Ask me where I got a piece and there’s a good chance the answer will be, “It’s vintage.” I’ve always loved clothing with a little history and as a stylist, I’m constantly looking for pieces that feel different, full of character, or simply aren’t something you’re going to see coming down the street on several people.
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to source and create looks for tons of celebrity clients including Shawn Mendes, Kane Brown, Channel Tres, Miguel Harichi, Shameik Moore, David Kushner, and Aldis Hodge. Working with talent has taught me that finding the right piece isn’t always about finding the newest collection or the most recognizable designer. Sometimes the best find is something that already exists and just needs the right eye to bring it back to life.
Vintage sourcing is also a big part of how I think about sustainability. I’m not someone who believes you have to stop shopping altogether to shop more responsibly. For me, it’s about being more intentional, buying something that already exists, giving it another life, and developing an eye for pieces that can live in your wardrobe for years.
There are, of course, the big resale platforms like eBay and The RealReal, which can be great starting points. But when I’m looking for something more specific, unusual or deeply curated, I tend to go a little further off the beaten path. These are some of the resources I keep coming back to, both for myself and when I’m sourcing for clients.
1. The Rose Bowl Flea Market (Pasadena, California)
If you’re serious about vintage, the Rose Bowl Flea Market is a mecca. This is one of those places where you can spend hours walking around and still feel like you haven’t seen everything.
What I love about the Rose Bowl is that you’re going straight to the source. A lot of vintage retailers come here to source their own inventory, so you’re essentially shopping where the people who know vintage shop. You can find everything from clothing and accessories to jewelry, furniture and incredible home pieces.
Since becoming a mom, I’ve also discovered that the Rose Bowl has one of the largest selections of vintage kids’ clothing I’ve come across. There’s something so special about finding a little vintage piece for your child instead of buying something brand new that every other kid has. My biggest advice? Go with an open mind. You may go looking for a leather jacket and come home with a lamp, a vintage belt and a dress you never knew you needed. That’s part of the fun.
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2. Erre Vintage (Mexico City, Mexico)
Erre Vintage is one of my favorite places to look when I’m in Mexico City. As someone who is Mexican, I love being able to source vintage in a place that feels culturally connected to me.
There’s something different about vintage shopping in Mexico. You’re not just looking at old fashion, you’re encountering pieces that have lived within a different cultural history. Erre has a beautiful point of view and is a great place to discover pieces that feel timeless without feeling overly familiar.
I also love looking at vintage as a way to connect with where you come from. Fashion has a way of preserving culture, and sometimes a garment can tell you as much about a place and a particular moment in time as a photograph can.
If you’re traveling to Mexico City, I would absolutely make time for vintage shopping. Go curious and don’t be afraid to ask questions about where pieces came from.
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3. What Goes Around Comes Around (Los Angeles, California + New York City, New York)
When I’m looking for elevated designer vintage, What Goes Around Comes Around is one of the first places I think of.
What I love about a resource like this is the curation. Vintage can be overwhelming because there is so much out there, and having someone with a strong eye edit it down for you makes a huge difference. This is where I’ll look when I want a really special designer piece that has history but still feels relevant today.
For me, the best vintage doesn’t necessarily look “old.” It can be something from decades ago that feels completely right with what’s happening in fashion now. That’s the magic of a great vintage piece. You can style it in a way that makes it feel like it was made for today. On that note, something I always say is “fashion you can buy, style starts with you”. This holds true with any gem you’ve come across.
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4. Fleek (online only)
I came across Fleek when I was working on a few custom designs and wanted to source a large number of vintage Levi’s jackets to upcycle. I needed volume, but I also wanted the pieces to have that authentic vintage feel, and that’s when I discovered this amazing resource.
Fleek is a global vintage wholesale marketplace that connects you with suppliers from around the world. You can source everything from Levi’s and denim to workwear, Y2K pieces and vintage sportswear, and they offer everything from smaller bundles to larger wholesale quantities.
What I love about Fleek is that it opens up a different side of vintage sourcing. If you’re a designer, stylist, creative, or someone looking to upcycle, you’re not limited to finding one perfect piece, you can actually source a collection of pieces to transform into something new. For me, that’s where the sustainability conversation gets really exciting. Taking something that already exists and giving it an entirely new life.
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5. Mothfood (Los Angeles, California + New York City, New York)
For men’s vintage, Mothfood is one of my go-to sources. It has one of the best assortments of men’s vintage I’ve come across, and when I’m sourcing for a male client, it’s always on my radar.
They have those really special pieces that are becoming harder and harder to find, including rare vintage from the 1930s and ’40s. I love finding something with that kind of history and then putting it on a modern guy and making it feel completely fresh.
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Mothfood’s sister store, Lost & Found in Detroit, is another one to know. I love that these are independent resources with such a distinct point of view. The curation is impeccable! When you shop vintage, I think it’s important to find dealers whose taste you trust. Once you find those people, you keep going back. Trust me.
6. ThredUp (online only)
ThredUp is one of those places where you really have to be willing to dig, and I actually love that about it. With such a huge assortment of secondhand clothing and accessories, I’ll go in knowing what I’m looking for and start searching by designer, decade, silhouette or even a very specific piece. You can find everything from everyday brands to designer labels, and the inventory is constantly changing. ThredUp has processed hundreds of millions of secondhand items across thousands of brands, so there’s a lot to uncover.
For me, the appeal is finding something unexpected. It’s not necessarily where I’d go when I’m looking for a rare archival piece. It’s a great resource when you want to hunt, experiment and find something you weren’t expecting. Sometimes the best vintage finds happen when you’re not looking for the obvious thing.
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7. Carole Tanenbaum Vintage Collection (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Carole Tanenbaum for years, and she has impeccable taste. Her eye for collecting some of the most beautiful vintage jewelry is really special.
This is one of those resources I would recommend to anyone who wants to understand how transformative vintage jewelry can be. You don’t necessarily need an entire vintage look. Sometimes one incredible brooch, necklace, bracelet or pair of earrings can completely change a simple outfit.
Carole’s collection also feels like a lesson in fashion history. You start to recognize different eras, materials and design details, and you begin to understand why certain pieces have remained desirable for decades. For me, vintage jewelry is one of the easiest ways to introduce something historic into a modern wardrobe.
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8. Shrimpton Couture (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
When I’m looking for something truly special and archival, Shrimpton Couture is where I go. This is vintage at the more collectible end of the spectrum. Founder Cherie Balch has an incredible eye for sourcing and curating pieces from some of the most important designers and eras in fashion. You’ll find vintage couture and archival pieces that feel more like fashion history than simply something you found secondhand. What I love most is the education that comes with it. Shopping vintage is also about learning. Who designed this? What collection was it from? Why was this silhouette important? What was happening culturally when it was made? The more you learn about fashion history, the better you become at sourcing. And suddenly that “old dress” becomes a piece of history.
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9. LA Vintage Wholesale (Los Angeles, California)
I recently went down the vintage wholesale rabbit hole again and came across LA Vintage Wholesale, an incredible resource for sourcing vintage in volume. I especially love it for tour wardrobes, where you may need multiples of a particular piece, and for custom projects where vintage garments can be reworked and upcycled.
For me, it’s another example of how vintage can become more than something you wear but rather the starting point for something completely new.
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10. The (Re)Store at Galeries Lafayette (Paris, France)
Every time I’m in Paris, I try to make a point of visiting Galeries Lafayette. On my last trip, I stumbled into The (Re)Store and it honestly felt like the golden gates were opening.
What caught my attention was that it wasn’t just about finding vintage. It was a place to discover new brands, designers and ways of thinking about fashion through a secondhand lens. That’s what I find most exciting about spaces like this. Sustainability doesn’t have to mean sacrificing discovery or creativity. In fact, I think it can create more of it.
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When you shop secondhand, you’re forced to look beyond what’s being pushed in front of you right now. You start asking different questions: What already exists? What can I find that feels personal? What can I give another life to? And ultimately, that’s what I love most about vintage. It’s not about dressing like you belong to another decade. It’s about taking something that already has a story and making it part of yours. Your next great piece might already be out there, happy hunting!
