Smart vintage shopping starts with your nose, and other pro tips

(Images: Washington Post)

Sun, 12 Oct 2025

By Rachel KurziusIf anyone knows how to score secondhand gems, it’s the members of Vintage Vintage Vintage, who just opened a new brick-and-mortar in a brightly refurbished 1957-era bank in Union Market in Washington, DC, vault and all.The 18-person collective is like the Avengers of the pre-owned realm: One member can distinguish silk from synthetic in seconds using only her finger. Another has an encyclopedic knowledge of clothing tags. There are experts in stain removal and leather restoration. They use those skills – a...

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