Newcastle Executive Apartments - Attractions

A Guide to Vintage and Antique Shopping in Newcastle

Newcastle is filled with hidden treasures when it comes to vintage and antique stores.

We’re feeling generous and want to share the best spots in Newcastle to find character filled clothing and antiques with charm.

Cream on Hunter

Cream on Hunter is a vintage and upcycled clothing and accessories store with one off and re-sized upcycled vintage pieces. Filled with colourful 80s style and grungy 90s looks. Items include clothing, accessories, boots, sneakers, caps, band t-shirts, bags made from t-shirts, sunglasses and more. With men’s and women’s fashion, it’s a great place to find quality vintage clothing in Newcastle.

Cream is the brainchild of Jonathan Head. His vision for Cream was to create a shop that showed that second hand clothes could be as fashion forward as anything you’d find in boutiques and urban street wear stores stocking the latest brands. Every item in the store has been lovingly handpicked or custom-made making each piece unique and special.

By up-cycling clothes and recycling textiles, Cream are able to offer garments at a fraction of the cost to the environment.  Walking through a Cream store, you can see this clearly in a shirt back pack, or multi layered shirts, some using two shirts to make one, well-structured and fitting piece.

Find out more on their website.

• Address: 107A Hunter St, Newcastle NSW 2300. Cream have a second Newcastle store located in Cooks Hill:  97-107 Darby Street, Cooks Hill NSW 2300.

Opening Hours:

• Monday - 9am–5pm
• Tuesday - 9am–5pm
• Wednesday - 9am–5pm
• Thursday - 9am–5pm
• Friday - 9am–5pm
• Saturday - 9am–5pm
• Sunday - 10am–4pm

Stoned Saint Moon

Nestled on a corner in Islington, surrounded by eclectic shops and popular cafes is vintage store Stoned Saint Moon. Browse through the hand selected old and new home furnishings, jewellery, sunglasses, accessories and high end fashion items makes for a vintage lovers delight. The shop stocks popular brand LENNI the label.

Owners Sammy, Tabbatha and Nicole wanted to bring something affordable, colourful and bright to Newcastle, something that didn’t take itself too seriously and would house a collection of true vintage pieces. They’re always on the lookout for second-hand gems to add to their collection.

Follow their Instagram or take a look at their Facebook page to stay updated with what’s new!

• Address: 80 Maitland Road, Islington NSW 2296

Opening Hours:

• Monday - closed
• Tuesday - closed
• Wednesday - 10:30am-4:30pm
• Thursday - 10:30am-4:30pm
• Friday - 10:30am-4:30pm
• Saturday - 10am-3pm
• Sunday - 10am-3pm

Chinchen St

Chinchen Handmade and vintage clothes from Newcastle. They sell their products online and at local markets. Bonnie Lee Tipper began the fashion label in 2015 as an online store before opening at Hunt & Gather market in 2016.

The 25-year-old studies a bachelor of fashion and design at Raffles College of Design and Commerce in Sydney and is always conscious of the impact fashion has on the environment.

Bonnie says that “fashion waste is terrible” and that “fast fashion is one of the many things destroying the planet”.

About 70 per cent of her stock are vintage clothes. She repairs and cleans garments, sometimes changing a hemline to bring a bit of new life to the garment. Her handmade range, accounts for the remaining 30 per cent of stock.

In an effort to use every piece of fabric, Bonnie explains that she designs backwards from the fabric.

“A lot of designers do a design and go ‘I need to find satin to make that’.

“Whereas I go, ‘I have some satin, what can I make with this?’”

You’ll find Chinchen St products online on their website and at various markets in Newcastle. They also have a nice blog on their website with photos and fashion tips. To find out which markets Chinchen St will host a stall, head to their Facebook page or Instagram.

Islington Antiques & Interiors

Across the road from Stoned Saint Moon lies Islington Antiques & Interiors. They’ve been trading for over 25 years and now have an online store, shipping Australia-wide.

Rod and Tim opened Islington Antiques in 1990 and have since expanded, covering almost 500 square metres making them Newcastle’s largest and longest trading antique shop. They have created a twelve room display showroom upstairs which is used to showcase many of their reproduction furniture items making selection easier.

The store is well known for their vast range of Quality porcelain, and showcases overflowing with Art Deco, Royal Doulton, Silverware, Crystal glassware and all the usual expectations in an antique shop through to hanging light fittings, toys, model trains and quirky collectables.

The business has evolved and grown while following the changing trends in fashion and home decorating over the years and now trades in quality antique furniture and collectables from many eras from Victorian times to Art Deco and through to Retro and vintage style.

Find out more information by visiting their website.

• Address: 103-111 Maitland Rd, Islington NSW 2296

Opening Hours:

• Monday 10.00 am – 5:00 pm
• Tuesday - Closed
• Wednesday - Closed
• Thursday - Closed
• Friday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
• Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
• Sunday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Hide + Seeker

Hide and Seeker is a collaboration between Geordie and Eartha. The products in their Islington store are a combination of Geordie’s leatherwork and Eartha’s vintage.

Eartha is another vintage store owner to weigh in on fast fashion, saying she dislikes “the disposable nature of fashion nowadays”. Because of this, Eartha commits to focusing on finding quality natural fabrics and unique items. When creating the leather items, Geordie tries to source the raw materials he uses “as locally and sustainably as possible”.

View their collection on their website and stay updated through their Facebook and Instagram.

• Address: 92 Maitland Rd, Islington NSW 2296

Opening Hours:

• Monday - Closed
• Tuesday - 10am–5pm
• Wednesday - 10am–5pm
• Thursday - 10am–5pm
• Friday - 10am–5pm
• Saturday - 10am–5pm
• Sunday - Closed

876 Hunter Street

Stocking beautiful and genuine vintage pieces, 876 is home to a collection of clothing, and a café. You can sit down and enjoy a coffee before browsing through the treasured threads Wez Werrin and Naoko Sakurai stock.

Find more information on their Instagram.

• Address: 876 Hunter Street, Newcastle West NSW 2302

Hunt & Gather Market

Gather, unwind and explore at Newcastle’s Hunt & Gather boutique fashion and design markets. Located under the old train sheds at Foreshore Park, Newcastle East, enjoy a day of shopping, food and live music.

• Address: Foreshore Park, Newcastle East

Opening Hours:

• from 9am till 2pm.

Upcoming 2018 Market Dates:

• MAY 19
• JUNE 16
• JULY 21
• AUGUST 18
• SEPTEMBER 15
• OCTOBER 13

The Friday Flea

Organised by the same crew that run Hunt & Gather Market, The Friday Flea is a night to thrift, drink and boogie! The stall holders always have a great range of women’s and men’s pre-loved clothing and accessories.

It’s a ridiculously fun flea market, held at the Greenroof Hotel, $3 entry.

• Address: Greenroof Hotel, 71 Tudor St, Hamilton NSW 2303

Opening Hours:

• Between 6pm and 9pm.
• Visit the website for upcoming dates.

Sunset Gather

Also run by Hunt & Gather, Sunset Gather is an annual market that involves two evenings of shopping, food and live music. It’s returning in November and December 2018 although the dates, hours and location are to be advised!

Keep an eye on their website for more information.

Adamstown Markets

If you’re after bargains on pre-loved clothing, accessories, toys, books and more- Adamstown Markets are the perfect option. There’s also homemade cakes, plants, crafts and more.

• Address: Corner of Brunker and Glebe Rd, Adamstown, NSW

Opening Hours:

• Adamstown Markets are on every Sunday from 7am till 1pm (with the exception of public holidays and January).

Op-shops

Newcastle is home to an abundance of op-shops where you can find some amazing quality pieces. It’s just up to you to spend the time looking for them! There’s a great list of op-shops around Newcastle here.

While we’ve listed quite a few vintage and antique stores here, this is only a selection of the many wonderful shops in Newcastle that stock quality, pre-loved goods. There are plenty of options to choose from when it comes to shopping ethical, sustainable vintage clothing in Newcastle.

f you’d like a place to stay that’s central to the best vintage and antique shopping destinations in Newcastle, get in touch to book your accommodation today.

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