Melbourne vintage shops shaping the city’s eclectic style

Melburnians have elevated vintage shopping to an art form and the city’s most stylish residents weave thrifted finds and preloved designer pieces into both their wardrobes and their homes. With the thrill of the hunt, it can also get surprisingly competitive.

The caricature goes that Sydney is flash while Melbourne is cultured. Not entirely fair, but there’s always a kernel of truth in a cliché. Where else but Melbourne would you find the National Trust selling top-notch vintage clothing out of one of the Central Business District’s iconic arcades? I refer to Vault, which closed its Block Arcade doors in early 2025, but is rumoured to be popping up again soon. In Melbourne, there is always a new place gathering buzz, and keeping up is part of the fun.

Melbourne neighbourhoods for vintage shopping

Melbourne’s CBD is surprisingly dynamic and dotted with independent retailers. Among them, you’ll find a wealth of retro clothing and pre-loved fashion. To the north of the CBD, Fitzroy is home to an arty crowd, while once-grungy Collingwood is one of Melbourne’s cooler locales. South of the city, the old-school fashion enclave of Prahran, and nearby Windsor, has still got it. Beyond these popular neighbourhoods to visit and shop, elevated thrift stores and vintage markets abound across Melbourne, from Footscray, North Melbourne and Brunswick to Richmond and St Kilda and beyond.

Scroll on for our pick of vintage shops in the city, and check out our guide to Melbourne’s leading independent stores for more shopping inspiration.

Vintage shops in Melbourne Central Business District (CBD)

Vintage Sole

Best for: Insta trends minus the fast fashion guilt
Address: Shop 6, 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne, 3000

At the Flinders end of Swanston Street, heading towards the station, resist the urge to escape into Flinders Lane; avert your eyes from the convenience stores on the corner, and turn right into the shabby glamour of the storied Nicholas Building. You will be rewarded. The building is a creative hub that includes cafe et vin joint Cathedral Coffee (grab a table if you can), milliner Louise Macdonald, ethical fashion stalwart Kuwaii, and right next door, Vintage Sole. Whether it’s off-duty trackies or the barn jacket trend, the Coogi sweater revival or Y2K tees, this expertly curated vintage wellspring has you covered. Stock turns over regularly and there’s always something right-for-now to grab your eye.

Retrostar

Best for: Your 90s fix
Address: L1, 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne 3000

In the same building as Vintage Sole is Retrostar, a thrifter palace located in the former home of Collected Works, an iconic bookstore where the city’s poets and playwrights once gathered. Here you’ll find vintage brand tees, dungarees, camo pants, maybe a windbreaker or a Y2K slip dress. Shoppers have been rummaging through this cavernous barn of a store for two decades. On my last visit, I bought a frilly corduroy cropped blouse, one of a rail-full upcycled from oversized men’s shirting. It cost 35 USD. The main room carries equal parts men’s and women’s clothing, all affordable. Behind a velvet rope is a pricier section that features vintage dresses, separates and accessories from the 1930s to 1960s. You’ll find brocade duster coats and Doris Day frocks, but the smart money’s in the main room.

Reina

Best for: European designer labels
Address: Level 3/252 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000

Also in the Nicholas Building, two floors up from Retrostar, is Reina. Owned and curated by Romy Theodore, the all-white space feels more like an upscale boutique than your typical vintage shop. Racks are organised by colour and style, showcasing predominantly Italian and French fashion labels. You might score a Prada mini dress circa 1996, or a 2002 Chanel vest embroidered with the house’s signature camellia flower. Statement accessories are equally covetable, as is the selection of independent zines, fashion titles and poetry books.

Vintage shops in Windsor

Shag

Best for: Wow factor
Address: 13 Chapel Street, Windsor, 3181

Oh to snatch the little black book of Jeremy Valentine and Grant Francis! The pair founded Shag back in 1996. They source womenswear and accessories from collectors across the country, and are entirely justified in pitching their vision as ‘a world of treasures’. The pair recently decamped to a Georgian homestead in Daylesford, so if you find them in store, consider yourself blessed. That said, all of the staff are passionate and knowledgeable. Some of my greatest vintage hits have come from Shag over the years (there’s a second outpost in Collingwood), including a Garbo-worthy 1930s velvet gown. Plus no one does costume jewellery quite like they do. Dreaming of a 1980s Jenny Kee knit? Head here. A little something Paul Poiret-esque from the 1920s opera crowd? Ditto. That 1950s straw cloth dilly bag embellished with real shells you never knew you needed? You’ll find it here, displayed beside the ostrich feather centrepiece.

Vintage shops in Brunswick

Mutual Muse

Best for: A consignment store selling gently worn local designer garb
Address: 171a Sydney Road, Brunswick, 3056

Who wants to score circularity points while keeping newness in their wardrobe? Yes, us too, and you’re spoiled for choice in Melbourne. Locals are rightly obsessed with Mutual Muse in Brunswick, a secondhand marketplace where people buy and sell pre-loved fashion. It’s part of a new breed of approachable consignment-style stores that offer cash or store credit for quality pieces.

Also worth a mention: Goodbyes, which began in this neighbourhood back in 2015 (127 Sydney Road) and now has additional stores in Prahan (142 Commercial Road) and Collingwood (2 Johnston Street). The latter is also home to an outpost of Brisbane-born SWOP (8 Peel Street).

All of these stores eschew fast fashion brands and display pre-loved wares with the polish of a contemporary boutique. Mutual Muse stands out for its focus on Aussie brands, and its size inclusivity – it runs regular collabs with A Plus Market.

Collingwood

SWOP

Best for: Cool-girl Collingwood vibes
Address: 8 Peel Street, Collingwood VIC 3066

Another consignment store with an edge is SWOP, which launched in Brisbane before expanding to Melbourne and Sydney. You’ll find a hi-lo mix of eclectic vintage and designer pieces, arranged by style and colour in an airy, industrial space. Prices start at around $50, and the store also stocks a great selection of footwear and accessories. Shoppers can trade in their own clothing for either 30 per cent of the sale value or 50 per cent in-store credit.

Vintage shops in Fitzroy

Bruce

Best for: Japanese investment pieces
Address: 157 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, 3065

Miyake. Yamamoto. Watanabe. Comme. Back in 2010s, if you wanted to shop upscale Japanese fashion brands you headed to Bruce, which also carried avant garde Belgian designers and felt like a super elevated European boutique. Everything was second-hand, not that you could tell. All these years later, they’re still at it, sourcing recycled luxury by their favourite labels. To the Japanese base, add Margiela and Rick Owens. Prices start $300 and climb steadily.

If you dig Bruce, don’t miss Dot COMME, the retail home of the extraordinary archive of collector Otto La Rosa. His directional fash stash is displayed like the high art it is, in a gallery-like space in the revamped Curtin House in the city (252 Swanston Street). Pieces are priced accordingly but don’t despair if you can’t afford that $2,000 Walter Van Beirendonck showstopper – everything online is also available to rent.

Vintage Garage

Best for: Velvet goldmine
Address: 323 Smith Street, Fitzroy, 3065

Vintage Garage lays claim to possibly the biggest disco ball in the southern hemisphere, displayed beside a flying zebra unicorn. The neon-drenched emporium operates as a concept store, event space and prop hire business, and is owned by legendary Smith Street vintage dealer Marisa Gallaghe. There’s a David Bowie inspired line of newly minted glam rock catsuits and metal mesh halter tops, while plans are afoot to showcase the work of creative young designers in the windows. But at the core of all this is the store’s club-ready vintage archive. When I asked Melbourne Fashion Festival’s Todd Anthony for tips, they sent me an ultra-glam snap of a patchworked animal-print sequined blazer scored here.

Lost & Found Market

Best for: A mega market of collectable surprises
Address: 288 Brunswick St, Fitzroy, 3065

Every cool city used to have one of these, right? A warren of separate vintage, antiques, collectables and bric-a-brac stallholders under one roof, where you never knew what unique treat you’d emerge carrying. Climbing rents have resulted in many of these beloved spaces closing, but Lost & Found Market is still going strong. Hidden upstairs on the unassuming corner of Brunswick and Victoria Streets, you could spend hours browsing its labyrinthine stalls. Vintage vinyl, quirky lamps mingle alongside 70s fun furs and archival Off-White, while Julia Fox said this place gobbled up a whole afternoon when she came to town to celebrate the opening of the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the NGV.