Shoppers hunt for vintage items at Bo Diddley Plaza

Published: Dec. 2, 2019 at 12:38 AM EST
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Shoppers call it "the hunt," because it's like digging for treasure.

It's an hour-long – sometimes even a daily – a process to find that one special item that catches the eye. And it's all in Bo Diddley Plaza.

A unique mish-mash of clothing and knick-knacks fill the corners of downtown Gainesville every month for the Vintage Market. Nick and Taylore are the owners of "Jungle House Vintage," and they enjoy giving items a new life.

"The hunt, there's a thrill behind it," they said. "Finding a new piece and styling it up and imagining it in its new home."

Coralie, another vendor who runs "Colorful Nomad" is drawn to items that pop with personality.

"Colorful with a lot of patterns, something that makes you stand out as soon as you walk in a room – like 'oh dang, this girl is here," Coralie said.

It can be difficult to find items, but the owner of "Everyday in Retrograde" Rebecca Butler scours several auctions and other various areas to find unique items.

"You just need to keep your eyes open," Butler said. "I've been to live auctions, online auctions – I just keep my eye open for every opportunity to find cool stuff because it's everywhere you know."

While every vendor has their own style that suits them, they say the fun part about selling vintage items is the ability for any style to become popular again at any moment.

"You know shoulder pads, I used to cut shoulder pads out of things to make them look cool, and now they look cooler with the shoulder pads, so I think that's just how fashion goes, just like how life goes it all comes back around."