Looking for vintage Mexican home goods? How about industrial furniture for your loft? Maybe some vintage denim to round out your wardrobe? Whatever it is you're looking for in the vintage realm, we've spent the past year scouring Phoenix to find it.
So grab a pen, bookmark this story, or make a mental note to yourself to check out the best vintage shops in the Valley, whenever the shopping bug bites.
See also: Phoenix's Jackalope Trading Post to Close Best Industrial Vintage Goods: Vintage Industrial
In case you haven't noticed, the industrial trend has taken over. From restaurants and retailers to posh bars and personal spaces, everyone is shifting gears with their décor, opting for a style of mechanical statement pieces and streamlined steel furniture. Unfortunately, like most things trendy, it's hard to stay modern without looking mass-produced. Though it's easy enough to find some refurbished replica at retail giants like CB2 and Restoration Hardware, if you want your industrial home to truly stand on its own, your best bet is to go custom. And Vintage Industrial is a great place to start. Read more here.
Best Midcentury Modern Furniture: Modern Manor
When it comes to Midcentury Modern furniture, there's not a shop that does it quite like Modern Manor in the Melrose District. With big-name designer pieces from the likes of Charles and Ray Eames and Arne Jacobsen (and the price points to match), the warehouse-style store offers space-age styles, super-simple mod pieces, and glam Hollywood Regency, too. Read more here.
Best Vintage Comic Book Store: All About Books and Comics
Whether you're looking to buy or consign vintage comics, All About Books and Comics is the place for you. This Central Phoenix shop has a great selection of back issues of vintage comics, including Captain America, Thor, Avengers, X-Men, Dr. Strange, Superman, Flash, Mr. Miracle, Spider-Man, and Iron Man. Read more here.
Best Vintage Denim: Blue Jean Buyer
Looking for the perfect pair of broken-in Levi's 501s? How about a nicely distressed denim jacket? Maybe some beautifully frayed high-waist cutoffs, while we're at it? Jot Blue Jean Buyer down on your shops-to-visit list. Now. The small store packs in a whole lot of the everyman's heavy-duty cotton textile. Read more here.
Best Vintage Mexican Home Goods: Antique Trove
Long before the Mexican Revolution (1910-1921), American turistas regularly invaded our neighbor to the south looking for exotic adventures and souvenirs they could drag home as proof of their traveling derring-do. Until the late 1960s, one of the mandatory stops on the Mexican vacation circuit was Tlaquepaque, a charming little town outside Guadalajara in the Mexican state of Jalisco that catered to the cravings of insatiable American consumer/collectors. The town was crammed with curio shops that carried handmade pottery made by artisans living in another nearby ceramics town, Tonalá. Mexican ceramicists and shopkeepers quickly learned to pander to tourist tastes, and thus was born vintage Mexican tourist pottery, which has become wildly collectible. Antique Trove is the place to go to scratch your Mexican home goods itch.Read more here.
Best Vintage Store - Scottsdale: Fashion by Robert Black
Never judge a book by its cover. In the case of the elegant, simple White Hogan building in Scottsdale, it wouldn't be wild to assume its innards reflect the shell. It wouldn't be incorrect, either. (The typically drool-worthy window displays might tip you off, too.) That's because the building houses Fashion by Robert Black, where you'll find the best selection of vintage clothing the Valley has to offer. Read more here.
Best Vintage Store - Phoenix: Vintage By Misty
Misty Guerriero is a daring dresser. Pattern, color, texture, and shape are all to be played with. And if you take a trip to her Phoenix storefront, Vintage by Misty, that's all you'll want to do. Guerriero dares her shoppers to push their style boundaries. Try a bold print. Give a powerful silhouette a shot. Put 'em together and you'll have something aligned with her globetrotting fashion sense; she likes to call it gypset style, a movement associated with boldly dressed world roamers (Gypsy plus jets-et equals gypset). If the head-to-toe anything isn't for you, don't fret. Read more here.
Best Vintage T-Shirts: Cellar Door Vintage
Yeah, that's a coffin inside Cellar Door Vintage. And, yes, there's a skeleton inside it. You could say shopkeepers Jake and Eyndia Ooley have a thing for bizarre buys. It seems to stem from the married couple's shared love of punk and goth rock -- The Misfits, in particular. The pair also has a good grip on cool T-shirts of the vintage variety, which probably make up the majority of Cellar Door's stock. Read more here.
Best Vintage Watch Restoration: Vintage Watch Restoration
We were rooting around in the family safe and came across Dad's old Bulova wristwatch. A gorgeous rose gold with a tinted, magnified crystal, it had been Mom's wedding day gift to Dad in 1946 and was inscribed to him with love. It was dead as a doornail, but how could we not send it out for restoration? We braced ourselves: Restoring a nearly 70-year-old watch would not only be costly, we figured, but might also mean dealing with some snotty weirdo who wanted to talk us into buying matching earrings or something else equally annoying. Boy, were we wrong. A quick Internet search for "vintage watch restoration Phoenix" turned up -- huzzah! -- a Phoenix-based service called Vintage Watch Restoration, which resulted in one of the best jewelry experiences we've ever had. Read more here.
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