Vintage Clothing Boutiques of the Hudson Valley Kind – new article by Rebecca Shea

The Hudson Valley offers many boutiques specializing in vintage clothing. The mixing of vintage and new clothing to express your personality is an original style choice. Looking good doesn’t mean looking like everyone else.

Vintage clothing is budget friendly because prices are far lower than many modern designer price tags. It is also an environmentally smart shopping experience. It is a form of recycling! Vintage clothing is curated second-hand clothing—the selection has been hand-picked by the shop owner.

Great vintage clothing reflects the era in which it was produced and can be highly wearable because it offers cuts or fabrics that are flattering and special. Such clothing tends to fall between the dates of 1920-1990.

Antique clothing, as rare as it is, is over 100 years old. Museums and collectors are more than often the buyers of antique clothing.

Shopping at local vintage clothing boutiques will introduce you to a lively world where the past and the present happen simultaneously through clothing and styling.

Here are some of the best of these specialized boutiques, but the list goes on.

Good Old Vintage is a hip boutique located in the edgy and artsy Midtown/Broadway neighborhood. This tiny shop, with its charming window displays and straightforward  merchandising, is refreshing and the staff are helpful for offering quick styling ideas. They know their stock. This is a vintage clothing selection that is highly curated, well researched, accurately dated, wearable, and affordable. 580 Broadway, 845-443-0455.

Outback Antiques on Hurley Avenue near Kingston Plaza is a favorite with young trendsetters, dealers, collectors and “weekenders” alike. An enormous (and unheated) barn, “outback” is organized like an old department store. Almost anything can be bought here at a reasonable price. Vintage, antique and contemporary clothing share racks in the shops-within-shops layout. The eclectic and well-priced inventory encourages experimentation. It’s certainly unique. 72 Hurley Avenue, 845-331-4481 (By appointment only for most of the winter).

Out of the Past in Kingston’s historic Stockade District is an archetypical vintage clothing shop. It has great atmosphere. It is dark, reggae music pulsates, and the smell of old and new perfume keeps it kinda sexy. This place is jam-packed with racks and racks of stylin’ clothes. The shopkeeper, Henrietta, has been trading second-hand clothes for over 30 years. She specializes in evening wear, and the stock is strongest for 1980s looks. This is the type of clothing collection and boutique environment that educates shoppers and influences future trends. Go. This is an endangered type of shop. 294 Wall Street, 845-282-6113.

Scattered throughout the city of Hudson’s gazillion antique, design, art, toy and clothing retailers are some terrific vintage clothing shops including Hudson Vintage. This well-known boutique specializes in vintage jewelry. These are not the usual dented lockets and clouded rhinestones of your grandmother’s jewelry box. This is the spot for fantastical and fabulous off the runway, editorial pieces that you forgot existed and now must have. Prices are good and stock changes often, so if there is an empty parking spot on Warren (Ha!) take it and have a look. 433 Warren Street, 518-828-7484.

Just a short stroll off Warren at the intersection of 5th and Columbia are two outstanding vintage clothing boutiques. Five & Diamond has an exquisitely edited selection. Almost everything here speaks to current trends and can easily be mixed into a contemporary wardrobe to look smart and stylish. 502 Columbia Street, 518-828-4140.

Discipline Park is a bit more punk rock. The hand-picked selection mixes high and low fashion and work wear. The proprietress is an artist who adores fashion and outsider artwork. Both art and fashion coexist here dynamically. This is a romantic and magical place. 25 N. Fifth Street, 518-828-1161.

If you like shopping online there are super cool and super local vintage dealers on Etsy. Support your neighbors—maybe you could even skip the postal packaging and exchange goods at a local spot.

New Paltz’s Judy Go Vintage. Etsy site includes a large and fascinating selection of men’s and women’s vintage clothing. This dealer can refresh even a veteran vintage shopper’s ideas of what is stylish and valuable. www.etsy.com/shop/judygovintage

Rondout Valley’s Mustang Annees. Etsy site is filled with classy must-haves for the contemporary fashionable woman.  www.etsy.com/shop/mustangannees

Ashokan Reservoir’s Luncheonette Vintage. Etsy site is a super duper cute shop with great prices. So much fun to browse. www.etsy.com/shop/Luncheonettevintage

Sharpen your shopping skills and expand your wardrobe with vintage clothing. What’s old is new again. It’s fashion!