This past weekend, Saturday to be exact, I made the pilgrimage to Crowley Vintage & Antiques in DUMBO, Brooklyn. I had to go to the REI Flagship store to exchange my hiking boots as they were half a size too small, pick up a daypack too, and since I was so far downtown, if I just went a few more stops on the F train, I could be in DUMBO. Crowley Vintage & Antiques is open to the public on the weekends now, so I thought what the hell, I’ll go check it out.
Back in March, I wrote a blog about my interest in Ivy Style clothing, and that I followed @crowley_vintage on IG. At the time when I wrote the blog, I made a joke about the place being way out of my price range, but I still kept following Sean Crowley’s posts as I wanted to stop by his store one day. I think what I am fascinated by is the act of looking formal. We all have gone over a year being extremely casual, and even when I was working, which was in the arts – a notoriously idiosyncratic casually dressed industry – I preferred to dress for work in a tie and sportscoat.
When I made it to DUMBO, I found the building easily; Getting to the shop took me a minute. Clearly, I took a wrong turn, and was forced to take an elevator to the third floor, but soon enough I found the shop which was located across from a staircase I somehow missed finding on the first floor.
Crowley Vintage & Antiques was exactly how it is presented on IG. Not a very big shop, but organized very well so nothing feels overwhelming or random. I went looking for the Summer Madras shirts and sportscoats, which was an immaculate collection. Everything was a quality piece and in very good shape. I especially liked the collection of framed pictures, which I was very tempted to ask about. I didn’t, as I thought of this as a fact-finding mission. Though Sean greeted me as I came in, I didn’t converse with him, as I wanted to experience the shop for myself. I was in the shop for about thirty minutes, and I did enjoy myself. I have a feeling I will return when I need to add a better piece to my wardrobe, or if I have an event to attend, and want to have something special.
As I walked out of the shop, I took the staircase down, which put me to the left of the exit/entrance of the building. (See, I took a wrong turn, that’s all.) As I was about to head out of the building, a guy walked in, looked left and right and then asked me, “Do you happen to know where Crowley Vintage is?”
“Hang a left and up the stairs.” I said.
