Rough, brick walls enveloped me as I pushed through the glass door labeled “Vintage Vibe.” Silver and gold accessories hung across the wall, waiting to be claimed by a new owner. The dark stained wood floors creaked as I walked across the room towards a black table. Patterned socks, claw clips, and colorful sports caps lined the surface. As I browsed the animal-shaped claw clips, a gust of wind brushed against the side of my face. More people were walking in: teenagers, parents, and millennials.
My eyes shifted to the back of the store. Racks of tee-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies lined the wall. The racks swayed as shoppers swiped through the hangers looking for the perfect piece to purchase. The clothing was ordered by color: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Towards the back of the store, denim lined the racks. Different washes — dark, light, and acid — painted the array of jeans, shorts, and jackets.
This vintage store, filled to the brim with a wide range of items, aims to bridge the gaps in size and price in the vintage space.
Vintage clothing – clothes that have been previously owned and reflect past fashion trends and pieces – has grown steadily in popularity in the last few years. Fashion trends come in a cycle, trends lasting anywhere from a month to a few years. For example, low-rise baggy jeans were huge in the 90s and early 2000s, before giving way to skinny jeans and other styles, then coming back with a boom in the last few years. The cycle of trends connects people to shopping vintage.
For many, shopping vintage can be a stylistic choice, with some people preferring cuts and patterns of the past over current fashions. I like shopping vintage for the overall better quality pieces and unique styles that I can not find elsewhere. However, many vintage stores have gaps in size and prices, lacking accessibility. Unlike other vintage stores, Vintage Vibe aims to bridge this gap.
Located in the NuLu neighborhood, Vintage Vibe specializes in hand-picked vintage clothing and goods. The store sells jeans, hoodies, shirts, jackets, and more, all in a wide range of sizes. Patterned socks, claw clips, earrings, and hats are also available at their storefront or online.
Co-owner Bryan Jones aims to elevate the business model within the vintage space by including a wider range of sizes and types of items.
“The idea was created because of a hole in the market for clothing specifically,” Bryan Jones, co-owner of Vintage Vibe, said.
Within the vintage space, sizing is often extremely limited. Especially within smaller stores, finding a wide selection with an array of sizing options can be a challenge.
“The hard part about vintage is you have to find something that fits your body,” said Jones, “You can’t go in and get a small through XXL selection in most places, whereas you can get that at Forever 21 or H&M.”
Jones’s personal experience regarding sizing options also heavily influenced the idea of the store. He empathizes to those who struggle to find pieces that fit and make them feel comfortable.
“People who are small have a lot easier time making things just look good on them, [but] not everybody has that luxury,” Jones explained.
Jones wants to expand the vintage space for anyone who is interested within Louisville, and sizing is just one of the components bringing more people towards the store.
In addition to bridging the gap regarding size, the lack of affordable pieces within the vintage space was a reason for the launch of Vintage Vibe. Prices for vintage pieces can commonly range hundreds of dollars, discouraging many consumers from switching to vintage.
“There is a weird thing in vintage stores where a lot of stores try to price you out of it,” Jones said. “That’s why fast fashion wins, because people can afford it.”
“It feels really good walking into a store and knowing I don’t have to save up months for just one thing,” Jones explained. “I can walk in with what’s in my pocket and buy at least one thing.”
With these hopes of bridging the gaps within size and price in the vintage space, the idea for Vintage Vibe arose. Starting small, the Vintage Vibe began from the trunk of Jones’s car.
“I used to grab things that weren’t necessarily in the size that I thought friends and family would like, and I just had them in my trunk,” said Jones.
With this system, Jones would sell vintage pieces from time to time. When Flea Off Market, a pop-up flea market and art fair, opened, Jones began to sell clothes in his collection there. Shortly after, Vintage Vibe began selling items in another vintage store, Vintage Banana. After selling for about a year, a vacant storefront on Eastern Parkway became available, hosting the first physical Vintage Vibe location in 2017.
Vintage Vibe continued to operate out of the Eastern Parkway location until 2022 when Jones opened a new store called vie élevée in NuLu. With the opening of the store, Jones saw that NuLu was thriving and a one of a kind neighborhood, creating a space where people could efficiently access the store and enabling his business to thrive.
“People are able to get food, walk around, and check out the stores,” Jones said.
Through the opening of the vie élevée store in NuLu, Jones saw an environment and neighborhood that he had pictured for the original Eastern Parkway location. Jones wanted a change in environment away from Eastern Parkway and the Highlands. Jones wanted to find a trendy location where people of all ages can come and enjoy what Vintage Vibe has to offer.
With this in mind, Jones decided to take a big leap, moving the Eastern Parkway location into NuLu.
With the new move, Vintage Vibe continues to grow and bring more people towards the vintage space. Vintage Vibe has also expanded to the virtual world with their website, allowing more people outside of Louisville to buy vintage.
Ultimately, Jones hopes to take it one day at a time, and see how it goes.
“I kind of like to let things just happen,” Jones said.
