Pre-Loved Podcast with Emily Stochl

Today we're chatting with Beau of Reject Archive, a vintage dealer who runs the shop with his fiancé Adam, with a vintage collection that ranges from antique pieces through Y2K, but with a heavy focus on the 1920s through the 1940s, especially the 30s – their favorite!

Beau has been designing clothes since he was a kid. He grew up in Oklahoma where he learned to thrift and sew from his mom, and later studied fashion design in Chicago, where he started making club looks out of vintage finds, including pieces that ended up on Drag Race. When the pandemic sent him back home to Oklahoma, he and Adam started collecting vintage with no clear plan – just a love for it! – and then in 2022 they launched Reject Archive.

Beau and Adam both put themselves through sewing school so they could care for each found piece themselves, and Beau has even learned lace appliqué using true-to-era lace. Their goal is to bring to life these rare, romantic pieces, restored to good condition, so that can live in a wardrobe for years to come, and so they hunt for high-end materials, natural fibers, and handmade craftsmanship.

We're getting into it all on today's episode: the Brimfield circuit, which they hit hard, hopping between Sturbridge, Dealers Choice, and Hertans while camping out of their Airstream. Also, their journey going live on Whatnot, including doing a show live from the fields of Brim!

Plus, the realities of sourcing and pricing as vintage gets harder to find and more expensive, and the stories behind their most special finds. Let's dive right in!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

• [02:53] Beau's childhood love of drawing and designing
• [04:49] Learning to thrift from his mom
• [09:32] Studying fashion design in Chicago
• [12:18] The pandemic sends Beau back to Oklahoma, and he and Adam start collecting vintage
• [17:05] How a trip to St. Louis led to them taking the leap to move to New York
• [23:44] Developing their specialties, and the dealers who inspired them
• [30:25] Attending sewing school, restoring fragile antique pieces, and learning techniques like lace appliqué
• [33:48] Why 1920s-40s pieces are so desirable, and the realities of rising prices and scarcity
• [37:10] The Brimfield circuit
• [41:23] Why they started live selling, dollar starts, and the Whatnot community
• [54:15] Stories behind their most special finds.

EPISODE MENTIONS:

• Reject Archive
• @rejectglamour
• Reject Archive on Whatnot
• Brimfield Antique Flea Market
• Retro 101 / Cherry Bomb Vintage
• Bad Granny's
• Eveliina Vintage
• Saint Paloma Vintage
• Ornate Vintage
• Lucent Vintage
• Ludlow Shop

LET'S CONNECT:

• 📸Instagram: @emilymstochl
• 🐦Threads: @emilymstochl
• 🎥TikTok: @emilymstochl
• 📧 Substack: https://prelovedpod.substack.com/
• 🎧Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/prelovedpod

SPECIAL THANKS:

A special thanks goes out to my Patron Insiders – your support makes Pre-Loved Podcast possible!

• Patty Weber
• Kathy Brand
• Lisa of Queenie & Pearl
• Lydia Welp
• Michael A.
• Megan Morris
• Jennifer
• Alana Rivero
• Jerrica Yasumura
• Amanda Hale

Today we're chatting with Jackie of Jackie Rabbits, a true-vintage dealer whose path to reselling started early. Jackie was frequently thrifting with her mom as a kid, customizing denim and street wear as a teenager, and staging elaborate backyard photo shoots that stretched her creative muscles.

She started reselling at sixteen years old, and landed an antique mall booth soon after. Six years ago she took the leap into full-time reselling – ego death and all! – and these days she has a packed weekly calendar of live shows on Whatnot.

As she's built her vintage business, she's built a distinct point of view around handmade, richly detailed vintage while also becoming one of the earliest true-vintage sellers on Whatnot, pushing through stage fright to sell live nearly every week.

We're getting into it all — her dumpster diving stories, honest advice on pricing and pacing, and pushing through the nerves of going live, plus all the other practical wisdom she's picked up along the way.

Let's dive right in!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

• Jackie Rabbits
• Jackie's Whatnot shows
• [02:48] Jackie's early love of fashion included streetwear, customizing denim, and staging elaborate backyard photo shoots
• [04:11] Dropping out of high school, getting her GED, and how it shaped her path
• [06:22] Thrifting with her mom growing up, and how it became their bonding ritual
• [08:45] Landing her first antique mall booth as a teenager
• [11:07] The hustle to go full-time in vintage, selling on eBay and Depop during the early Y2K resale boom
• [13:42] Developing her true-vintage point of view
• [17:52] How the vintage scene and competition have changed since she started
• [19:16] Why she started livestreaming on Whatnot, and sees herself as a "fast flipper" in the vintage ecosystem
• [30:10] Keeping up with weekly sourcing demand
• [40:25] Her advice for anyone nervous to go live
• [45:04] Long-held pieces she'll never sell and best-ever finds

LET'S CONNECT:

• 📸Instagram: @emilymstochl
• 🐦Threads: @emilymstochl
• 🎥TikTok: @emilymstochl
• 📧 Substack: https://prelovedpod.substack.com/
• 🎧Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/prelovedpod

SPECIAL THANKS:

A special thanks goes out to my Patron Insiders – your support makes Pre-Loved Podcast possible!

• Patty Weber
• Kathy Brand
• Lisa of Queenie & Pearl
• Lydia Welp
• Michael A.
• Megan Morris
• Jennifer
• Alana Rivero
• Jerrica Yasumura
• Amanda Hale

This week on Pre-Loved, we're launching something new: the The Debrief, a special podcast segment where we "debrief" what's happening in vintage — like when you're sitting down with your friends after a market to talk through everything you saw, bought, found and noticed.

For our first Debrief, there was only one place to start: Brimfield Antique Market, the oldest and largest outdoor antique market in the country, held across six days, three times a year, in Brimfield, Massachusetts.

Joining me is my longtime vintage market buddy Emily McKay, formerly the owner of Most Wanted Luxury Resale and most recently the processing and curation manager at Housing Works. This was Emily's first full trip to Brimfield proper, after tagging along for the pre-shows the year before — so we're covering what it's actually like to experience Brimfield for the first time, from the 4:30am field openings to what to pack, what to wear, and what we each came home with.

We also chat about Emily's research from her master's at Parsons, focused on consumer behavior toward distressed secondhand clothing — and how that research shaped what she was hunting for on this trip to Brimfield.

Whether you're dreaming about your first Brimfield or you just want in on show-and-tell, this one's for you! Let's Debrief!

• [02:42] What Brimfield Antique Market is, and how to navigate it

• [10:49] First impressions arriving at 4:30am: the intensity and energy of the earliest shoppers

• [12:44] First finds of the trip

• [16:23] How to dress for Brimfield, and what to pack

• [23:58] Documenting the show and noticing the street style trends

• [32:21] Emily's research on consumer behavior toward distressed secondhand clothing

• [41:49] Show-and-tell of our finds

• [50:14] How pricing works at Brimfield

• [58:07] Did it live up to the hype? Final reflections on Brimfield, and advice for first-timers

Thanks for listening to Pre-Loved! You can find me across the internet on Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn! 💛 - Emily

Today we're chatting with Jessica Barr, owner of Messy Jessy Vintage, a Brooklyn-based vintage brand specializing in women's wear and bridal, with a showroom she shares with two fellow dealers and a rotating presence at markets and events across New York, including the Manhattan Vintage Show.

Jessica studied journalism in school, and became fascinated with sustainability and inequality in fashion — studies that eventually led her to a dedicated practice of secondhand shopping and, not long after, selling vintage itself.

Her real education in vintage came post-grad, working for Matt Smith at Newburgh Vintage Emporium, where she sharpened her eye for feminine silhouettes and fell hard for 1970s dresses. From there, her Etsy shop grew from a side hustle into a full-time business, eventually landing her in a Brooklyn showroom. In the last year, vintage bridal has become an unexpected and deeply personal part of her business, drawing in brides for laid-back appointments and building a community she never anticipated.

We're getting into it all — the treasured thrift store finds, the incredible vintage buys from a theater's costume department, road trips across Massachusetts, and the labels and styles she can never resist. All that and more on today's show!

Let's dive right in!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

• [02:52] Jessica grew up loving fashion, including Jennifer Aniston street style and Phoebe from Friends, and hunting down pieces from Poshmark in high school
• [04:45] She studied journalism in college with a focus on sustainability and inequality in fashion
• [08:25] Reconstructing a shredded 1980s Pink Floyd tee from the thrift store
• [10:21] Working for Matt Smith at Newburgh Vintage Emporium post-graduation
• [13:11] Developing her vintage brand's point of view: 70s dresses, cottagecore, feminine eveningwear
• [14:39] How vintage bridal became part of the business, and selling her first wedding dress
• [17:24] Balancing TikTok trends with personal sourcing vision
• [19:16] Why her bridal content resonates so strongly
• [23:37] Going full-time in vintage when she moved to Brooklyn, and the hustle of NYC's saturated but supportive vintage market
• [27:56] Opening a shared Brooklyn showroom
• [34:01] How her sourcing has shifted toward wholesale as the business has grown
• [41:31] Holy grail finds and go-to labels
• [48:22] Favorite pieces from her personal collection, and her current vintage wishlist

EPISODE MENTIONS:

• Messy Jessy Vintage
• @messyjessyvintage
• Newburgh Vintage Emporium
• Matt Smith on Pre-Loved Podcast
• The Manhattan Vintage Show
• Armoury Shop
• Lucky Fool Vintage
• Studio Dorothy
• Brimfield Antique Flea Market

LET'S CONNECT:

• 📸Instagram: @emilymstochl
• 🐦Threads: @emilymstochl
• 🎥TikTok: @emilymstochl
• 📧 Substack: https://prelovedpod.substack.com/
• 🎧Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/prelovedpod

SPECIAL THANKS:

A special thanks goes out to my Patron Insiders – your support makes Pre-Loved Podcast possible!

• Patty Weber
• Kathy Brand
• Lisa of Queenie & Pearl
• Lydia Welp
• Michael A.
• Megan Morris
• Jennifer
• Alana Rivero
• Jerrica Yasumura
• Amanda Hale

Today we're chatting with Ivana Perbi, founder of Wardrobe Affaire, the world's first discovery platform dedicated to pre-loved fashion events, which is on a mission to help secondhand event organizers seamlessly host fashion experiences and help shoppers discover them – all over the world. Ivana grew up in southern Germany, where secondhand wasn't a trend but simply how her family shopped, and where weekends at the flea market where her mother sold clothes shaped her eye for style.

After a decade working inside luxury fashion houses like Louis Vuitton and Chanel, a research trip back to her birthplace of Accra, Ghana — and a visit to the sprawling Kantamanto secondhand market — changed everything for her. Ivana left the corporate world, retrained as a UX designer, and launched a fashion rental platform in Berlin.

But after three years of testing, and some incredibly successful event pop-ups, she recognized a much bigger opportunity and pivoted Wardrobe Affaire into what it is today: a platform built to solve the real logistical headaches of hosting and discovering pre-loved fashion events.

We're getting into it all — the pivot from rental to events, and her favorite vintage finds, including the vintage Chanel she found for a steal at a Berlin flea market!

Let's dive right in!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

• [02:54] Ivana loved style and collecting fashion magazines growing up
• [07:04] When sustainability in fashion started to connect with her personal values
• [08:20] Learning about Ghana's Kantamanto Market and the scale of secondhand clothing waste
• [11:07] Ways to keep clothing in circularity — repair, swapping, and rental
• [13:29] What she learned about repair and craftsmanship working at Louis Vuitton and Chanel
• [15:23] The origin story of her first fashion rental platform
• [16:18] Convincing lenders, consumers, and investors to embrace rental in Germany
• [18:08] What she learned about the "attitude-behavior gap" in sustainable fashion
• [20:52] Deciding to pivot from rental into secondhand events
• [23:42] The gaps she was trying to fill in the pre-loved events space, including event discovery
• [27:47] What's keeping would-be shoppers on the sidelines from attending events
• [31:27] Why curation of vendors is everything at a vintage shopping event
• [36:03] What the pivot required of her personally as a founder
• [38:26] Her personal style and vintage collection

EPISODE MENTIONS:

• Wardrobe Affaire
• @wardrobeaffaire
• By Rotation
• HURR
• Sami Miro Vintage
• Pre-Loved's original research on secondhand events

LET'S CONNECT:

• 📸Instagram: @emilymstochl
• 🐦Threads: @emilymstochl
• 🎥TikTok: @emilymstochl
• 📧 Substack: https://prelovedpod.substack.com/
• 🎧Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/prelovedpod

SPECIAL THANKS:

A special thanks goes out to my Patron Insiders – your support makes Pre-Loved Podcast possible!

• Patty Weber
• Kathy Brand
• Lisa of Queenie & Pearl
• Lydia Welp
• Michael A.
• Megan Morris
• Jennifer
• Alana Rivero
• Jerrica Yasumura
• Amanda Hale

Today we're chatting with Megan Olson — co-owner and shopkeep of Vice & Graft, a curated vintage shop in the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter specializing in pieces from the Victorian era through the 1970s, with a deep focus on local New Orleans history. Megan's path into vintage was anything but conventional — she spent 15 years as a nurse before COVID prompted her to walk away from a corporate healthcare career and follow her lifelong love of antiques and vintage instead.

It all started when she and her husband had the opportunity to buy 5,000 rare band t-shirts, launching them into their first vintage business – Swamp Rags, an 80s-90s-Y2K spot with a focus on tees. Not long after, Megan opened Vice & Graft, now in its fifth year as a brick-and-mortar on Royal Street, where she's built a reputation for sourcing directly from generational New Orleans families — uncovering everything from Victorian day coats to a Mardi Gras queen's entire 1930s wardrobe.

Megan is also the owner of Second Line Estate Sales, and together with her husband, she hosts the Louisiana Vintage Festival, which grew into a two-day event this year at the House of Blues French Quarter, featuring over 50 Louisiana vintage dealers.

We're getting into it all — her rarest finds and holy grails, the pieces she can't bring herself to sell, and why she believes New Orleans might just be the most singular city in the country for vintage.

Let's dive right in!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

• [05:39] The 1997 MTV Music Awards were Mergan's personal style wake-up call.
• [06:57] Megan's first big vintage buy of 20 Victorian petticoats.
• [10:53] Pivoting from 15 years in healthcare into antiques and vintage instead.
• [17:00] Dividing sourcing and aesthetic between Swamp Rags and Vice & Graft.
• [21:11] Vice and Graft's vintage has a deep focus on local New Orleans history.
• [26:03] How the French Quarter vintage scene has grown since Vice & Graft opened.
• [30:27] Opening a new estate sale business called Second Line Estate Sale.
• [36:36] Launching the Louisiana Vintage Festival.
• [40:42] Megan's holy grail vintage finds
• [49:29] Shoutouts to the vintage community she loves.

EPISODE MENTIONS:

• Vice and Graft
• @viceandgraft
• Swamp Rags
• Second Line Estate Sales
• Louisiana Vintage Festival
• Junior Varsity Vintage
• Frenchy's House of Vintage
• Trash Panic
• Cora Violet Walters
• Newburgh Vintage Emporium

LET'S CONNECT:

• 📸Instagram: @emilymstochl

• 🐦Threads: @emilymstochl

• 🎥TikTok: @emilymstochl

• 📧 Substack: https://prelovedpod.substack.com/

• 🎧Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/prelovedpod

SPECIAL THANKS:

A special thanks goes out to my Patron Insiders – your support makes Pre-Loved Podcast possible!

• Patty Weber
• Kathy Brand
• Lisa of Queenie & Pearl
• Lydia Welp
• Michael A.
• Megan Morris
• Jennifer
• Alana Rivero
• Jerrica Yasumura
• Amanda Hale

Today we're chatting with Gabriella and Janelle — the co-founders of Isle of Monday, the first on-demand rental platform for women's luxury vintage archival clothing. Gabriella is the sourcing powerhouse behind the brand, while Janelle leads marketing and growth — and I'm so excited for you to hear how two friends turned a shared love of vintage into a platform that's redefining how women access designer archival fashion.

Gabriella's path to vintage started young — she's been collecting and reselling, all while working as a model from age 16, which put her in close contact with stylists and sparked her obsession with archival pieces. Janelle came at vintage from a different angle entirely, falling in love with vintage furniture and interior design. The two met at a pop-up at Canal Street Market, where Janelle spotted Gabriella's collection and the rest was history!

After running future pop-ups together and getting certain requests from their customers over and over, they saw the gap rental could fill. They officially became business partners in January 2024, building out a rental platform with bespoke logistics, cleaning, and a proprietary pricing model built specifically for one-of-one archival pieces.

Isle of Monday launched into beta on December 1st of 2025 and officially opened to the public on May 18th — and the growth since has been staggering, from under 2,000 followers pre-launch to nearly 50,000 today, with pieces recently worn by Keke Palmer, Doechii, and Ashley Graham, among others.

On today's episode, we get into all of it — their now-famous Roberto Cavalli dress that went viral on TikTok before they'd even launched, what it's really like fundraising as two female founders in the still-misunderstood fashion tech industry, and why they believe archival vintage is becoming an investment-grade asset class in its own right.

Let's dive right in!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

• [4:38] Gabriella's path to vintage started young — she's been collecting and reselling, all while working as a model from age 16
• [6:13] Janelle came to vintage from a love for vintage furniture and interior design.
• [12:02] They met at a vintage pop-up and became fast friends and collaborators.
• [14:26] Why they decided to innovate in rental instead of resale.
• [19:46] Building a proprietary pricing tool for archival, one-of-one vintage rentals
• [22:50] How they think about sourcing "rentable" pieces as opposed to resale inventory.
• [34:16] Fundraising as two female founders in the fashion tech industry
• [39:40] Archival vintage becoming an investment-grade asset class in its own right.
• [41:34] Gabriella and Janelle's own personal vintage collections and style

EPISODE MENTIONS:

• Isle of Monday
• @isleofmonday
• Janelle's 2003 Roberto Cavalli gown
• Ashanti in Roberto Cavalli S/S 2003 at the American Music Awards
• Doechii wearing Isle of Monday
• Keke Palmer wearing Isle of Monday
• The Bluemarine dress from Uptown Girls
• Sabrina Carpenter S/S 2003 Ralph Lauren dress
• Blummier
• Gone Archive
• 3 Sisters
• Seacret Vintage

LET'S CONNECT:

• 📸Instagram: @emilymstochl
• 🐦Threads: @emilymstochl
• 🎥TikTok: @emilymstochl
• 📧 Substack: https://prelovedpod.substack.com/
• 🎧Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/prelovedpod

SPECIAL THANKS:

A special thanks goes out to my Patron Insiders – your support makes Pre-Loved Podcast possible!

• Patty Weber
• Kathy Brand
• Lisa of Queenie & Pearl
• Lydia Welp
• Michael A.
• Megan Morris
• Jennifer
• Alana Rivero
• Jerrica Yasumura
• Amanda Hale

Pre-Loved is back with the second installment of the Resale Report, our monthly segment dedicated to the business of vintage and secondhand — made specifically for the small shop owners, solo sellers, and independent dealers.

Joining me again is Sloane Middleton-Mann, founder of Business of Vintage, the world's only marketing agency specialized for vintage sellers. Sloane brings a rare combination of industry experience and formal business school training — she went back to get her MBA specifically to translate retail and marketing best practices to the one-of-a-kind space of secondhand, and has been helping vintage sellers build smarter businesses ever since.

We start with a debrief on Vintage Store Day, which we covered in our first Resale Report — including the press wins, the local crawls, and the shop owner whose entrepreneurial story landed a full profile in her local paper.

Then we get into the real topic of the day: summer social media strategy. It's flea market and outdoor pop-up season, which means dealers are busier and more exhausted than ever, even as the season hands them some of the richest content of the year. We talk about how to turn that contradiction into your advantage — a repeatable "minimum viable content strategy," what to actually capture at a market without losing your mind, what happens to your account if you go quiet for a real vacation, and how to turn a sourcing trip into a sold-out drop.

Whether you're trying to survive your busiest selling season or just trying to build a more sustainable relationship with your phone, this one's for you.

Let's talk shop!

• [01:24] A debrief on Vintage Store Day — what happened when shops used the press and social templates from our Vintage Store Day webinar.
• [05:00] Setting the scene for summer: pop-up season is the most content-rich time of year, and also the most exhausting
• [06:22] Is the "summer slowdown" a self-fulfilling prophecy? Here's a reframe to consider from Holy Thrift.
• [09:06] The "minimum viable content strategy": ditching perfectionism for three repeatable post types
• [17:37] What actually happens to your account when you take a real break (it's less scary than you think)
• [21:28] How much of yourself to share in personal content
• [23:47] A hands-full strategy for capturing content at markets
• [28:01] Turning a one-time market shopper into a regular customer
• [31:42] The latest content trend Sloane's watching
• [34:08] Storyboarding a sourcing trip like a movie — more on this in our Pre-Loved episode with handbag seller Fashionica on her Japan sourcing trip
• [37:25] Pre-Loved's second annual Secondhand Sellers Income Survey — and what we'll dig into next time

LET'S CONNECT:

• 📸Instagram: @emilymstochl
• 🐦Threads: @emilymstochl
• 🎥TikTok: @emilymstochl
• 📧 Substack: https://prelovedpod.substack.com/
• 🎧Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/prelovedpod

Today we're chatting with Gianna Corvino — the founder of The New York Archive, which has just opened The New York Archive Collective, a brand-new flagship vintage collective in the heart of Chelsea. Gianna is a vintage shoe specialist turned store owner, and I'm so excited for you to hear how she went from playing dress-up in her mom's closet to curating 15 vintage vendors – across the range of the fashion dress up closet – under one roof.

Gianna grew up in New York City, completely enamored with her mother's shoe collection — pink, sparkly heels that felt like the coolest thing in the world to a little girl. That early love of nostalgia, accessories, and on-screen icons from movies like 13 Going on 30 and The Devil Wears Prada eventually became the foundation for The New York Archive, which Gianna started as a portfolio project while applying to fashion school.

Amidst starting the archive, though, her story took a wild turn — after a startup equity deal fell through she felt the push to go all-in on vintage. She landed her first Manhattan Vintage Show spot, started sourcing pieces for celebrity stylists and television shows, and built a devoted online community through sharing radically transparent "building in public" content on social media.

Just one week ago, Gianna opened the doors to The New York Archive Collective — a brick-and-mortar space she built out with her building's handyman, Angel and with help from his son, almost entirely through DIY, donations, and Facebook Marketplace finds.

On today's episode, we get into all of it — why the vintage shoe niche was a space nobody else was filling, the holy grail hunting and sourcing stories – including for pieces worn on the recent Love Story show about Carolyn Besette Kennedy, and what it's like to watch your wildest dream become a physical space you can actually stand in.

Let's dive right in!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

• [4:46] Gianna grew up in New York City, completely enamored with her mother's shoe collection.
• [10:11] Why she talked herself out of fashion and into business school instead
• [15:43] A DM that changed everything
• [18:01] Starting NY Archive as a portfolio project while applying to fashion school.
• [23:11] Landing her first Manhattan Vintage Show spot — and nearly selling out her inventory
• [26:14] Working on stylist pulls for the recent Love Story show about Carolyn Besette Kennedy.
• [32:47] Choosing to specialize in vintage shoes when no one else was.
• [33:26] Her love of Manolo Blahnik — and wanting to democratize luxury through vintage
• [35:46] "Building in public" by sharing content on social media about her founder journey
• [39:17] Making the leap from apartment showroom to brick-and-mortar
• [46:22] Designing The New York Archive Collective on a DIY budget
• [51:52] Her personal vintage collection — the pieces she keeps and why
• [53:57] Holy grail hunting and tracking down signed Manolos

EPISODE MENTIONS:

• The NY Archive
• @thenyarchive
• NY Archive on TikTok
• Phoebe Gates
• Manhattan Vintage Show
• Chloe Felopolus
• The Millennial Decorator
• Vintage of Saints

LET'S CONNECT:

• 📸Instagram: @emilymstochl
• 🐦Threads: @emilymstochl
• 🎥TikTok: @emilymstochl
• 📧 Substack: https://prelovedpod.substack.com/
• 🎧Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/prelovedpod

SPECIAL THANKS:

A special thanks goes out to my Patron Insiders – your support makes Pre-Loved Podcast possible!

• Patty Weber
• Kathy Brand
• Lisa of Queenie & Pearl
• Lydia Welp
• Michael A.
• Megan Morris
• Jennifer
• Alana Rivero
• Jerrica Yasumura
• Amanda Hale

Today we're chatting with Kathleen Schaaf — the owner of Meow Vintage, located right in the heart of Retro Row in Long Beach, California. Kathleen is a vintage legend, someone who has been doing it for a long time, and doing it her way, and I'm so excited for you to hear her stories from four decades in the business.

Kathleen grew up thrifting with her mom, raiding her aunt's hand-me-downs in elementary school, and haunting the cheap, treasure-packed shops of downtown Long Beach before anyone was calling it a "vintage scene". She opened Meow Vintage in 1986 — nearly forty years ago — and has been a fixture of vintage ever since.

But Kathleen's story goes so much deeper. She's a dead stock hunter — crisscrossing the country before the internet even existed, cold-calling merchants and slipping into back rooms and dusty attics from New Mexico to Massachusetts, building relationships with dealers and shop owners that have now spanned three generations. And along the way, she built a parallel career outfitting film and television — from Roseanne and Seinfeld all the way to Stranger Things.

On today's episode, we get into all of it, plus what forty years in the business has taught her about people, quality, and the difference between loving vintage and just selling it. All that and more!

Let's dive right in!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

• [5:05] Kathleen grew up thrifting and accumulated a lot of great vintage.
• [6:22] The "aha" moment where Kathleen realized she could be a vintage dealer — buying an entire rack of deadstock 60s pointy flats
• [9:51] She quickly became a deadstock hunter, criss-crossing the country looking for "new old" stock.
• [13:36] Opening Meow Vintage in 1986 on Retro Row in Long Beach,
• [16:06] Crisscrossing the country before the internet even existed, digging for deadstock.
• [20:36] What the vintage landscape looked like when she opened
• [26:52] She built a parallel career outfitting film and television
• [36:26] How the vintage industry has changed over the years
• [43:41] Reflections on Brimfield — what's changed, what hasn't, and the chaos that's part of it.

EPISODE MENTIONS:

• Meow Vintage
• @meowvintagelb
• Larry from Hellers Cafe
• Amy Parris
• Pickwick Vintage
• Rin Tanaka's books
• Liz Baca
• Shirley Kurata

LET'S CONNECT:

• 📸Instagram: @emilymstochl
• 🐦Threads: @emilymstochl
• 🎥TikTok: @emilymstochl
• 📧 Substack: https://prelovedpod.substack.com/
• 🎧Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/prelovedpod
• SPECIAL THANKS:

A special thanks goes out to my Patron Insiders – your support makes Pre-Loved Podcast possible!

• Patty Weber
• Kathy Brand
• Lisa of Queenie & Pearl
• Lydia Welp
• Michael A.
• Megan Morris
• Jennifer
• Alana Rivero
• Jerrica Yasumura
• Amanda Hale