Looking for retro prints, vintage dresses, concert tees, tailored suits, fedoras, one-of-a-kind jewelry or even a hand-sewn dress from the 1900s? The search can be satisfied right in the heart of Midtown and downtown Sacramento.

Vintage shops and boutiques pepper the city, and shop owners are constantly on the lookout for interesting, in-style and hard-to-find secondhand or even generations-old pieces to reintroduce to the public.

The Sacramento Press searched the streets of Midtown and downtown to round up some of the vintage stores offering unique, vintage goods and fashions.

Crimson and Clover
1617 16th St.
442-1800

Hours:
Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Friday noon - 8 p.m.
Sunday 1 - 6 p.m.

Crimson and Clover (Image by: Evelyn Santillan)

Crimson and Clover offers classic, vintage and handmade women’s clothing, jewelry and accessories primarily from the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. The store is a hodgepodge of delicate, hand-sewn Victorian gowns and “museum pieces” to party dresses and pieces from the 1970s, store co-owner Kara Perez said.

“It looks like grandma’s house,” Perez added. “There are a lot of little knickknacks – it’s really girly and cute.”

Perez and business partner Nicole Honeyeater hand-make accessories, charms, rings and other jewelry from recycled material such old buttons, studs and unmatched earrings. The clothing is all hand-selected by Perez and Honeyeater. The two owners frequent thrift stores, yard sales and estate sales to find pieces fitting with current trends in clothing.

“We definitely pay attention to craftsmanship and details,” Perez said. “We usually look for something special like pleating or buttons – things that are a little more one-of-a-kind.”

Average prices range from $9 to $40. A typical outfit of a couple pieces and accessories could be put together for about $35 to $45.

Fringe
2409 21st St.
706-0216

Hours:
Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Sunday noon - 4 p.m.
Second Sunday Love the Lot Flea Market 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
or by appointment

Fringe (Image by: Courtesy of Audrey Wells)

Since 2008, Audrey Wells, proprietress of Fringe, has offered a large selection of gently used retro fashions, home and garden decor and antique furniture from as far back as the 18th century. Wells said her shop can be compared to the store Anthropology. The styles are bohemian, modern and industrial with a touch of Chanel, she said.

She carries jewelry made with polished metal and exposed gears and pieces with rusty, heavy and masculine looks right alongside soft and feminine pieces. Women’s and men’s clothing is available, including vintage dresses and gowns, jackets, coats, shoes and cowboy boots. Along with the vintage pieces that Wells finds from foraging estate sales and flea markets, clothing lines such as Love Heals, Tamara Berg and other local designers are carried.

“I think mixing really expensive stuff with really inexpensive stuff is genius,” Wells said. “I think nothing is more brilliant than wearing something that is maybe more expensive because of what it is and then offsetting that with just a $5 thrifted T-shirt.”

Prices range anywhere from $1 for lower-end pieces to $12,000 for highly collectible, rare, vintage antiques made by artists considered to be the “Louis Vuittons of furniture.” Clothing ranges from $5 to $500, with most pieces falling into the $30 to $150 range.

Thunderhorse Vintage
2522 J St.
444-7723

Hours:
Daily noon - 7 p.m.

Thunderhorse Vintage (Image by: Evelyn Santillan)

Thunderhorse Vintage carries unique, handpicked, “rock-and-roll-style” clothing and memorabilia ranging from pins to concert T-shirts and concert jerseys from the ‘70s and ‘80s. Much of the items at the store are music-related, co-owner Marilyn Ayres said.

The store offers kitschy, funky stuff of every era, Ayres said. These include 1980s cartoon toys such as Transformers and He-Man from Masters of the Universe, a 1900s vintage opera coat, authentic German military jackets from the 1950s, motorcycle boots from France and fancy western rodeo ware from the 1950s.

The apparel selection includes sundresses, dresses from the 1930s, leather jackets and accessories such as hats, gloves, purses and sunglasses.

Ayres and her twin sister, Jennifer Ayres, have been collecting since they were 16 years old. The items carried at the store come from around the globe. The two sisters travel often and constantly look for unique items during their trips. They opened the store in January 2009.

“It was our dream since we were 14,” Marilyn Ayres said. “We wanted all of the most unique, hard-to-find collectibles – the rarest of the rare, the cream of crop, the most unique and one-of-a-kind items.”

The average price ranges from $10 to $40 for sundresses, $40 to $80 for 1930s dresses, $40 to $250 for leather jackets and $4 to $10 for many other items around the store.

Ed’s Threads
1125 21st St.
446-8183

Hours:
Tuesday through Wednesday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Friday through Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Ed's Threads (Image by: Evelyn Santillan)

Walking into Ed’s Threads, jazz music and Frank Sinatra classics fill the air and immediately set the tone for what’s to find in the small Midtown shop.

Focused on “Mad Men” -style looks and tailored, high-quality men’s vintage, Ed’s Threads carries pieces primarily from the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s as well as some from the ‘70s and a few contemporary pieces from higher-end lines such as Armani and Tommy Bahama.

The shop is lined with shelves of men’s shoes, hats, sweaters, cardigans, dress shirts, suits, ties, pants, belts, jewelry and lamps from the 1950s. The walls are decorated with vintage posters, paintings, art and various collectibles.

“It’s like a step back in time,” said Ed Castro, owner of Ed’s Threads.

Castro has been selling vintage clothing for 31 years, and clothing has always been a passion of his, he said.

Castro said he feels the quality of vintage clothing is better – fabrics are more interesting, and the tailoring was more streamlined to the body as opposed to the modern-day styles of over-sized and looser clothing, he explained.

Prices range from $25 for shirts to $125 for suits.

Bows & Arrows
1815 19th St.
822-5668

Hours:
Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

Bows & Arrows (Image by: Evelyn Santillan)

Bows & Arrows offers a vintage, handmade and reconstructed selection of a bohemian “glamour-hippie” aesthetic – fit with natural elements such as wood, crystals, tie-dye, leather, turquoise, feathers and agate rock formations. Women’s and some men’s clothing is available.

Store owners Olivia Coelho and Trisha Rhomberg hand-select the items carried in the store. They often reconstruct old pieces to create modern looks, shapes and styles with vintage fabrics and material.

“Things have their own presence and their own energy,” Coelho said. “As long as things are made well, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t continue with their own lives on the planet.”

The store opened at its new location on 19th Street in June after three and a half years at its L Street location. Rhomberg said that the new store has a more finely edited, smaller selection of high-quality vintage pieces from the 1950s to early 1990s. A majority of the items come from the 1970s. Antique lamps, furniture and artwork are also available.

“It’s kind of an extension of our homes,” Rhomberg said. “If Olivia and I lived in a place this big, it would be our closets blown up and put out on display.”

Prices range from $9 to $70. The upper-range items consist of vintage Native American, hand-foraged metals such as silver, turquoise and semi-precious stone jewelry.

Cuffs
2523 J St., suite 101
443-2881

Hours:
Monday through Saturday 11 a.m - 7 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Cuffs (Image by: Evelyn Santillan)

Cuffs carries both new and vintage dresses, tops, shoes, bags, purses, sunglasses, jewelry and accessories for men and women. Store owner Lacadia Olsen said she tries to carry unique items that fit in with current trends. She described the overall style as young, contemporary, modern and hip.

The vintage selection at Cuffs ranges from the ‘50s to the ‘90s, particularly focusing on the ‘60s and late ‘80s to early ‘90s – the era when Olsen was a young teenager discovering fashion, she said. Olsen said she likes to keep the vintage pieces current and wearable.

She currently stocks more printed pieces, such as animal prints and southwestern geometric prints. She gets a lot of her items from shopping and hunting for vintage finds. She orders from wholesalers in Los Angeles and Canada who collect vintage clothing. In addition to vintage pieces, Cuffs carries several lines of clothing: Unif, Ark & Co., Motel, and, in the fall, Jeffrey Campbell will be available.

“I think the important thing about vintage is that you need to mix it with current stuff,” Olsen said. “You can get a vintage dress and throw it together with a new blazer and a new bag.”

The average price range is $18 to $40, with many items under and over those prices as well. Olsen said she tries to keep prices under $100.

Which vintage stores are your favorites? Share your experiences and suggestions in the conversation below.