In an oversaturated market where everything seems to be the “best” new version of everything, I have found myself following a specific vision to search for what it is that I really want. Instead of settling for what I am being fed algorithmically, I have become more in tune with my desires and the intentionality behind those desires. I no longer see something and just buy it, instead I sit with this urge for however long it takes for me to decide if I can leave it, or can’t live without it. An additional practice I carry alongside this is remembering that something does not have to be new to be valuable. Through this process, I have found myself more sure that the purchases I make are things that are both useful and enjoyable. With this newly integrated force of intention I have found myself shopping locally, in person, and secondhand more than ever before. I no longer go into thrift stores just to peruse, I go in looking for something specific, and if something else catches my eye, the process begins again. Within this process I find myself circling the same shops time and time again. Wickenden Street is a special place, a main street of its own making. And even still, with its small borders, it manages to hold a wonder of the natural world, Nostalgia Antiques & Collectibles.
I have never seen a jewelry setup as vast as Nostalgia’s. Entering the shop, you walk into what can only be akin to Mr Migorium’s Wonder Emporium. There’s jewelry, jackets, and bags to the left, right, and front of you, and your only job is to rummage until you strike gold. The store itself is 3 stories and every corner seems to have even more hidden goodies than the last. I found myself in Nostalgia for the first time while looking for prom dresses, and now find myself back there at least once a summer. The last time I went to Nostalgia, while stalking the shelves, a gold bracelet caught my eye. I asked the shopkeeper if he would mind letting me try it on, and he was more than attentive as I wrestled the delicate piece onto my wrist. He saw the wheels turning in my head as he offered a 10% discount, and so I asked if he could hold it at the front so I could decide later. I walked around the rest of the store, working my way from the bottom to the top, the bracelet still tugging at my thoughts, and when I returned to the register I knew the find was too good to let go. The bracelet, I realized after purchase, is engraved with a somewhat scratched off inscription that reads, “With Love, Ellen 3.31.84.”
Nostalgia offered me not only something fashionable that day, but also a tangible piece of a story, a small piece of someone’s life to carry with me into the future of my own. When I’m not at Nostalgia I find myself nestled between the town lines of nowhere and somewhere in the gem that is The Find on 6. This 11,000 square foot shop is the catch-all of consignment. Ranging from vintage to contemporary, glassware to furniture, and accessories to lace, The Find on 6 feels limitless. I stumbled upon the store when my family had just moved and was in the market for a new dining room table. I walked in with a plan, but was quickly distracted when I set my gaze on the finest lace selection I had ever seen, hidden in the far right corner of the shop.
There was chantilly lace for days, even more knit lace, and the most gorgeous embroidered floral lace atop linen tablecloths. While my family left that day with a table, I also left feeling warm with what felt like a secret, a lace selection that was all my own, and now, by reading this article, is yours too. Every summer, I go back just before I leave for college in the fall, and peruse to my heart’s content. And every fall, as I start fresh with a new dorm, a new space to make my own, I am reminded that fashion does not end at one’s wardrobe, it is something we carry with us in the fabric of our personal expression. Fashion is a story, and shopping second-hand merges our stories with stories of those who came before us.
Even in my private moments alone, as I sit in my college dorm with a small piece of home in that floral lace adorning the top of my dresser, I am reminded that everyone deserves fashionable things, and consignment prices make that just a little easier to achieve. So take a moment the next time you’re about to hit “Buy Online,” and go peruse a local shop, with a whisper in the back of your mind asking you, “What is it that you truly need and want?” •