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There's much more to vintage than a classic box of '98 Franzia. With that in mind, today's Groupon swaddles your future in the threads of history. For $10, you get $20 worth of vintage clothes and more at The Garment District. Located in Kendall Square near MIT, this eccentrically stuffed warehouse stocks its floors with vintage wear, discounted contemporary clothing, shoes, accessories, and enough costumes to dominate all future theme parties.

Founded in 1986, The Garment District is an unconventional department store that operates alongside space-sharers Boston Costume and Dollar-A-Pound+, which your Groupon is also good at. Spend a few hours dancing through the massive two-floor, 28,000-square-foot former textile building, and find the perfect shades for you music video on the wall of sunglasses. Defy the staunch chronological segregation of the decades by combining leg warmers, poodle skirts, and Zubaz in one unholy alliance. With an eccentrically decorated interior, The Garment District organizes its wares by color, making life easy on shoppers with an ensemble already in mind. For those who prefer the chaos and serendipity of bin rummaging, the downstairs Dollar-A-Pound+ (actually $1.50 per pound) offers the thrill of the hunt.

This Cambridge clothing mecca works in many ways to bulk up its eclectic 40,000-plus selection of duds—the store buys, trades, and sells items from customers as a consignment shop, and offers new clothes sourced from overstock. The Garment District takes a sustainable approach to clothing recycling, making sure all the accoutrements it receives go either on the floor for purchase, to developing countries, or to mills for textile-recycling purposes. At Dollar-A-Pound+, you can expect to bring in your Groupon and leave with a hefty assortment of items.

Reviews

Readers of the Boston Phoenix voted The Garment District as Best Vintage Clothing Store for 2009. The store has also been featured in Boston Metro, Elle Girl, Seventeen, and Lucky, and it is a two-time winner of Boston Magazine's Best of Boston award.

• A visit to Kendall Square’s spacious mecca of vintage delights, The Garment District, can be the makings of a relaxing afternoon of pawing through ’60s-era dresses, weeding through piles of paper-thin T-shirts, perusing the selection of vintage coats, and ambling among the selection of patterned tights and bins of silk scarves. – Boston Phoenix

Yelpers give The Garment District 3.5 stars, and Citysearchers give it four:

• A huge selection. Two floors of clothing & accessories. Different and very affordable. It is a little off the beaten track, but it is definately [sic] worth the effort to get to. – stanky, Citysearch
• I found four pairs of designer shoes IN MY SIZE, tons of casual pants, including J. Crew bottoms, some great vintage tees, a cowboy hat, and gifts for my niece and father, as well, for less than $20. I also got two brand new, in the package opaque tights for not that much more, so seriously, who the hell can beat that?! If you're a TRUE thrifter and you aren't afraid to commit, browse and dig for what you want, than this is the place for you! – MandizzleSue, Citysearch