Nestled on the corner of Mass Ave and Bow Street, The Attic Cambridge peeps out at the semi-basement level. It’s easy for passersby to miss it, but if you know what you’re looking for, it’s worth the trip down. I certainly thought so.
This isn’t your average thrift store. Every piece of clothing is hand-picked by Jenna E. Cea-Curry, owner of The Attic. During my conversation with her, I watched as she stood over two big boxes of vintage clothing that she was in the middle of unpacking. “I kind of just pick whatever I like, something that I would wear myself,” she explained. Cea-Curry is a recent graduate of Suffolk University and now works full time running The Attic. It’s obvious that she brings a young energy to very old clothes. “I feel like not a lot of places in Cambridge Common do this… I didn’t want it to feel stuffy—I wanted it to feel fun.”
Heaps of leather jackets, jeans, crewnecks, and t-shirts hang in the front room, surrounded by an assortment of vintage jewelry and accessories. Glittery tops, shoulder-padded dresses, cable-knit sweaters, and boots line the walls in the back room. Unlike your average thrift store, I didn’t find a single Shein tag sticking out from any of the clothing.
Cea-Curry sources most of her clothes from a clothing recycling center, Bay State Textiles, where she runs a separate wholesale business out of their warehouse. “Otherwise, I’ll source overseas,” she said, gesturing to her computer where she conducts video calls to choose clothing from the UK. “Sometimes I get some designer Italian vintage.”
As an avid thrifter, I descended upon the racks and pulled out a Gray Golden Lions cotton t-shirt. One issue: it was $25. Most of the items on the racks are upwards of $20, relatively high for used clothes. “I keep most of my stuff around 20 to 40 bucks,” Cea-Curry explained. “Like t-shirts, for example. If it’s single stitch and it’s older, if it’s a band tee, that’s obviously going to be priced higher.” For a college kid, that may be a bit out of budget. The real gem for students is in a tiny room in the back with overflowing treasure chests of clothes—the bins.
I then spotted the hanging sign “green: $10 blue: $7 red: $5.” “I want to keep it kind of reasonable because I know it’s students in the area,” Cea-Curry explained. Here, there are four bins of unorganized clothes, just waiting to be picked through by a creative shopper. It was here that I found my first steal: a colorful vintage 90s jacket. Turquoise, pink, and lavender, the lightweight windbreaker was all that the 90s strived to be. It caught my eye immediately, as I noticed it was only $10. It fit perfectly, void of stains or damage. Checking out, I felt like I was pulling one over on them. When looking up its brand, Bocco, I discovered it no longer exists anymore. I found similar ones on Etsy reselling for $40-$50.
Cea-Curry explained how the clothes end up in the bins. “Most of the stuff in the bins…are vintage. A lot of the stuff in the bins is stuff on the racks that hasn’t sold in a while… The stuff I don’t necessarily want on the racks I’ll take out of wholesale [and put in the bins].”
I also pulled out a long-sleeve black cardigan with a white outline that clips together in the middle. The end of one sleeve was a little wrinkled, like someone had tried to iron it and instead melted it. Fairly unnoticeable, and for five dollars, I could look past it. The tag read, “All That Jazz, a Chorus Line Company.” A brand from the 70s to early 90s, most pieces now are only found on thredUP or eBay. I was very happy with the purchase.
“First of all, the condition is a huge part of it. Obviously, if it has a stain or something, the price will be lower.” Cea-Curry said, with respect to pricing. “I don’t really go by brands that much unless it’s designer… I have Diesel, Miss 60, Gusto Barcelona, stuff like that. I’m obviously going to price it higher.”
The clothes that don’t get bought off the racks or discovered in the bins end up being sent to The Attic Brooklyn, NY, run by Cea-Curry’s sister, or sold wholesale to other vintage resellers in the area. But in my opinion, you’ll want to catch the pieces first at The Attic Cambridge. Here, the clothes are specially curated for the style of today’s vintage shoppers, and with a little digging, can be affordable too.
Sophie DePaul ’27 (sophie_depaul@college.harvard.edu) is writing this wearing a pair of $14 jeans from Goodwill.