O Mistress Mine

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After 37 years in the West Village, rising rents forced Wanda Hanlon’s eclectic vintage shop to the East Village in 2007. As one might expect from a store that's name references Shakespeare, the wares focus on romantic, old-world styles and fabrics, like antique rayon-crêpe shirts, floor-length silk gowns, well-preserved fur jackets, and Victorian gold jewelry. Hanlon obtains most of her stock from consignment and estate sales (“As long as there are little old ladies, I’ll have new merchandise,” she says), amassing an impressive selection of apparel from the thirties to the seventies. Through the years, the unusual attire has drawn celebrities like Madonna and Twiggy in their heydays. Hanlon stresses craftsmanship and quality fabrics rather than designer labels, collecting embroidered silk blouses from the thirties and forties, a stiff, black-lace skirt from the fifties, colorful costume jewelry, and full-skirted dresses from the sixties. But the most notable assortment is the array of millinery covering one of the shop’s bright pink walls, including veiled pillbox hats, fur caps, wide-brimmed straw bonnets, and one-of-a-kind styles featuring intricate feathers, beadwork, and embroidery. — Lauren Murrow