Shopping in Inwood

For over 21 years, the staff of Metropolis Vintage Apparel has carefully selected an always-rotating lineup of consignment vintage clothing, shoes, and accessories. The store's roundup reflects trends from years gone by, including Victorian-inspired steampunk sunglasses that wrap around eyes with a sweep of bright chrome, boots that clothe ankles in soft, worn leather and lace, and belt buckles engraved with parent-friendly explanations of what steampunk is. Colorful patterned shirts from the early '90s mingle with acid-washed jeans, while glossy patent-leather shoes share shelf space with rustic cowboy boots. Clients can tap into their Nirvana-era nostalgia with plaid-shirt tartans or show off their tougher side with metal-studded leather jackets and eagle-emblazoned motorcycle shirts.

Amid the boutiques of East Village, Anthony Aiden Opticians stands out as a purveyor of not only designer, but one-of-a-kind eyewear. Vintage-inspired frames from Oliver Peoples, with whom Anthony Aiden partnered to open their flagship Soho store, form the crux of the shop's off-the-shelf collection. For truly unique eyewear, though, the shop can fabricate replicas of any plastic frame in a wide range of colors, furnishing customers with brand new pairs of discontinued, vintage, or otherwise unobtainable frames. Eyepieces can be further personalized with custom lens coloring, which reduces eyestrain by imbuing lenses with green hues, rosy tints, or tiny umbrellas.

Nestled between Soho and Little Italy, Posteritati’s expansive gallery space invokes the golden age of cinema with more than 9,000 black-and-white and Technicolor movie posters. Petite placards and wall-length signboards span decades and genres that range from the once-popular film noir to the criminally overlooked fettuccini western. Colorful books on cinema arts round out Posteritati's collection and share space on the gallery’s dark hardwood floors with a rotating array of autographed handbills signed by producers, writers, and stars such as Lena Horne. The shop regularly hosts shows and poster exhibitions that revolve around central screen themes such as politics, romance, and actors’ relationships with antagonizing laugh tracks.

The meticulous tailors at Custom Men handcraft scores of made-to-measure garments for both men and women. Each tailor possesses a minimum of 10 years of experience and uses traditional methods of design and construction, such as hand-stitching buttonholes and using an old-fashioned tailor’s tape measure instead of the newfangled ones made out of lasers.

The framing specialists at Galleria on Third design and build artful borders to accentuate and protect works of art. Visitors receive warming welcomes from the natural woodwork of the shop's façade. A consultation with a skilled craftsman helps determine the ideal frame for a piece, from antique mouldings to shadow boxes and electric fences to hold in mischievous portraits. In addition to providing museum-quality framing and matting services for posters and family photos, the frame emporium displays an eclectic selection of original artwork by notable contemporary artists. Galleria on Third also supports charities through annual benefit shows.

Julie Lindsey lets her passion for color shine through in an assemblage of baubles, which she curates to match the trends of each season. Her pieces marry semiprecious stones in understated combinations with gold and silver settings to encircle bodies in the gossamer strands of a range of necklaces, bracelets, and rings. Eye-catching prints and beaded accents characterize Julie's clutches and shawls, which add color to wardrobes and cause rainbows to go back to night school. The shop's selection leaps from the glossy pages of articles in such publications as O, The Oprah Magazine, Lucky, Glamour, and InStyle.