Vintage and thrift stores draw shoppers with old clothes, new styles
Suspended above rows of clothing racks densely packed with pieces from Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton and Chanel hangs a blindingly bright fuschia ball gown that has commanded the attention of Hey Betty! shoppers since it arrived at the Shadyside vintage store two weeks ago.
The gown once belonged to famed Pittsburgh mezzo-soprano Mildred Miller Posvar, who wore it during one of her performances on the world’s most renowned opera stages. Her daughter sold the gown, along with several of the singer’s other performance outfits, after Posvar passed away in November 2023.
But it’s just one of many storied items at Hey Betty!, according to Michael Ferrucci, a co-owner and the store’s manager.
“Almost all pieces are local and come from the Pittsburgh area, directly from donations,” he said as he dusted off a jewelry display case at the vintage institution that has served everyone from A-list celebrities to Hollywood costume designers to native Pittsburghers during its 36year run on Ellsworth Avenue.
Hey Betty! was ahead of the curve, but the Pittsburgh area now boasts more than 50 vintage stores.
Influencers on social media often post their hard-earned hauls from a day of vintage shopping in the Steel City, and TV and film costume designers frequently turn to our vintage scene to source unique items for period pieces like Amazon Prime’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
Slow fashion
The boom has been driven in part by the growing public demand for slow and sustainable clothing as the environmental perils of the fast fashion industry have gained mainstream attention in recent years.
“I think people are shopping for vintage for sustainability,” said Ferrucci. “I think vintage has become a bigger business now partly for that reason, because people are more conscious of it.”
Fashion production is responsible for 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions. That’s higher than the emissions from the global maritime shipping and airline industries combined, according to a 2020 analysis by the World Economic Forum.
Since the rise of fast fashion — widely accessible, trend-driven clothing made from cheap materials — consumers are buying more garments but keeping them for only half as long. Most eventually end up in landfills and are burned, resulting in the release of harmful emissions, according to the report.
Vintage shopping offers environmentally conscious shoppers an opportunity to contribute to a circular economy, one that keeps resources in use for as long as possible. That’s a draw for many consumers, especially those in the Gen Z demographic, which has popularized vintage and thrift shopping through social media apps like TikTok, Poshmark and Pinterest.
The age range for most Hey Betty! shoppers is 18-35, Ferrucci said. And while sustainability is a benefit for many customers, it’s not the only enticement.
Ferrucci points to what he called the “30-year trend cycle” in fashion. Clothes that were popular 30 years ago have a way of coming back in style, which makes ’90s-era fashion and early 2000s styles some of the most sought after by young consumers.
“The word ‘vintage’ depends on who you talk to. It means different things to different people,” he said.
Attic finds
Across the city on the South Side, Three Rivers Vintage is somewhat of a time machine. To walk inside is to be inundated with pieces that span nearly 100 years, from the 1860s to the 1970s. The store has built a reputation for assisting costume designers shopping for popular movies and television shows.
“That Tom Hanks’ Mister Rogers movie, we gave them a lot of cardigans,” owner Scott Johnson said with a laugh. “If there is a period movie ... a television show being shot here, they come to us.”
Drawing designers for productions ranging from Sony Pictures’ “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” to “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” to Netflix’s “Mindhunter” was no easy feat, Johnson said.
It required him to infiltrate the enigmatic world of estate sales. Johnson had to become an expert in finding them, which he said begins with knowing where to look. In Pittsburgh, that’s nearly everywhere.
“It took a while, it doesn’t happen overnight,” he said. “But when you’re talking about the older stuff, I will say Pittsburgh is a very good city for vintage.”
Johnson pointed to a Pittsburgh trend of multi-generational homes, which allows items to accumulate over decades as families stay in the same home for several generations. When moving into their parents’ house, Pittsburghers are less concerned with cleaning out the attic or basement, which makes it a vintage treasure trove when the homes are sold.
Our old stuff
In addition, 36.7% of Pittsburgh homeowners keep their homes for 24 years or longer, according to a study from “This Old House,” which analyzed data from the American Community Survey and the U.S. Census Bureau. Pennsylvania ranked third overall for states with the longest homeownership rates in the same study.
The longer the house is owned by the same individual or family, the better the vintage, Johnson said. Now, Three Rivers Vintage sources nearly all of its inventory from exclusive invite-only private estate sales. Occasionally, the staff will respond to calls from customers offering location tips.
“There’s a lot of good older stuff in the attics of the houses around here,” Johnson said. “It’s a good city to source. We have a lot of out-of-town buyers come and buy from us.”
Out-of-town buyers sourcing for their own vintage stores in other cities is not exclusive to Three Rivers Vintage. Ferrucci of Hey Betty! reported frequent visits from shoppers looking to cherrypick pieces for their own stores.
Both store owners were careful to emphasize the difference between vintage stores and thrift stores, two distinct categories that shoppers often lump into one.
Vintage refers to curated pieces bought from sellers by store owners who turn a profit from reselling them. Thrift stores, many of which are registered (501)c3 nonprofits, accept donations to be sold affordably where they are needed most.
In Sharpsburg, a stone’s throw away from Fox Chapel, Second Harvest Community Thrift Store has become an anchor for nearby residents. The nonprofit reinvests proceeds into local grant programs and community organizations at the recommendation of its grant board in what it calls its “more than a store” initiative.
The initiative also includes a free community food pantry and gift cards that support income vulnerable shoppers. The store has become a hub for community engagement, hosting senior socials every Wednesday. At the core of the store’s mission is sustainability, said executivedirector Bonnie DeMotte.
Whether it be at one of the city’s many curated vintage stores, or at a community-oriented thrift store, there is always an option for Pittsburghers who want to shop secondhand in the Steel City.