Scroll through fashion videos on YouTube or the popular video app TikTok, and you’ll see plenty of teenagers, college students, and adults showing off their vintage and vintage-inspired outfits. Stroll down one of the main drags in Berkshire County, and you may just see a new vintage store or pop-up.
Bux Vintage opened in May on Williamstown’s Spring Street. Brand new in North Adams are Terra, a curated shop of thrifted and vintage items and clothing on Ashland Street, and Savvy Hive, a vintage pop-up, at the Berkshire Emporium on Main Street. In July, the “Pitts-FLEA-d” vintage market brought dozens of vendors to Pittsfield’s Polish Community Club on Linden Street. These new offerings join longstanding shops like Boho Exchange on Main Street in Great Barrington and Circa on North Street in Pittsfield.
Vintage or thrifted clothing and home decor have always had their place among collectors and aficionados, but concerns about environmental impact, rapidly changing fashion trends, and interest in low-cost living are driving a wider interest in previously used items in good condition, particularly among younger people.
McKinsey’s breakdown of Gen Z–those born after 1996–indicates a generation deeply invested in individual expression and ethical consumption, making vintage a perfect fit. Digital natives explore and develop identity through social media, and Gen Z’s aesthetic sense is already well-defined, from “cottagecore” to “dark academia” to a sort of grunge revival to “art mom” and beyond.
“Young people are interested in reducing their carbon footprint, but there’s also a lot of gender fluidity,” said Paula Buxbaum, who owns Bux Vintage. “Wearing vintage is a way of expressing oneself in a way young people can have something that’s not gender-specific or right off the rack.”
There’s also a nostalgia factor. The Los Angeles Times reported recently on the new obsession with videos of estate sale hauls; Eater has chronicled the run on vintage Pyrex dishes. (Don’t confuse vintage, an object of a certain era, with antique; antiques are generally 100 years old, or older.)
Samantha White, who opened Terra in July, is a younger collector. She’s been gathering stock from local estate sales and thrift shops, and said she’s seen more local interest in vintage. “There’s a lot more awareness and accountability for your ethical and environmental impact, of all the parts of your lifestyle,” she said. “It’s one more way to be that much more sustainable.”
White’s shop offers clothing, home goods, vintage kitchenware, books, shoes, and other items that strike her as unique or special. She’s working on presenting a wide range of clothing sizes.
“There’s so much history here. There have been so many separate eras in Berkshire County,” she said. “I think part of it is about slowing down, taking a moment, and looking at what’s already here, what existed before you were here, and to carry those things on.”
Buxbaum has been collecting (and wearing) vintage items since her teens, and her collection was massive by the time she decided to open a brick-and-mortar shop. She often buys large auction lots of clothing and vintage items online, including a recent haul of Ferragamo shoes, and also sells upcycled items made by some of her customers. She held a youth fashion show August 9, with 75 percent of proceeds going directly to her young participants and 25 percent going to a nonprofit of their choice.
What’s flying off her shelves? Boxy T-shirts with floral or Hawaiian prints, 80’s-era blouses with tie necks and padded shoulders, and slips, which Buxbaum says local college students are buying to wear as dresses for formal events.
Everything old is new again. “Right now, there’s a huge surge in mass-produced vintage copies,” said Buxbaum. “This has always been done, but it seems like it’s being done across the board right now. It’s almost hard to tell now, but I think the vintage quality is much better.”
White said she often finds herself going down a rabbit hole when she researches items in order to price them. “It’s about the story,” she said. “You search for value, and stumble upon all these other things about it. These things used to mean so much more.”
Terra on Instagram: @terra.northadams
Bux Vintage on Instagram: @buxvintage
