Supplied photo
From New York City’s Theater District to Miami’s Design District and Los Angeles’ Arts District, cities love carving out neighborhoods with a distinct identity. Allow us to make a nomination for Charlottesville’s vintage district, located on or around First Street downtown. (Though we’d be remiss not to also mention OG Low Vintage, further down the Mall, and Three Wrong Turns in an actual former vault at Vault Virginia.)
Arsenic and Old Lace
105 S. First St.
There’s a little something for everyone at Arsenic and Old Lace, which stocks beauties from 1920s flapper ’fits to silk suits from the 1950s. The shop regularly updates its Instagram with new inventory, and once caught the eye of celebrity stylist Law Roach, who messaged owner Angela Cook to buy a lime-green Mugler set for Zendaya. Talk about reaching for the stars.
Darling x Dashing
115 S. First St.
The double-whammy secondhand shop offers a limited selection of vintage clothing for women and men, but what owner Linnea Revak does hang on the racks is a curated collection in the same vibe as the rest of her inventory: clothes that’ll make you feel
your most, well, darling and dashing.
Old Flame Secondhand & Vintage
101 E. Water St.
The newest addition to the First Street pre-owned scene, Old Flame stocks clothing, jewelry, and homewares from 15 to 20 vendors, including the sibling owners’ own line, Lucky T Thrift, which they’ve amassed from estate sales, storage unit buyouts, and Facebook Marketplace (aka they’ve done all the dirty work).
Neon Soul (above)
100 W. South St. #1C
Owner Annie Drury lends her creative eye (she also works as an interior and photo set designer) to each of the pieces she stocks in her Pink Building shop, creating unexpected lewks in boundary-pushing color and pattern combos, and upcycling pieces with embroidery, beading, and other one-of-a-kind details.
