Mapping the Twin Cities vintage clothing scene

[THE KINKS, "DEDICATED FOLLOWER OF FASHION"] THE KINKS: (SINGING) His clothes are loud, but never square. It will make or break him, so he's got to buy the best 'cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion. And when he--

CATHY WURZER: Yes, fashion is cyclical, and what's old is always new again in time. Thrift shops have become a pot of gold when it comes to finding unique clothing and accessories. Dozens of people in the Twin Cities have made a business out of it. Vintage stores are popping up everywhere.

And one business owner is helping people access the vintage market. It's called the Twin Cities Vintage Map, and it posts sales and pop-ups on Instagram that are happening all over the metro. The woman behind it is Jahna Peloquin, and she joins us right now. Jahna, welcome.

JAHNA PELOQUIN: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

CATHY WURZER: How did you get into vintage?

JAHNA PELOQUIN: Wow. Well, I have been into vintage since I was in high school. It really started out of necessity, just not having the money to buy all the latest trends in the mall. And so discovered thrift shops and started kind of realizing the creativity and the personal style you could build out of vintage.

CATHY WURZER: I can only imagine what you have in your closet. Tell me about it.

JAHNA PELOQUIN: Yeah, it's been over 20 years of collecting now. So, yeah, my favorite finds, I think I've found at estate sales over the last 15, 20 years. My favorite pieces are pieces from the '30s and '40s, many of which are kind of too delicate to even wear. So I have a lot of them just on display and sometimes photograph. But yeah, they're just such pretty treasures, and I just love them.

CATHY WURZER: Isn't it funny how vintage clothes used to be kind of a niche, and now it's just exploded into its own market? What do you think is behind that?

JAHNA PELOQUIN: Yeah, it's really exciting to see. I know it was definitely more unique or sometimes considered weird when I was younger. And now it's been really exciting to see younger people and just, really, everyone of all ages really embrace vintage.

And I think the sustainability factor, the environmental impact people see the fast fashion industry has on the Earth and wanting to make more conscious choices, and I think also realizing how great a quality a lot of vintage clothing is compared to what you find today brand new. And you can also get many of these items at quite the steal compared to buying new. And I also think the personal style element, the unique pieces you can find that you just can't find in stores.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, my gosh, absolutely. There was a time where I was searching vintage stores for old-fashioned beaded sweaters from, yeah, like the '40s, '50s. They were gorgeous, lovely, you know? And people would always say, where'd you get that? And it was kind of a cool thing to wear. But have you noticed that some folks don't want to share where they got that vintage sweater or the vintage Levi's? They're protective of their source. What's about that? What's behind that thing?

JAHNA PELOQUIN: I mean, I feel like part of the idea of the Vintage Map, creating that, was to just share all the secrets and put it all out there and all these great stores and pop-up markets, where you can find so many great pieces. I feel like there is so much vintage to go around that-- and you're never going to have the same thing as someone else. And there's always more treasures to be found. So I don't feel as protective of it for that reason. But I think there definitely are places that people will maybe gatekeep a little. But I'm kind of anti-gatekeeping personally.

CATHY WURZER: Good for you. How many stores are on the Vintage Map?

JAHNA PELOQUIN: Last count, I believe there were around 111 stores. And that's spanning clothing, housewares, antiques, records, even jewelry, like estate jewelry as well. So a pretty wide array of types of items you can find vintage.

CATHY WURZER: So when I go on to your Instagram account, what will I see?

JAHNA PELOQUIN: Yeah, so the feed, as you will, that posts mostly events, sales. I also share all of those items in our story, in addition to just other little spotlights, any little things that are happening, story sales, new items that are launching at stores in the Twin Cities.

I also have a link to a map that maps out all of these stores. So you could kind of say, I want to go shopping at Selby and Snelling in St. Paul, and you can figure out kind of, oh, there's four or five stores all in this one area and find that on the map. So hopefully making that a useful tool to kind of go shopping anytime, but also posting about events.

CATHY WURZER: Now, before you go, what's the most unique score, the most unique piece that you scored so far?

JAHNA PELOQUIN: Oh, my gosh, the most unique.

CATHY WURZER: I know.

JAHNA PELOQUIN: It's hard to say.

CATHY WURZER: I'm sure.

JAHNA PELOQUIN: There was recently a warehouse sale that a vintage store called Go Vintage put on last weekend. And I scored this stunning Lillie Rubin silk, beaded, creamy pearl blouse that had a matching dress that could also be worn either as on its own or as a skirt, like a floor length skirt with the top. So I love that because it's very heavily beaded. I feel like the top could be worn with jeans or leather pants or worn all together. So that was just such an amazing find.

CATHY WURZER: Beautiful. Thank you so much. I appreciate it, and I wish you all the best.

JAHNA PELOQUIN: Great. Yeah, thanks for having me.

CATHY WURZER: Jahna Peloquin has been with us. She runs the Instagram account, Twin Cities Vintage Map. She's also the owner of Rosella Vintage.