Yesterday, Chris, Kari and I went shopping on Delmar. Besides taking Kari on her first Metrolink ride, I particularly wanted to scout out some old books, silk scarves, and perhaps some other vintage clothing items. In searching through the racks at several stores (going from the Vintage Vinyl end toward Pi), I noticed some very concerning items about several of these “vintage” stores:
They accept discount mega-store brands?!
Yes! They did it! They have Walmart and Kmart clothes on their racks right next to bebe from 4 years ago. And they weren’t even “vintage” items!
Someone cried at Christmas when they got that!
This one store must have accepted every darned clothing item that came in, robbed a Goodwill store of everything on their racks, or have an inkling that the demand for bad Christmas sweaters will be through the roof this year.
Some items have been there for how long?!
I saw one tag with an acceptance date of 2006, and tons with 2007. Audit your inventory folks. If it doesn’t sell in 2 years, best bet is that it won’t sell. Try ebay for those items that don’t sell – or put them on a special rack on discount. Clear the racks for new items, because sooner or later the racks will be full of old items everyone have seen.
And finally, the clincher:
Naming a tacky screen print shirt from 3 years ago as vintage.
Know your labels folks, because obviously some of these places don’t, or they bank on the fact that you don’t! If you don’t want to be caught dead in some tacky faux vintage recreation, do your research. If you have a particular piece in mind, do a Google search. Many of us have smart phones now. Use them when you’re in the store. If you don’t have a smart phone, and it’s a large ticket item you have in mind, ask the store clerk to hold it for 24 hours. Then, you leave, read up on the item to see if you can find any distinct markings/labels of the brand for the claimed time period, and finally see if you can find one in better condition online, or at least get a general price to be sure you’re getting a fair deal.