Love vintage and trendy Y2K fashion? Lexington businesses have risen to meet demand
Second-hand, thrifted and vintage clothing has risen in popularity among teenagers and young adults over the years, providing fashion lovers the chance to curate their individual styles through one-of-a-kind items.
“Fashion is an expression of your true, authentic self,” Madison Wathen, one of the owners of Street Scene, a Lexington vintage shop, recently told the Herald-Leader. “I think shopping vintage goes hand-in-hand with that because you’re finding more unique things.”
Finding vintage items can also provide a way for adults to reminisce or introduce their childhood favorites to their own children.
“Nostalgia is an unbeatable feeling,” according to Trey Lewis, co-owner of another local vintage store, Cold Collection.
Vintage clothing can also provide greater quality and boost sustainability efforts to combat fast fashion.
“We have the ability to make the clothing and some of these things live forever and have their own experiences and enjoy different walks of life,” Aaron Wills, co-owner of Vintage Therapy and GRLTLK said.
For those looking for specific vintage items to add to their closet, here are some unique, must-shop vintage businesses in Lexington.
Vintage Therapy and GRLTLK
Vintage Therapy’s clothing inventory contains an assortment of items ranging from the 1950s to the 2000s. T-shirts, sweatshirts, jeans and University of Kentucky apparel make up a lot of its stock, along with items like hats and vinyl records.
Co-owners Scott Hatton and Wills started Vintage Therapy after seeing a need for a sustainable vintage store in Lexington. They said they didn’t just want to create a store, but a welcoming, inclusive environment for those who visit to shop or just hang out.
“We wanted to create a safe space for people to be able to come and enjoy themselves and check out of the day-to-day,” Hatton said. “Whether they feel like they’re going back in time, something from their childhood sparks a good memory or exploring something new.”
“We hope that everybody that comes in here sees something that makes them smile and remember a time when they were a kid, or when they were younger,” Hatton continued.
Wills and Hatton said they intended Vintage Therapy to be unlike any other vintage shop. To make that happen, they’ve let their own personalities show through the store itself and on social media.
“We just wanted to set ourselves apart by not looking like anything else and really giving the customer the ability to fall in love with our personalities and what we are putting out there,” Wills said.
GRLTLK first opened in April in its own space but has recently combined with Vintage Therapy into one suite.
Women’s 1990s and 2000s clothing make up a lot of GRLTLK’s inventory, but some items date as far back as the 1940s. It also carries a selection of jewelry, accessories, swimsuits and more.
“We wanted GRLTLK to offer a new outlook and aesthetic made popular in the 1990s and 2000s era while still holding respect for older vintage,” Kandace Eligio, GRLTLK lead sales associate, said.
Eligio emphasized the intention GRLTLK has to offer customers of all sizes the accessibility to wear vintage feminine clothing and said the store carries items with a wide selection of sizes.
The clothing prices at Vintage Therapy and GRLTLK generally range from $15 to $75. It can be found online on its website and on Instagram, and GRLTLK can be found on Instagram.
It is open Monday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. inside Greyline Station at 101 W. Loudon Ave. Vintage Therapy also has a newly added location at 820 Lane Allen Road.
Street Scene
Street Scene carries men’s and women’s clothing, shoes and accessories that mostly range from the 1950s to the 90s. It also has an assortment of vintage and modern houseware, kitchenware, patches, pins, posters, stationery, postcards and more. It recently announced the launch of a children’s clothing section.
Wathen and Jillian Wiseman, co-owners of Street Scene, describe the store’s inventory as pre-loved, groovy and eclectic.
“It can add into [customers’] closet and it just goes in seamlessly with their other clothes or stands out, if that’s what they’re looking for,” Wiseman said.
Wathen said she enjoys being able to carry a selection of clothing with meaningful history and memories from previous owners.
“Breathing new life into clothes and creating more special memories in them is really cool,” Wathen said. “I think that’s the best part of shopping vintage.”
Street Scene partners with local artists to carry their art and jewelry in the store and buys inventory from those in the community, often from other resellers or people who have inherited items from family members.
“Something that has always been very important to us is keeping money in the community,” Wiseman said.
According to Wathen, the clothing price at Street Scene generally ranges from $18 to $25.
Street Scene can be found online on its website and Instagram and is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at 2575 Regency Road.
Cold Collection
Cold Collection’s clothing inventory is mostly streetwear fashion made up of 1980s, 90s and modern graphic tees and pants, along with other modern pieces and sneakers. Its women’s clothing contains mostly Y2K fashion from the 90s and 2000s.
“We like to say we’re a vintage store with shoes,” Lewis said.
Aside from clothing, shoes and accessories, Cold Collection sells items like posters, vinyl records, VHS tapes and vintage toys and has several TV’s playing old cartoons and video games set up for customers as they shop around or hang out inside the store.
“This is supposed to feel like your bedroom or closet in the 1990s or early 2000s,” Lewis said.
Co-owners Lewis and Emilie Thomas said the shop doesn’t only provide a place for people to shop, but also a place to hang out and feel a sense of community. They said sometimes, curated stores can make customers feel like it is a privilege to shop there, but they’ve made sure Cold Collection is inclusive to its visitors.
“We treat them like they’re a friend who just walked in,” Lewis said. “Everybody gets the same treatment.”
The clothing prices at Cold Collection generally range from $15 to $45.
Cold Collection can be found online on Instagram and is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. at 367 Southland Drive.
The Herald-Leader also reached out to Wearhouse, a “vintage store curated for modern style,” according to its website, to be included in this story, however, officials were unavailable to interview before publication.
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