Thrift Store Review: The Garment District

Greetings once again!

Sorry for the delay in new content, but I just relocated to an area I am quite fond of (as you may have gathered from previous posts), Cambridge, MA. Possibly the epicenter of New England trad as home to both the Andover shop, J. Press, close in proximity to the stores and botiques of Newbury Street in Boston, and home to a small, relatively unknown school called "Harvard", Cambridge really is a great place for anyone interested in traditional clothing.

Luckily as I've documented before, Cambridge also is home to some great thrift shops, each with their own unique style and design. As the first post of a multi-part series, I will be posting photos and reviews of the various thrift and consignment shops that Cambridge and Boston have to offer. 

First up is the Garment District, located on 200 Broadway, Cambridge MA, just a short walk from MIT.

The store features a first floor dedicated to costumes, and a second floor packed full of vintage and contemporary clothing. On weekends, a line will form down the street before the doors open for business.

The checkout counter downstairs. The store also features the option of selling your clothing, but I'm not sure exactly how that process works, other than you must book an appointment in advance. 

Downstairs also features the infamous "by the pound" deal where you can experience first-hand what it's like to live in an actual garbage dump. Kidding aside, I didn't venture into this because
A: Even I have standards, and
B: All the "good" stuff is upstairs
nonetheless, people race here to sift through the pile and fill their trash bags, so I suppose it's a good bargain for those in need of the most basic clothes.  

Upstairs, customers are greeted to fairly well organized racks. Interestingly the Garment District sorts by "era" as well as style, so you'll find what you are looking for quite easily. An entire rack of 80's style leather jackets, tye dye shirts, western-apparel, they pretty much have a section for every niche category you can think of.

The tie section left much to be desired, but I spotted a couple decent ties among the mix

Racks jam-packed with shirts, I saw lots of J.Crew, Land's End, and Polo stuff, along with your typical mall brands

Perhaps the best section of the store is where they have skimmed off all the "Designer" brands into one section. Sorted by size, I found suits from Brooks Brothers, Burberry, Canali, and other high end makers. 

Found in the "designer" section: A vintage green university stripe (no longer made!) Brooks Brothers Oxford Shirt. Unfortunately the so-called designer items were all sold at a premium...at least $15 a shirt so the prices are higher than a typical thrift store. That being said, the organization was quite good, making it a lot easier to find what you actually want!

Another vintage Brooks item, a kelly green sweater of Sea Island Cotton, also Made in the USA

A special section for "vintage" ties, notice the couple tradly repp stripes, and bow ties

It seems once things don't sell for a while, they are transferred to this 50% off section. Plenty of blazers and jackets to go around here, although none were particularly appealing on this visit. 

50% off shirts, and 50% off "designer' clothing rack in the background

Sorry to any ladies out there, but the women's section is possibly twice as large as the men's that I covered. It seems this store is a very bohemian mix of "costume-wear" and then occasionally some really neat vintage items or more recent high-end stuff, if you are lucky to come across it.

The store really does have a fun ambiance to it, unlike the very depressing nature of some thrift stores.
If I was a hipster, I'd go nuts in here as there really is no end to the variety and uniqueness of some of the items. So what did I purchase at The Garment District? I'll save that as a surprise for an upcoming article.