A few weeks back (CLICK HERE to read the post) I walked you through part one of our buying process for Outpost Vintage.
Today I’ll focus on the next step of the journey. Once we’ve transported our bags and boxes full of priceless vintage wares back to our wareouse, we begin the process of getting them ready for sale at the Outpost.
First – everything goes through our rigorous cleaning process. Pieces are sorted and sent through 200 minutes of industrial washing and drying to make sure everything that hangs on our racks is as clean as anything you’d buy brand new in a store.
For most brands and stores, a rigorously cleaned item is good to hang on a rack, but we don’t stop there. Once goods are clean, we sort through everything and see what pieces would benefit from some tailoring or extra care.
Alice works with us to do everything from adding buttons, replacing zippers, patching holes, and even tailoring and re-interpreting fits and fabrics. For us, this step is where much of the real magic happens.
Every piece gets the extra love it deserves BEFORE you purchase it at the Outpost. No holes, rips, stains, missing buttons, or bad fits. This is vintage clothing, re-imagined, repaired, and ready to wear right off the rack.
Once they’ve been properly cleaned and repaired, items are ready for their hangtags – the icing on the cake. The hangtags are hand stamped and inked, and together we price the merchandise as fairly as possible.
The entire process from warehouse to our store usually takes a few weeks. Every last item we sell goes through this same painstaking process, so I’m sure you can imagine why we have such an emotional connection to every piece in the store, but in the end, its worth it.
Here are a few of my favorite Vintage Outpost items in the store today – every piece with it’s own journey and story that extends well beyond our walls.
