The Vintage Clothing Gender Gap

January 23rd, 2004

Filed under:
Mixed Bag

The Vintage Clothing Gender Gap

There’s a thriving industry in vintage clothing for women. From Salvation Army thrift shops to fancier affairs, every city I’ve lived in or visited has a healthy supply of used clothing for sale. The main appeal of these shops are the sartorial rarities and bargains to be had. Even if you’re not a 17-year-old raver chick after cargo pants and trucker hats, there are usually lots of options.

Not so for us men. In Vancouver, used clothing stores for men are few and far between. There’s the reliable Deluxe Junk, (with a surprisingly fancy website) and a couple of other places, but I could count them all on both hands, with fingers to spare. I’m surprised at this. To lean on a stereotype for a moment, I would guess that Vancouver would, with it’s high population of gay men, have a surplus of male vintage clothing shoppers. How many such shops can there be in, say, Regina?

Why this gender gap? Obviously, women shop more than men. There are more shops for women than shops for men. Also, shopping for vintage clothing takes more thought and effort than visiting the Gap. The shops are in peculiar locations, they may not have your size and you have to evaluate the condition of potential purchases. This scares the average man, who can’t reliably purchase the correct hue or style of (non-vintage) socks.

I don’t shop very much, but if there were more men’s vintage stores around, I’d frequent them. Why? Because I’m less likely to own the same shirt as 8000 other Vancouverites. Also, the clothes are less likely to have been made in some Third World sweatshop.

Comments: 9 Responses so far

Darren James Harkness
January 23rd, 2004
12:12 pm

Never underestimate the selection of Value Village, Goodwill and Sally Ann (Salvation Army). When my wife and I were living up at SFU, we’d head down quite often to the Value Village near Lougheed Mall. There’s also one or two vintage stores that have at least some men’s selection on Granville, around the Cineplex south of Robson. I’d also suggest checking around the W 10th area near UBC.

Here in Edmonton, we actually have quite a selection of vintage stores to choose from — and the ones that I’ve been to(Remedy is the best) generally have a good selection for men as well.

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alan
January 23rd, 2004
1:00 pm

I’m a Value Villager myself, but there’s also Burcu’s Angels on Main St (near Broadway) and further up near King Edward, there’s Legends, I think it’s called.

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Darren
January 23rd, 2004
1:01 pm

Thanks for the tips…I’ll check them out. There’s also a place on Commercial, in the same block as Havana, whose name escapes me.

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d
January 23rd, 2004
3:51 pm

my recommendation (and my boyfriend’s): don’t forget to check kawabata-ya on w. hastings (near dressew). fabulous vintage clothing, super cheap, nice store, not well-known so there’s always lots to choose from.

in fact, i really almost didn’t post this here because i feel like i’ve found a gem.

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Drew
January 25th, 2004
5:30 pm

Well I’m not in Regina, but in Saskatoon there is a fair amount to chose from, although I have never heard of a sex-specific used clothing store. What about Divine? There has to be a Divine in Vancouver.

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harp
January 26th, 2004
11:08 am

the best thing to do is to go vintage clothes shopping somewhere more remote if you’re ever camping or whatever in or around Kelowna, for example. People bring in the coolest threads out there. Mix a roadtrip with shopping!

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jamie
March 31st, 2004
7:09 pm

divine in saskatoon is a nice store, but i am terribly opposed to the idea of buying things at the local value village and reselling them for 5 times the price. trendy used clothing stores are no bargain

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