is on high-end leather, jackets, and blazers that tend to fit into timeless outfits. Thrift Lab is only open on Saturdays and Sundays, so get to this pint-sized store early to beat the crowds.
- Chickee’s Vintage: This fun and approachable shop is a worthy stop on any shopping spree through Brooklyn, which is why more than a few celebrity sightings have happened here.
- e Queens: This Astoria mainstay casts its gaze far and wide for vintage (antique light be the more appropriate term) threads that date back to the 40s and beyond. In fact, the store’s main focus is on mid-20th century fashion, enough that multiple TV shows have sourced their costumes from Vintage Queens. While window shopping for decades-old styles just out of curiosity might sound appealing, the $20 fee for a time slot in the store keeps the clientele more focused.
- Other People’s Clothes: With a snarky name that gets right to the point, this trendy chain (there are locations in Brooklyn and Queens) is ideal for used threads at highly competitive prices. The quality might not be designer, but it’s worth a stop for dependably hip pieces at very reasonable prices.
- Feng Sway: One of Greenpoint’s coolest vintage stores gives away the vibe immediately with a disco ball prominently displayed at the storefront. Feng Sway sources its clothes from far and wide, which is perfect given the slightly zany aesthetics Gen Z has been pulling off in recent years.
NYC’s best record shops for used vinyl
New York’s record stores are well stocked with crates of (sometimes) dusty used records. Here are a few of the best spots for crate digging for some vintage gems and dirt-cheap scratchy records:
- Generation Records: This Greenwich Village mainstay focuses primarily on the heavier side of rock music. With a scattering of hardcore punk (specifically from New York’s legendary scene), metal, and even ska, you’ll be entertained by the album covers alone. There’s a used record bin where the stylish Greenwich Village residents have been dumping their classic records for decades.
- Brooklyn Record Exchange: Local record label Mexican Summer (look it up) operates a buy-sell-trade operation in ever-trendy East Williamsburg that offers discerning listeners a chance to shop through brand-new offerings (mostly from their label) alongside some deep cuts from a vast selection of used records.
- Academy Records: With a few locations in the East Village along with their Record Annex in Brooklyn, Academy Records is the new go-to for used vinyl after an unfortunate run of closings. Their massive selection is ideal for grabbing cheap copies of 70s and 80s records across all genres.
- Second Hand Records: The name says it all… This store is almost entirely dedicated to used records across all danceable genres like soul, funk, hip-hop, R&B, and disco.
- Superior Elevation: If you’re looking for a few cheap but mint-condition records, this is a solid option. The highly eclectic genre offerings include rock & roll, hip-hop, funk, jazz, reggae, disco, and house. The only real focus of this East Williamsburg shop is that it needs to be used!
Conclusion
If you’re planning on sifting through the Five Boroughs for the best vintage threads on a travel day, you’ll need your hands for carrying your shopping bags rather than your luggage. Your luggage will only slow you down, so finding a reliable place to store your suitcase or roller bag will be of the utmost importance. That’s why the Bounce luggage storage network is so important for jetsetting aficionados.
