Shanda Snyder and Liz Busse were both introduced to vintage clothing by necessity.
Snyder, one of five children, said, “I grew up really poor, so we’d go to thrift shops...and I was ashamed. But in high school I became more comfortable with it. People started asking me how I styled things that I found thrifting. When I was in college, every weekend at least 10 girlfriends would come over, and I would style every single one of them from my closet. I loved it.”
“I started thrifting in college because I loved fashion, but I was putting myself through school and couldn’t afford to shop at the mall,” said Busse.
For both, though, that necessity eventually became a passion, and earlier this year, the two teamed up to establish Wearhouse, an eclectic emporium of antique and vintage finds.
While Busse was working in retail and reselling vintage pieces online, Snyder was taking what she’d learned working for a vintage dealer to set up shop in an empty apartment, attracting customers through Instagram and selling by appointment. The two met and started working together at pop-up events like Lexington’s NoLi Night Market. After moving a few times, the duo landed in their current space on National Avenue in January 2020 – just before the pandemic hit.
“Thank God we had the space,” said Busse. “We couldn’t go places and get inventory, so we spent months cleaning and painting and organizing. We also started getting more into furniture, and this evolved into something bigger.”
The result is a carefully curated collection of antique and vintage pieces, including clothing, furnishings and accessories – each item handpicked and displayed with care.
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Emily Giancarlo
In addition to offering a retail shop filled with vintage clothing and home decor items, Wearhouse owners Shanda Snyder and Liz Busse also offer interior styling services. Photos by Emily Giancarlo.
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Emily Giancarlo
In addition to offering a retail shop filled with vintage clothing and home decor items, Wearhouse owners Shanda Snyder and Liz Busse also offer interior styling services. Photos by Emily Giancarlo.
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Emily Giancarlo
In addition to offering a retail shop filled with vintage clothing and home decor items, Wearhouse owners Shanda Snyder and Liz Busse also offer interior styling services. Photos by Emily Giancarlo.
Snyder and Busse, though, want Wearhouse to be more than just a place to shop. They aim to provide additional services, as well as education. Knowing – and sharing – the history of the pieces they sell is important to them.
“We worked with a woman early on whose mother had been a country western line dancer,” Busse said. “She had so many amazing pieces from her travels and from her time dancing.”
“That’s attached to the clothing,” Snyder added. “What makes a specific piece special is the story behind it, and sharing that with people is such an important part of the experience of buying vintage.”
Snyder continued, “We met someone who worked in an art museum and repairs clothing. We’re hoping to work with her to create some displays. We’re going to display pieces of clothing with information about them so people can learn about the history and preservation of fashion.”
The pair love to help customers with styling both clothing and interiors.
“We’ve styled rooms. We’ve styled people at private home parties. We want to do more of that – like a Tupperware party but with cute vintage dresses or vintage lingerie,” said Busse.
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Emily Giancarlo
The owners of Wearhouse work hard to collect not only unique and special vintage items, but also to collect the background stories on the pieces they sell in their shop. Photos by Emily Giancarlo.
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Emily Giancarlo
The owners of Wearhouse work hard to collect not only unique and special vintage items, but also to collect the background stories on the pieces they sell in their shop. Photos by Emily Giancarlo.
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Emily Giancarlo
Shanda Snyder (l) and Liz Busse (r) opened the Warehouse Block vintage boutique Wearhouse in January 2020. The shop features a carefully curated collection of vintage clothing, shoes and home decor items. Photos by Emily Giancarlo.
As the founders of the Drunken Flea – an application-based event featuring carefully vetted vintage sellers – the two are committed to supporting others in the same business. The event has been so popular that it has grown from nine vendors to more than 50 and will next be held at Central Bank Center.
“We want to support and promote other people doing the same thing as us. Buying vintage is about sustainability. Fashion is the second most wasteful industry in the world,” said Snyder. “And buying vintage from local sellers keeps your money closer to home.”
In the end, the happiness of their customers is their main goal.
“I want a girl who buys a pair of trousers to get a compliment and be like, ‘Oh my God, thank you! Look, it’s got a Talon zipper that means they’re from the ’50s.’ It’s fun and it makes others want to know more about fashion and want to find their own vintage items, and it becomes more inclusive,” said Busse.
She ended, “People want to find clothing and accessories that will let them step outside of the box. We love it when we can help someone and a customer becomes a friend.”