Vintage and Retro - Seattle

Vintage Seattle - 8 shops to check out on your next trip

A couple months back, I had written up a quick vintage shopping guide for my trip to Portland I did in 2018. Since that one was so popular, I decided it was time for round two. Seattle is another great west coast city to go to if vintage shopping is your jam. They have great food, and a bunch of really rad shops. Not being a Seattle local I can't say I am an expert of Seattle vintage shopping, but here are a few that I've checked out and loved on the couple trips I've had.

Rove Vintage. This shop is great if you are on the hunt for more of a 70s old band tee shirt vibe. This store is pretty rock n roll grunge with rows of denim and leather jackets. If you are more into a mid century aesthetic, they do have a few hidden 60s gems that hide in their rows, but I wouldn’t go out of your way if you have 0 interest in the later chunk of the century’s style. Although it is nicely located making it an easy walk from Capitol Hill, and other good nearby shops and restaurants.

Dress From Pretty Parlor
Cardigan from Dancing Days

Pretty Parlor. This shop has everything I desire in a vintage shop. Well curated pieces spanning the middle of the century. Everything is color codes and there is pretty much something for most people’s budget. Store pets?! Honestly I wish I lived in Seattle just so I could routinely visit Pretty Parlor. I suppose I will have to settle with constantly visiting their Etsy shop. Located in Capitol Hill, this place is an easy visit if you are staying in that area, or even downtown. They do have more than just really rad dresses, lingerie, shoes and handbags for femme folks. Tucked away in the back they also have a bridal section that my heart craves to see, and lots of menswear in the front of the shop. On my last visit I purchased a lovely fall colored shirt waist dress.

Revival. If you are more of a trendy instagram vintage lover, this is probably more of the place for you. Revival’s main focus seems more leaned towards local artist’s pieces which is rad as all get out. If you are very fashion forward, or have that super chic family member you need to buy a gift for, this would totally be a place I would suggest checking out. Even if you aren’t that person I would still suggest checking it out if you are in the area. They do have dedicated space for used and consigned pieces of clothing, and there were definitely some older pieces of vintage in there.

Le Frock. Come here if you have money to spend and you are all about that brand name stuff. I swooned at the rack of dress suits that I will never be able to afford (and probably fit) Le Frock is located on Pike, just down the street from Rove Vintage. I do get the sense that they are trying to gear themselves more towards class of humans who need to wear business attire most days. Still a lovely place to peek into to see if they have something on sale.

Lifelong Thrift. Okay so maybe not the type of vintage shop that the rest of the places on this list are, but still a lovely place to check out. It’s a pretty large place, stock full of stuff, so make sure you have the energy to properly look through it. It is a thrift shop after all. When I was there last, I found 2 cute velvet hats that were about 5 dollars each. If you take a look at their website, you can also see that they are a non-profit, support their local community and those with chronic illnesses.

Cardigan - Dancing Days
Skirt - Lucky Vintage

Lucky Vintage. I didn’t realize during my stay, but Lucky Vintage actually has three shops through Seattle. I had been to their Ballard location, but they also a U district and a Pioneer Square location. Their clothes span from the early 1900s up to 1990. Their Ballard location Instagram is one of my favorite accounts to follow. They are constantly posting fantastic flat lays of pieces that are currently in their store. If you spent any time with me over the holidays, or have peeks over at my social media, you’ve probably come across my cream plaid wrap skirt that I bought there. Everyone needs a wrap skirt for holiday meals in my opinion.

Trove Vintage. Up in Ballard is this very cute shop. It’s a femme dream, with soft lace and frills on dreamy vintage dresses. It is a little more on the pricier end, but very well curated. They also have a bridal section to their store too. If you have something you need a nice new (to you) dress for a special event, you might have luck here. Don’t expect to find anything masculine here though. There is pretty much no menswear to speak of here. Even finding a pair of pants will be a challenge.

Bon Voyage Vintage. It was my first trip to Seattle when I popped into Bon Voyage. If memory serves me right, we had just left the underground tour and saw that his place with still open. We peeked in and the space was full of punk kids, hanging out and drinking. Okay turns out they also have some rental space in their off hours. Fast forward to my next trip, we actually visited during store hours. So automatically this store gets bonus points for having a dog in their shop. They also had such a range of styles in their shop. Most of the things you find here will be later in the century, and more punkesque of style (see above for reference to my first visit) but they do have some more mid century stuff sprinkled through. There are a pair of wool sailor pants I had bought there with the intention of wearing all the time before losing too much weight for them.

Any of your favorite shops that aren't on this list? Let me know. I am always looking for an excuse to go to Seattle again, and check out all their good shopping.

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Vintage and Retro Portland

Portland Oregon is just full of really rad vintage stuff. From their old building, to mid century furniture stores, and so many vintage clothing shops. There are so many vintage shops that it is impossible to do all of them on one trip to the city. Here are 8 stores I got to check out on my 4 day trip to Portland back in March.

Classic Collection Hats. So this isn’t specifically a store that has to do with vintage. This Classic Collection Hats has so many styles of hats for a lot of different budgets. I loved that they carried a lot of styles that came in multiple sizes. Both my partner and I suffer from having larger than average heads. I walked out buying myself an olive green beret, and my partner a matching newsboy cap. They also had so many different sort of straw sun hats that I wanted to take home. Check this place out no matter the style of hats you enjoy, there will probably be something there you would like.

House of Vintage. One of the least curated shops on this list, you want to come in with a lot of patience and time. I came into House of Vintage with neither. We had gotten coffee at Tov just down the street and stopped in quickly on our walk back to our Airbnb. I can say that if you have the time though, I can see this store paying off. It’s set up in a mall style, with different vendors, so they have a vast range of really neat things, to shrug worthy stuff. Things seem to be organized within individual vendors and not eras, or type of clothing. So hence the need for patience and time to find the gems. With my 20-30 minutes in the store, I did walk out with a lovely mustard yellow wool blouse circa 1950 for I think about 13 dollars. It was missing the button, but nothing that I couldn’t fix. Just be prepared that if you are on the hunt for a specific era, they do have the whole range of stuff from the 20s right up to the 90s.

Red Light Clothing. A little more curated than House of Vintage, but expect there to be a little bit of everything at Red Light Clothing, and to do some hunting to find something neat. Things here are at least organized by pieces of clothing and size. So if you are only on the hunt for dresses, it’s a bit easier to work with than House of Vintage. I tried on a couple of pieces, and nothing either fit nicely or were super my style. Truth be told I could take it or leave it. A lot of their stuff is way more 80s-90s which personally isn’t my jam, if it’s yours go check it out. Just don’t expect to be swimming in mid century clothing.

Hollywood Vintage. I saw online that Hollywood Vintage was praised for having this huge collection of vintage eyewear. Seeing that I was considering picking up some new glasses myself, I figured this was a place I would have to check out and threw it on my to-do list. Unfortunately when I visited, a couple weeks beforehand they had a break in occur, which resulted most of their eyewear stock stolen or destroyed. Besides the very empty room that once held the collection of glasses, they still carried a variety of hats and a very small selection of vintage clothing. The rest of their store was a mix between thrifted house wear and knick-knacks, and old costume stock. Go if you want to see some neat things, not on the top of the list for some true vintage clothing items.

Hattie’s. One of the smaller stores that I visited, but it was pack full of really neat things. Hattie's had vintage ranging from the 30s to the 70s for both menswear and womenswear. Prices here varied from very reasonable to way out of my budget. I would especially suggest checking out this store if you are on the hunt for some gloves. I found myself a pair that fit my hands which never seems to happen. There was also a 50s crop jacket with embossed flowers in black that screamed my name while there, that I got to wear a couple days later for my anniversary dinner.

Simply Vintage Co. This is a store that I wished so very dearly was where I lived. I visited Simply Vintage after a sweaty bike ride (and getting lost) from OMSI. I am so glad I did. The person who ran the store was so sweet, and loved giving me suggestions of things to look at. It didn’t really take her all that long to figure out what stuff would look good on me. This is a person who obviously has a passion for what she does. The store itself is wonderfully curated with a mix of true vintage and newer reproduction stock. If you have any interest in 40s or 50s era of women’s clothing, you must go to this place. I walked out of there spending roughly $200 CAD for two vintage pieces. Probably more than I was intended to spend, but I wouldn’t even be able to get two repro pieces where I live for that price.

Magpie. I feel like Magpie is what I think of when I think of vintage stores. This place carries products ranging from the 20s to the 70s. Both quality and price points are seen on lower and higher scales. I walked out personally with a short sleeve green wool cardigan that very quickly made its way in my everyday wardrobe. I got a steal of a deal also on a 1940s felted hat with netting and feathers, albeit the deal was probably due to the fact it not being in the greatest condition. No matter what you are on the hunt for Magpie is a pretty safe bet on checking out if you are traveling through Portland.

Red Fox Vintage. We visited Red Fox’s Woodstock store on our walk around the neighborhood after checking out a pool nearby. One of those places that does a bit of everything, and seemed to work off of consignment, don’t expect this place to be stuffed with clothing. Most of the store had knick-knacks and housewares. A neat place to check out if you are in the area, but I wouldn’t say make the trip out of your way for it. I can’t speak to their other location though as I only checked out the one.

Are there some really rad places that I missed out while in Portland? Let me know and I will check it out on my next trip out there!

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Geek Travel; Los Angeles

Los Angeles, known for beaches, and for Hollywood, and sports teams too I guess. So, what do you do there as a human who has very little interest in that stuff. Good news! LA still has a rich history to explore, and good food to eat. Theme parks too. I was in LA late october last year for a convention with my best friend Nicole. We spent approximately six days there, and these are just a couple of things I got up to that I think are worth checking out if you are in the area.

Where we stayed

DTLA. Earlier in our trip we were in a hotel in Anaheim. We stayed in airbnbs for LA leg of the trip. During the convention we stayed in an apartment close to the center with 4 other cosplayers. Staying downtown is great if you need to be in close proximity of the convention center.

Fairfax. After the con was over, our temporary roommates had to leave to go back to their jobs and all that fun junk. Nicole and I decided for the rest of our trip to get a room in Fairfax. It was a great neighborhood to stay in. It placed it roughly a 15 minute uber ride from most places we wanted to check out throughout the week. There was also lots of great restaurants and shopping walking distance.

Where We Ate


Fleishik’s. Delicious sammies, great decor, and fantastic staff makes this place so wonderful. This had to be the best food I ate the entire freaking trip. Fleishik’s is a kosher sandwich place, also serving up whisky. Meals were more than enough food for me to eat alone. Share with a friend if you don’t have the stomach of a beast, or don’t and have leftovers for later. I got the Babasooey and would heavily suggest it.

Andante. This small coffee shop was super close to our AirBNB in Fairax. I was so happy to find a coffee place that wasn’t a large chain. Once we found the place, we went every morning until we left.

Nakkara. Okay so we didn’t actually eat in the restaurant. The day after the convention, I felt like my feet were going to fall off and I had no desire to leave our airbnb. Once we saw that this place had Satay chicken rice bowls and did take out, our fates were sealed.

Ramen Maruya. Located in Little Tokyo, we hit up Ramen Maruya for some sushi and ramen one night after the convention. I grabbed myself some katsu don and shared some sushi rolls with my pals just before exploring some of little Tokyo.

Edit Aug 2018 Turns out that both Nakkara and flesihik's has closed down since

Where We Shopped

The Grove and Farmer’s Market. If you are looking for some higher end shopping, the Grove can set you up. The farmer’s market is also super close by, where you can go ahead and grab yourself some lunch, or some really good looking steaks for dinner later.

Mood Fabric. We never managed to make it down to LA’s famous fabric district, but did get a trip into Mood Fabric. There was so much I wanted to buy, but I had so little money. Also so little room left in my suitcase. I did pick up some nice lighter green linen for my partner to use in reenactment.

Papermoon Vintage. Where I live we do not have vintage stores like alot of places I’ve been to in the states do. Truth is I just don’t live in an old as a city compared to somewhere like LA. So enter Papermoon, a fantastic vintage clothing store. When shopping true vintage you got to keep in mind that it is not cheap. That being said, I still managed to find a dress and blazer in my budget and size. Even if you don’t wear vintage, check this place out just to see the amount of fantastic pieces they have.

What We Did

El Capitan Theatre. We were in L.A over halloween. The day before we still had not plans for the halloween night, and was googling for possible movies to see in the city. Finally we stumbled upon seeing Nightmare Before Christmas in 4D at Disney’s El Capitan Theatre. It was great to see one of my favorite movies growing up on the big screen, surrounded by lights and fog effects through the show. Bonus points for the organ player before the show.

Cicada Club Halloween Party. This is my must go place if I ever go to LA again. In this historic art deco building is the Cicada Club, a vintage themed club and restaurant with a dress code. We managed to be there the same weekend as their halloween party. The drinks were great, decor amazing, and music on point. My only regret was not springing for the added dinner.

LACC Los Angeles Comic Con (formerly Stan Lee’s Comikaze) was the whole reason for the trip down. Held the weekend before halloween, this is a convention held in LA’s convention center downtown. A great con to check out if you live in the area, but for traveling I’ve heard it’s better to wait it out until wondercon that occurs during easter weekend in Anaheim.

Universal Studios. Okay, so I spent way too much money at universal. We ran around hogsmeade casting spells with our newly bought wands. We road the forbidden journey ride twice, and i totally spent almost 100 bucks on candy. The weather was great for us at 20 degrees, and managed to keep most of the locals away from attending that day it seemed. We managed to wait no longer than 30 minutes for a ride, and basically when on them all except for the simpsons and transformers ride. We even got brave enough to go on the jurassic park ride at the end of our day.

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Geek Travel to Anaheim

Anaheim, known for being the home of Disneyland. At the end of October this year, me and my friend Nicole spent some time in Anaheim and Orange before moving onto Los Angeles for a convention. We had flown in late on Tuesday evening, and then drove out Friday morning. This gave us 3 whole days in the city. Here are some things you can get up to if you have some time in Anaheim, whether it's for a convention, or just a trip in the general SoCal area.

Where we stayed : Clarion Hotel Anaheim

The Clarion is your basic hotel. I booked this through air miles because they were offering special pricing and bonus miles when I was looking. With the special pricing they ran we got 2 double beds for approx $100 CAD a night.

The nice thing about this hotel is that it put us roughly a 15 to 20 minute walk to the front gates of Disneyland. There was a Starbucks in a neighboring hotel, and a CVS down the road. Bonus, if you are attending something like Wondercon, or Blizzcon, you can see the Anaheim Convention Center from the front doors.


Where We Ate

Watson’s Soda Fountain & Cafe. This retro styled soda bar/pharmacy was a great place to stop by in the 40 degree heat. They had inexpensive lunch options. I personally grabbed myself a strawberry caprese salad that ended up being way more food than I could handle. I also grabbed myself an orange creamsicle pop that matched a little Halloween owl I had just bought at target. If I wasn’t dealing with a stomach ache from milk I had consumed earlier, I would have grabbed an adult malt or float.

The Pizza Press. Exhausted from spending the day in the heat, Pizza Press Delivered what we needed. Legit, we ordered delivery not wanting to leave our hotel. Menu items are named with a newspaper theme, with a range of ingredients. There menu also gives you an option to just create your own pizza, picking toppings, cheese, and sauce. As two picky people, this was right up our alley.

Where We Shopped

Elsewhere Vintage. A short uber ride from our hotel, Elsewhere in located in a more historical district of orange. The area is populated with antique, vintage, and thrift shops. One shop that stood out was Elsewhere. Elsewhere carried a range of femme/women’s vintage clothing. Where I live, we lack curated shops like these. I love how clothing was organized by decade, with more valuable pieces up on the walls for display. They had stuff from turn of the century, up to the 50s. In the photo above, this the fantastic top I found at Elsewhere. The great thing about this store was all the reasonable prices. This plaid button top fit me perfectly, and was only $40.

Joyride is situated right next door to Elsewhere. Joyride carried more masculine vintage clothing. We swooned over suits from the turn of the century, and their selection of wool plaid. In that back of the store they also had a milliner, displaying all sorts of hats, and offering repairs. Nicole ended up picking herself up a cummerbund to go with a tailcoat that she had.

What We Did

Disneyland. The main reason we stayed in Anaheim for a couple of days. We ended up not going to their specific Halloween party, but the parks were still all decorated up with pumpkins and bats. I don’t know how we survived 12 hours in almost 40 degree weather, but we did it. First stop was mickey ears, and then space mountain. I finally got to ride the freaking tea cups, which was closed when I went to Disney world when I was 16 with my family. Haunted mansion also got a Nightmare before Christmas decorating. I never got a mickey shaped pretzel, but I did get a witch Minnie themed candy apple with is way more my aesthetic anyways.

These are just the best of the stuff that we did while we were in Anaheim. If you are ever in the area I would totally suggest checking out any of these places. They are all places I am totally going to hit up again if I find myself in the Anaheim area again sometime soon.

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