Orlando Vintage Clothing & Costume has relocated from the Fairbanks District of Winter Park to 1500 Formosa Ave. in College Park. In order to welcome the public into the new space, and to show gratitude toward the customers that have supported Orlando Vintage for over 20 years, the store announced it will be hosting a Grand Opening event on the afternoon of Saturday, June 3rd. Long-standing customers and those new to the store are welcome to attend. Food and refreshments will be provided.
The business’s new home was constructed in 1952 and originally served as a grocery store. It was later the site of American Antiques for three generations. That the building is one of the few historical retail locations in the area immediately appealed to Orlando Vintage owner Lisa Smith, who looks at her purchase of the property as a “coming home” of sorts, as the store’s original location was on nearby Edgewater Drive in College Park. Other factors that led her to acquisition were the property’s size, the hardwood flooring on the second level and its uniqueness in being a free-standing building in an area where strip malls are ubiquitous.
Orlando Vintage continues to offer Central Florida an ever-growing selection of 19th and 20th century clothing and accessory options, and is still the region’s sole provider of year-round costume rentals. With over 4500 square feet to work with, Smith and her employees have more than double the room in which to conduct business.
“My vision has always been to have an all-inclusive facility. We now have space for doing restorations, a library, a photography studio and a full laundry facility,” Smith said about the new space. “There is a working kitchen and space to organize vintage items by decade and by clientele. There will also be other opportunities to expand my business on the property, since it has both a 600 square foot barn and a two bedroom house.”
With her keen eye for style, Smith has worked for months to put her own visual touches on the property, namely its first-floor showroom. She is, however, also dedicated to maintaining the building’s historic integrity. “I have restored the terrazzo floors back to their original luster,” she explained. “The original windows and doors have been left intact – I just sanded and painted them. The property came with cats; I am a cat lover, so I’ve been taking care of them.” She also looks forward to keeping a garden on the property and providing comfortable places for customers to sit.
Lisa Smith is joined in the new space by her two employees, manager Ariana Cooper and assistant manager Sienna Malik, who have been excitedly learning not only about vintage clothing, but also about the process of renovating a building. To learn more about the business’s journey to its new location, please follow Orlando Vintage’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. The store’s phone number (407-599-7225) and email address ([email protected]) have remained the same.
Since 1995, Orlando Vintage Clothing & Costume has worked with both the public and professional markets, to provide high-quality and thoroughly researched historical clothing. In recent years, the store has taken pride in dressing both the Greater Orlando area and actors in popular television and film productions from coast to coast. Recent productions she has provided clothing for include the 2016 film Live by Night, the upcoming remake of It, and television shows such as Masters of Sex, The Man in the High Castle, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire and Vinyl.
