Boston vintage shopping: $2-a-pound racks in an 1893 soap factory, plus 9 more

Start at The Garment District at 200 Broadway, a short walk from Kendall/MIT. The building went up in 1893 for soap maker Lysander Kemp & Sons, and it’s the last one standing from Cambridge’s soap-making days. More than 40,000 new and used pieces fill over 12,000 square feet, and Boston Costume, around since 1965, moved in from Chinatown in 2007. The best deal is By the Pound, where everything costs $2 a pound. It goes back to 1981, when the business started selling clothes by weight on Saturday mornings. By the Pound closes at 6 on Fridays, two hours before the main store, so go early that day.

Great Eastern Trading Co. at 49 River Street began as an army and navy surplus store in 1969. Now it’s where Cambridge goes for party clothes, with racks from the 1920s through the ’80s plus costumes and accessories. Ask the staff to pull looks for a theme party or a wedding you can’t figure out. It’s closed Tuesdays, and opens at 1 on Sundays and Mondays.

The Attic in Harvard Square is the Boston outpost of a Brooklyn vintage shop, and the owner’s family runs a Massachusetts textile recycler, so she sees the donations before anyone else. Go straight to the $10-and-under room. It mixes ’70s-style pieces with early 2000s jeans, bags and sports jerseys.

Raspberry Beret at 2302 Mass Ave in North Cambridge mixes ’60s, ’70s and ’90s vintage with Free People, Reformation and Dr. Martens, and it turns away fast fashion. Go downstairs to the beret basement first. It’s open every day from 11 to 7 and takes consignment by appointment. Anything that doesn’t sell in 60 days goes to Mass Appeal International. A second shop in Allston adds furniture and housewares.

Castanet is the designer stop, on the second floor of 175 Newbury Street, where The Closet sold consignment for 38 years before Castanet took over in 2016. Expect Chanel, Céline, The Row and Comme des Garçons. Consignors get up to 50% of the sale price. Hours are short, Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 5:30, so plan around them.

Keezers on Charles Street in Beacon Hill dates to 1895, when Harvard students sold their used suits through a men’s clothing co-op in Cambridge. It shares space with a tailor, so you can buy a tweed sport coat and get it fitted in one stop. Check here before you rent a tux.

40 South St. Vintage in Jamaica Plain is our favorite shop to hang out in. The owner plays punk while you browse, and it made the Boston Globe’s 2026 Best of the Best list for thrift and vintage. It also buys vintage from the public. It’s open Thursday through Sunday, so don’t make the trip on a Tuesday.

Diversity Consignment fills two floors on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, and the racks aren’t split by gender, so shop the whole store. It does styling and alterations on site, so you can leave with a blazer that fits. Watch for its Fill A Bag sale.

Buffalo Exchange at 238 Elm Street in Davis Square opened in 2009 as the chain’s first New England store. It’s the easiest place around to sell clothes you’re done with: no appointment, just bring a government ID and browse while they go through your bag. It’s open until 8 Monday through Saturday, so you can stop by after work.

The Thrift Shop of Boston in Roslindale has sold secondhand clothes, furniture and housewares since 1926, and every dollar goes to The Home for Little Wanderers. Time your trip to the weekly deals: half-price kids’ clothes on Wednesdays, half-off books, music and movies on Thursdays, and half-off jewelry on Fridays. Bring the car.