Well, here’s the last of my Nashville thrift and vintage store review! I would like to do one for Cincinnati, although I do have an obvious bias to our store.

Our first stop is Katy K’s Ranch Dressing, which I first heard about from Bust magazine’s Around The World In 80 Girls feature. In it, they highlight a city and mention a few of the places that are must-sees. Lucky for me, I save every issue I buy and remembered that they hit Nashville in a past issue! Anyway, Katy K’s was pretty awesome, and definitely a must-see.

They’re known for outfitting Nashville’s finest country royalty, and I see why. Rhinestones and embroidery as far as the eye can see!

For the tiniest, most adorable cowboy ever.

Jacob found a shirt exactly like one he owns!

Overall, Katy K’s was fun to see, but overpriced for something I’m in the market for. I totally recommend checking it out though, especially since it’s right down the street from a bunch great vintage stores on 12th Avenue. Speaking of which, if you drive about a mile down 12th, you’ll see Savant Vintage Couture on your right. Stop immediately and park.

I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was honestly in shock. Their store is almost as packed as mine ours, but twice as big! And while I definitely got some sticker shock when I looked at the prices, they had some gorgeous items; I had a constant huge smile on my face the whole time. And even better the owner and the clerk working were both really friendly and welcoming. I was wearing my super bright outfit that day and they were totally digging it. We chatted about Cincinnati and Nashville for a little and they even suggested some bars we might like. I was running low on funds by this point, so I didn’t even really let myself shop. But I loved the print of this dress that I saw there soooo much!

Right around the corner from Savant on Linden Avenue is Local Honey, which was also mentioned in the Bust article.

There is a very sweet vibe about this place, and they had some pretty cute stuff too.

Their prices were a little high for me (skirts at $20), but they had some really adorable upcycled dresses for $50, which I thought was a pretty good price, especially for all the tailoring. The biggest bummer about Local Honey however was that the guy working there was really rude. I was in a pretty good mood and shot him a very friendly “hi!” when I walked in, he unenthusiastically returned the greeting with a snotty “hi” and returned to his book. I brushed it off, but when I asked if it was OK to take some pictures for my blog (out of politeness mostly), he got kind of an attitude with me. I mean he said it was fine, it was just the way he did so. He kind of laughed and rolled his eyes in this ‘yeah, whatever’ way. I don’t know, the whole exchange just bummed me out and made me feel stupid.

Last but not least, we stumbled across Flashback Vintage. We were actually trying to go to a soda shop down the street, but before we got there I saw this place from across the street. It looked a little dated from the outside, but was actually fantastic!

I was still on the hunt for a fur collar at this point, so I just happened to ask the woman working if they had any. I’m so glad I did because she immediately lead me over to a giant box they had stashed under a rack of coats! I’m not even kidding, my body could have fit in this box. Needless to say I was so happy I almost did a little dance. And best of all, the prices were really decent. I wish I hadn’t found this place so late in my trip, I would have spent way more money there. I found a beautiful lamb’s wool collar that I chose because it didn’t feel super furry. I don’t know if that makes any sense the way I worded it, but I personally can’t handle the feeling of fox or anything like that on my skin. I just feel like I’m wearing someone’s pet. Anyway, I was really happy with the one I got and the very sweet clerk even gave me a bit of a discount! Overall, a surprise treasure!

That brought an end to our shopping in Nashville, mostly because we were almost out of money. I learned once I got home that I missed a few vintage stores, so I guess I’ll have to go back and hit ‘em all! The ones I didn’t get a chance to go to were The Hip Zipper, Clothing Xchange, Venus and Mars which all look awesome!

Ultimately, I would like to make the thrifting vacation and review a bit of a regular thing. I have been shopping mostly in thrift and second-hand shops for more than ten years now, and I think I have a pretty decent idea of what makes a good thing. Since I just have so many shops to talk about this time, I’m going to do them in two posts and in the order we visited them. Also, a large number of the stores I visited don’t have websites of any sort, so in those cases I linked the their Yelp page.

Pre To Post Modern Vintage

This is maybe 1/6th of what they have!

Once I stepped foot in Pre To Post Modern I knew it was the kind of place I liked. I was also happily surprised by their very reasonable prices. Well, on most stuff. It seemed to me that there were a few different cosigners who seemed to have different areas of the store, like mini shops. For the most part the prices were about what we price stuff at my shop, low but based on the uniqueness of each garment. There was one person however that seemed to be operating on a completely different scale. However, I got my amazing gold tote and leather cream colored boots here, as well as the heart shaped Lolita glasses and a few other things for $60. I wish I’d had more money to spend on housewares because they had some really nice stuff.

Lion’s Thrift

When I first walked into Lion’s Thrift, I was kind of disappointed with how small it was- just one room no longer than 20 feet. Then Jacob went to go check out the back room, and came back to get me with his eyes bulging. I commented in an earlier post that Jacob and I learned early on to check out any back room if it was mentioned by the shopkeeper; and this is the shop that taught us that lesson. While I will concede that this was one of the uglier thrift stores we hit, it was no biggie for the seasoned bargain shopper. If you’re in the market for anything designer, this probably isn’t the place for you, but I found some great stuff. And lucky me, it was half-off day, so pretty much everything I bought was $2!

Southern Thrift

The blue part of the sign says "Just tryin' to make ends meet". Totally awesome.

I wish I had taken pictures while I was inside, but it was kind of run-of-the-mill for a thrift shop. The prices were a little higher than I’m used to and there was definitely no vintage, but I found some great stuff there- including my new orange coat! A definite must if you’re thrifting in Nashville!

Unique Thrift Store

We didn’t stay long in this one, the clothes were pretty sub-par, but they had beautiful furniture and some cool wall hangings. And the husband and wife working there, who I assumed were the owners were really friendly and helpful. Oh, and they had this.

Boomerang Finer Thrift

I was really unimpressed with the goods that were upstairs in this shop, a lot of very 90′s older ladies’ business clothes. I’m sure most of them were designer, but ew. The downstairs however, was the exact opposite. It had a cool set-up too, due to the fact that the building was originally a brothel.

There were tiny little rooms off of this room about every four feet, and they were all stuffed with great pieces.

I got a fantastic suede pencil skirt and my new favorite hat for spring. The owner was also very cool about giving me a discount when I asked. Although, that may have been due to the fact that he was blind drunk. I went back and forth about whether or not to mention this, and if he hadn’t been so obviously and overwhelmingly drunk as hell I probably wouldn’t have. But he totally was, and there was no mistaking it. Oh, and it was 11 a.m. I still definitely recommend checking it out though, they had some pretty decent stuff.

More very soon, I promise!!

We started our day at Noshville New York style deli which was totally delicious and pretty reasonably priced. I imagine if you live in Nashville this is probably one of the only places to get a stuff like bagel and lox.

After lunch were stuffed, so we decided to walk off our full stomachs a bit by wandering around on Broadway. We hit a few little shops there and then piled back in the car for some serious thrifting. After we exhausted our sale finding abilities, we headed down to the touristy end of Broadway. While there are a lot of stores selling chintzy key chains and junk, there are few really cool shops mixed in. Definitely check out the Hatch Print Show, a serious old school letterpress print shop.

I wish I’d had the money to buy this amazing print!

After we left Hatch Print I saw these signs posted on a small bookstore. After I read these I decided that this wasn’t the kind of business owner I particularly wanted to support. Who thinks that people will want to even come in if you’re that unwelcoming? We also saw a hot dog stand along there that sold $5 flip flops. Mmmmm, meat and discount footwear.

So we kept walking and I saw this very friendly handsome cab driver with his pup! I was having super dog withdraw by then, so I had to stop to give some pets and get some licks.

Eventually we wandered into a little record shop (not Ernest Tubb Records), and it was vinyl as far as the eye could see! I initially went in because they had a poster in the window that I wanted, and luckily they had more for sale.

They're all cassette tapes!!

This is the poster that drew me in. I had to buy it for my brother, since it pretty much describes his outlook on life.

We exhausted the tourist strip pretty quickly and didn’t have any plans until later, so we decided to go do some putt-putting. I had never heard of indoor putt-putt before and really thought that my boyfriend had made it up when he asked if there were any. Of course as soon as he Googled it one popped up in the nearest shopping mall. Not only was it indoor, it was black light putt putt!!

It was a cheap waste of time and we had fun. Later we grabbed some grub at the awful waffle (Waffle House) before we departed for the bar. We don’t have a Waffle House near us really, so it was a wonderful treat. I could eat it everyday.

That night there was a dance party of sorts going on at one of the hip bars in East Nashville at The Five Spot. I was bummed to find put there was a $5 door charge, but once I was in I decided it was worth it. There a live band playing some great songs to dance to and just like everywhere in Nashville, everyone there was so hospitable and sociable! There was a really welcoming vibe there which was really perfect for a dance party. Jacob was really stoked to find out that they served Yeung Ling there since it’s his favorite beer and you can’t get it in Ohio or Kentucky for some reason. The cranberry and vodka I ordered basically came in a small barrel and was quite delicious. I can’t believe I forgot to take pictures while I was there, although I have a feeling the drinks played a part in that. I dug up this picture, and although I think is from New Years, but the vibe was honestly pretty similar when I was there.

It was the perfect end to the weekend, like a cherry on the top of our Nashville experience. And more than anything else made me consider moving to Nashville a little. We crashed that night with some awesome friends of friends and departed pretty early the next day. All in all a great vacation, and an even better escape from reality!

We had a really great time in Nashville though, the people were so incredibly friendly and down to earth. Thursday was our first day there, but we got in so late that all we really did was eat dinner and go to bed. That dinner was probably the best meal we ate there too!

Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack‘s specialty fried chicken originated when the current owner’s great-uncle cheated on his girlfriend and she got revenge by over spicing his dinner. (Probably the lamest, but most scrumptious revenge ever.) Unfortunately for her, he loved the extra hot flavor and he ran with it.

I have to say, even though I was damn near crying from how insane hot the MEDIUM (it went all the way the extra hot) was, it was hands down the best chicken I’ve ever had. Although it’s hot, it’s also really deliciously sweet and salty at the same time. The spice is caramelized on the top and kind of falls off as you eat it, and the actual chicken is still super moist and flavorful. Anyway, if you’re ever in Nashville it’s a must try.

After that we just kind of crashed and woke up early to go explore the Adventure Science Center, Nashville’s kids’ museum. It seemed so small compared to Cincinnati’s! Our history and kids’ museum is in the former train station called Union Terminal and it’s HUGE. For as small of a city as Cincinnati is, we have really good museums. Anyway the Science Center was small, but we still had a really good time.

Some cheesy green screen thing they had. I believe this was 'volcano', but we were being more like Godzillas.

underwater

We did hit one vintage store before dinner that first night, Pre To Post Modern, where I got my gorgeous new gold foil bag (among many other amazing things). Obviously I was really excited to use it as soon as possible, which I did. It was well worth it’s $15! It really does match this outfit so well, and the museum provided a perfect background for some outfit shots. It wouldn’t have been possible without my wonderful boyfriend and his fantastic photography though!

I had a good time pretending I was Tom Hanks in Big.

Jacob was sweet enough to take a few more of me while we were out walking around thrifting.

WHAT: navy blue studs, thrift

my new favorite shirt, chicken lays an egg

white dove ring, forever 21

baroque ring, my gramma

white watch, borrowed from maya

brass buckle belt, thrift

high waisted jeans, urban outfitters

brown boots, chicken lays an egg

tan coat, free from clothing swap

fantastic gold bag, pre to post modern

WHERE: vacation!

WHEN: friday, february 12

PARTS TWO AND THREE COMING SOON…..