Vintage Wonders Abound in Polly Sue's

This review is written collaboratively by , Ripley Stroud, and . The three of us took a trip to Polly Sue’s vintage retail shop in Takoma Park and decided it was worthy of a review for our Patch.com blog.

-Julianna-

When I walked into the old building that Polly Sue’s sits in, in Downtown Takoma Park, I was surrounded by a collection of vintage clothing and jewelry. The collection mostly comes from the 60s and 70s. Jazzy trumpet music was playing and the woman behind the counter hummed along.

The wonderful thing about Polly Sue’s, a woman who worked there told me, is that unlike large thrift stores like Value Village, Polly Sue’s collection has already been picked and sorted through to bring you the very best finds. By talking to the woman behind the front desk, I learned that the items in Polly Sue’s mostly come from auctions and donations.

Overall I got a classy, vintage feel in Polly Sue’s and I walked out with a real 1970s owl necklace that cost $18 which I thought was a pretty good deal.

-Ripley-

Having lived in Takoma Park for almost 8 years now, I’ve been aware of the existence of Polly Sue’s for a while. However, I’ve never really gotten a chance to look around the store in-depth, up till now. If only I knew what I was missing.

Their collection is amazing, and you can find all sorts of quirky and fun pieces of clothing (a shirt with vests all over it, anyone?). Not only do they have clothing, but they also have common items from the 50s-70s, such as perfume, vintage greeting cards, and gorgeous lighters, one of which I’ve purchased for $8.

One of the most interesting things, I think, about the store, is the woman who works there. She’s incredibly knowledgeable about vintage fashion - we had a conversation with her about the exact trends that were going on in 1978. It was very intriguing to talk to someone who knew so much about the subject.

Polly Sue’s is a neat place, even if you’re not interested in vintage fashion. It’s still fun to walk around and look at all the interesting items that have been collected into one store.

-Sydney-

Polly Sue’s is a marvelous little vintage store right in the heart of Takoma Park. A gust of warm air welcomed me in from the cold and rain as a bell tinkled overhead. Jazz played softly throughout the shop. The woman at the counter looked up and smiled as I walked in and greeted my friends and classmates.

Though the racks of vintage clothing look so fragile, almost as though I didn’t want to breath too close to them, the relaxed atmosphere helped me get over my fears. The shopkeeper didn’t seemed to mind as we thumbed through racks of clothes, laughing a tad too loudly for such a small space.

Small town hospitality and charm really is abundant in the store. From the single dressing room I could hear the woman at the counter chatting away with another customer, not only about clothes but her family and plans for the holidays.

The woman at the counter was extremely pleasant and receptive to my friends and me, asking about our schooling and providing us with information on each item we picked up as we worked our way through the small jewelry case and bowls of knickknacks on the counter. As it turned out, she had an abundance of knowledge on the fashions of every era. She couldn’t just tell me which decade a style of pin came from, but she could pinpoint the exact year based on when the color and subject matter were popular.

I bought a set of pins from the late 70’s (though apparently the coral color was much more popular in the 50’s) for only $6, an impressive deal. The prices in general are pretty fair and they have some truly terrific things.

Polly Sue’s is worth the trip, even for a quick look around or a chat with the woman behind the counter.