Weird Finds + Thrift Store Gems

I started a childhood obsession of collecting and cataloging random things at the age of four. Starting with pencils and erasers, I was allowed to pick one of each when my mom would go to the craft store. I’d meticulously choose and organize them when I got home. 

I quickly turned my passion for collecting to sports cards and memorabilia, specifically baseball. Not soon after I went to my first baseball game at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore to watch the Baltimore Orioles play the Oakland Athletics. I was hooked on the sport and everything manufactured around it. 

Being raised with a heavy hand geared toward the effeminate, the association of masculinity with professional sports gave me a connection to something I longed for that I couldn’t quite understand or connect to until decades later. Over those decades, my sports collection evolved into a focus on clothing-related items, starting with baseball and local sports — and eventually a broad cataloged collection fine-tuned in categories ranging from ’60s and ’70s bright button ups, crewneck sweatshirts to denim from the ’80s and ’90s. I now understand, deep down inside, I would choose to wear anything if I existed in the timeline of my life as the person I always knew I was.

No doubt a product of this manufactured consumer world, I still couldn’t help but feel a strong connection to this history of menswear. I had a longing and desire to put this clothing on and feel like myself. As a nonbinary, transmasculine person who didn’t realize my identity in those terms until a couple of years ago at age 35, grappling to present how I deeply desired to be seen was bittersweet — yet uplifting when I would add to my vintage collection. There is a personal affirmation that’s felt when we put something on that aligns with how we need to be seen.

In addition, as an adult working in kitchens the freedom I found in these sometimes wild and loud pieces of clothing — their breathtaking and jolting presence — felt necessary after day after day in a uniform that robs individuality. 

So, I’m spilling my beans about my love affair and I’m excited to share some favorite pieces I’ve accumulated over my lifetime. The collection ranges from items I’ve had since childhood, online trade and purchases, the occasional thrift store find and sometimes things people close to me gifted after years of use (those are high on the list of favorites).

The Crewneck

That perfectly worn sweatshirt. Cross-seasonal, comfy, sometimes adorned with graphics of nostalgia: Nothing new can recreate the feel and look of a vintage crewneck. My favorites in my collection range from a crisp white Boston Traders (that has pockets) to a heather pink, bubble print 1988 D.C. souvenir by Pannill and a big image, ideally distressed 1980s Danny Sullivan Nascar by Jerzees.

Denim

Worn and adored around the globe, Levi’s is well-known as the royalty of denim and for good reason, setting the standard for durability. I may love many of my Levi’s but the pieces I’m most passionate about range from great acid washed pieces by Lee and RG Brown’s to a Y2K Gap denim jacket I’ve worn too many days in the past 20 years. The wear and tear on it tells stories for another day.

Color Block

The color block pulls on my heartstrings because it beckons that rush of nostalgia with heavy reminiscence of the ’80s and ’90s. With loud, unforgiving colors many might claim don’t “match,” the color block is as eclectic and confused as the era it comes from. My favorite: a distressed early ’90s J. Crew corduroy button up, covered in colors and wear. I love that it seems so unlike what the brand is known for.

Funky

The quality dyes and colors that popped up in clothing during the ’60s and ’70s is, in my opinion, unrivaled. I adore button-ups from this time. Bright and bold, abstract or geometric, the collar styles are almost costume-like. It makes me feel like I’m playing dress-up. There’s too many funky ones to count, with great producers of the time like Arrow, Royal Hawaiian and Blue Star.

Where to Shop

Georgetown is flooded with consignment shops and the Georgetown Flea Market is a must; it’s full of old-school vintage designer wear. The area has estate sales galore every weekend filled with gems. Meeps Vintage in Adams Morgan is also a one-stop shop for great finds. And our neighbor Baltimore is filled with funky vintage shops like Illicit Rag.

In this world of mass production, the perks of buying used items goes beyond aesthetics. Hopefully reuse helps eliminate the imprint of waste on this world. In addition, the stories these items carry pique my curiosity to learn what it’s taken for them to find their way to today. The story of demographics and how they’ve influenced the timeline of fashion, the history lessons these items have to teach — it’s a deep dive filled with information on the ways and periods of society. It also feels damn good finding that one-of-a-kind grail that’s endured through time and how it makes one feel when we put it on.

Georgetown Flea Market: 1819 35th St. NW, DC; georgetownfleamarket.com // @georgetownflea

Illicit Rag: 5702 Bellona Ave. Baltimore, MD; @illicitragvintage

Meeps Vintage: 2104 18th St. NW, DC; meepsdc.com // @meepsdc

Marcelle G Afram is a Silver Spring native, avid Washington, D.C. sports fan, chef and owner of Shababi, advocate for Palestinian and Transgender lives, and a lifelong collector and lover of all things vintage.

Marcelle Afram