4th St. Long Beach

This past weekend I made a trip on down to the LBC to visit my sister and my dear pug, Piggie. The beloved had friends in for the weekend, so I left him and his men alone. Although Long Beach has a somewhat ghetto reputation, their 4th St. strip of vintage stores is great. I only took two photos, even though there were maybe 10 things or more I wanted. I purchased a cropped red little sweater jacket. I don't have a photo of that now, but I'll take one later.

One of my favorite stores on the strip was The Vintage Collective. Aside from clothing and jewelry, it also carries vintage furniture, house decor, and ahem, vintage Playboys. I found this gorgeous vintage phone I wanted (and a vintage phone has been on my "want" list!), but I really have nowhere to put it right now, and no immediate reason to buy it. Whenever I move and get my own place with more room, this store will be perfect.

The green velvet dress was gorgeous and in immaculate condition. It had a swingy a-line skirt you can't see from the photo, but it would've been perfect for someone, just not me. I have no reason to own a dress like this. The blue sequined dress actually FIT (most vintage items don't fit me), but I would've had to still take it to the tailor and get it shortened. Plus, I was unsure of the sequined motif on the front. It wasn't super cheap either, otherwise I would've purchased it. There was another black velvet dress I loved, with a white lacy collar and cuffs, but that was also a bit on the pricier side and definitely needed tailoring. My problem with vintage is while I love it, it normally needs to be taken in. So it's not usually worth it unless I get the item for a very good price. $60 for dresses that need about $30 in tailoring is just a little too much.

Anyway, I really want to plan another trip - aside from my sister and my dog- to 4th St. I think they've opened more stores on the vintage strip, so there's so much more to go through. Stores like The Way We Wore are heavily filtered and have beautiful collections, but they're also super pricey. I love finding vintage pieces for like $5. It's the thrill of finding something unique for a very cheap price that's the most exciting!