Retro Active Vintage

As a vintage collector, I appreciate this store so much. I am so lucky to have happened upon it and am sad to know they will be closing this summer. But they will be online!
Pristine vintage and reasonable prices!

I finally made it to RetroActive’s new space on Oak Street and wow! The store looks great. The selection is much smaller than before but that just means you’re not sorting through… lesser quality items.
The first floor is devoted to women’s clothing and jewelry and the 2^nd floor is devoted to men’s items. That’s right a whole floor for men’s vintage, not just a rack… or y’know nothing.
Staff is helpful and courteous. The store is light, bright and airy.

It’s definitely time for a re-​review, especially because the store has moved since my last review.
Retro Active is a great shop and I love the place on Oak. It’s SO much bigger than the place on Magazine was and everything is setup perfectly. Here you will find a lovely collection of everything from vintage hats to bags to dresses to jewelry and even some men’s pieces (which are located upstairs).
If you aren’t really familiar with vintage clothing or if you aren’t sure what you are looking for or what will look good on you, Leslie will be happy to help. She owns the store and is an EXPERT in all things vintage. You can seriously show her anything from any era and she will be able to tell you all about it. That’s exactly what you want when you are vintage shopping.
All of the items are super reasonably priced and this isn’t one of those stores where everything will be out of your price range. While you will find more expensive items here, you are sure to find some gorgeous affordable pieces as well. All items are fairly priced and in good, clean condition.

I was on the hunt for a 1950s prom dress for an event the following night, and was so fortunate I started my search at this great shop! The owner patiently waited as I tried on a bunch of dresses, and even dug around in her not-​yet-​displayed stock to find exactly what I was looking for (and I was being a bit picky)! Through her efforts I managed to find my perfect dress but alas, it was too big. However, Leslie showed me how to make some last-​minute alterations (doing much of the work herself!), and sent me out the door with a needle and matching thread! Additionally, when I got a stain on the dress she quickly responded to my email with some stain removing techniques for delicate fabrics. I would definitely recommend this shop for vintage fans — a well-​curated selection and great customer service!

I love the smell of vintage clothing stores. Perhaps it’s just a conditioned response to the delights that I know are in store for me, as I slip between the racks and start hunting.
I have an ardent appreciation for clothing pre– 1967. From what I could see, Retro Active has mostly 50s/​60s/​70s… some 80s (in my world, that ain’t vintage. Well, at least I don’t want to admit it’s vintage), but we’ll forgive them for that little transgression (and I do realize the kids today love wearing this stuff so they can be all ironic and stuff). Sure, I’d love to see earlier decades represented here and other stores, but it’s increasingly rare with each passing year. I try to keep care of my 20s-​40s clothing and really can’t even wear it anymore because all too often it falls apart *as I’m wearing it*.
Unlike some earlier reviews suggest, I don’t find this store at all overwhelming, nor did I see anything «creepy» or «bizarre.» It’s just a vintage clothing store with a decent selection. Maybe there’s another part of it that I didn’t see? Wait, maybe *I’m* creepy and bizarre?
Loved the window displays for St. Paddy’s day and the cute pup who greeted me at the door. The ladies who work here are helpful without being overbearing. Seriously, I don’t know if there’s been a change in ownership or what, but this store is just like the vintage clothing stores I’ve loved forever. Prices seem to be competitive with stores I’ve shopped in Chicago, San Fran and Kansas City. And yes, a bit lower than New York, where I rarely if ever can even find decent vintage anymore.
I adore beaded vintage sweaters from the 1950s. Often these are very pricey little numbers, especially if in good condition, as they can be quite fragile. I’ve had a few that I had to toss just because everywhere I went, I would rain tiny beads. While that may sound all magical and stuff, it really sucks. Retro Active has a decent selection of these sweaters. I found a lovely cream colored one for about 70 dollars (and the beads were tightly sewn in). Only it’s over 80 degrees out today and I just couldn’t justify buying it, when I have a drawer full of these babies and barely anything that’s remotely presentable for warm weather. It was hard, but I put it back.
If you like vintage jewelry, hats, gloves and other accessories, you will love love love this store, by the way. I even saw a gorgeous old umbrella. Even umbrellas were pretty back in the day. I’m sure these were less dispensable, unlike nowadays when you buy a cheap umbrella for a single use. They have plenty of coats, too and a nice selection of vintage lingerie. Another irresponsible purchase I almost made: a princess style nylon nightgown that’s similar to one I have and wear as a dress. I guess one only needs one of these, though, right?
In closing, as much as I’m trying to make more responsible purchases these days, due to my an closet that holds close to 100 vintage items, stores like Retro Active are still a hell of a lot of fun and one day soon, it’s inevitable that I’ll be off the budget wagon, so I’m glad it’s here in New Orleans!

There is a great selection of jewelry here but the prices are high. It is also hard to see all of the items because they are in locked cases, which I can understand, but it is weird when you have to ask to see them. I once found a vintage butterfly necklace that should have been around $ 16 and it was $ 25. Luckily I am a good shopper and later found the same necklace for $ 5. He does however have some very nice designer vintage pieces that are out of my pockets reach, but are well worth the heavy price tags.

I ventured in here today for no good reason. Just happened to be walking by, it was open, I think I was screwing around with my phone and wanted to duck into a shop for a minute. It looked vaguely interesting. Whatever. Tonight, when I am suffering from nightmares about the creepy ass doll in a coffin thing and equally creepy Jesus crucified on a chest of drawers thing, I am probably going to regret having visited. However, I did get some good pictures.
What an odd little place. Evidently I must not have sufficiently refined tastes in… stuff… to fully appreciate the «retro» merchandise up for sale in this joint. The range of items for sale is dizzying. There are cases of sparkling, faux gemstone encrusted costume jewelery that you might find in your grandmother’s jewelery box, if your grandmother is a collector of antique bling. They’ve got lots of cowboy boots, for some reason, and more disembodied heads protruding from various corners where they’re mounted on the wall than I’d necessarily care to see again, ever.
By far the most memorable discovery of my adventure here today was the nightmarish cowboy ventriloquist doll (or so it appeared) that was laying horizontally on a shelf in a box that looked remarkably like a ventriloquist-​doll-​sized coffin. I took a picture and uploaded it to their Unilocal business listing, so you can see this freakish thing for yourself, if you so desire. Or you could just take my word for it.
Anyway, in an effort to forget having seen creepy ass doll thing, I’ll end this review with a comment about their large collection of reasonably cute (but unreasonably expensive) earrings. There were a few pieces that I’d probably wear, but certainly not for the price they were asking. Again, like I said, my tastes are unrefined and my finances are nowhere near what they’d need to be for me to feel inclined to make a purchase here.
Bottom line: if you’re on a creepy doll hunt or are in the market for various and sundry «retro» antique curiosities, or if you’re simply bored Uptown and want to see something bizarre, go check this place out. Did I mention it smells like a combination of someone’s great grandmother’s house and, possibly, a funeral parlor? Maybe that’s the smell of retro? Beats me.

The admittedly great (if fairly overpriced) collectibles here do not make up for the overtly hostile, unfriendly workers and/​or owner. They remind me of the oh-​too-​cool record store employee, Jack Black, in the movie, «High Fidelity» who runs all potential customers who don’t agree with his musical taste out of the store. It’s obvious the owner is a hoarder who can’t seem to swallow his contempt for us non-​hipsters long enough to sell us any of his prized possessions. I say keep your bangles and your attitude.

As a vintage jewelry lover, I made a special voyage to Retroactive.
As I walked into the store, I felt as if I had fallen through a rabbit hole. The inventory in this tiny store is overwhelming.
Bakelite? They have it. Glass lariats? Got it. Mardi Gras headress? But, of course. That said, I don’t get the feeling that the owner has an affinity for editing pieces. I’m sure if I looked hard enough, I could find a kitchen sink.
You could spend hours in here looking at and trying on all the necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Could? Wait, I did. Rebecca was managing the store since the owner was out of town. She was super nice and let me play dress up for hours.

I am amazed to have read the negative reviews about Retroactive because my experience there was quite the opposite. (and I am a young 20-​something also).
Joe, the shop owner, spent over an hour with my friend and me answering any question we had about any of his pieces. The man honestly knows everything about everything in his shop. I frequent quite a lot of vintage stores and he has by far the largest collection of vintage handbags I have EVER seen. And all are arranged by style and color. The prices are extremely reasonable and all of his items are in impeccable shape. If you like vintage handbags (or really, vintage anything) at all, Retroactive is a MUST see when in new orleans.

Looove the jewelry here. It’s been my favorite for years now.
The guy that works there seems verrryy nonchalant about business, but it’s neither here nor there. He clearly knows his stuff about his stock, though.
I’ve gotten some of my favorite accessories here. Good eye, Joe!

Rude Rude Rude!
About two weeks ago, four friends and I made the trip from Baton Rouge down to New Orleans to visit our friend who attends UNO for grad school. She rents an adorable shotgun two blocks off of Magazine St, so when we finished touring her place she suggested we go window shopping.
The first store that peaked our interest was Retroactive. All together six of us (22 – 24 yr olds) quietly strolled into the shop. Though we were not dressed in cashmere turtlenecks and Uggs like most of the other shoppers on Magazine, we were dressed entirely respectably in nice jeans, scarves and cardigans.
The moment we walked in and began quietly cooing amongst ourselves about all the lovely items, an employee (maybe the shopkeeper) proclaimed loudly that, «Everything is old… Everything is vintage… Everything is delicate.» Her emphasis on ‘delicate’ combined with the tone of her voice made it clear that we were not welcome in her shop. After standing in the store a bit stunned, I decided to leave. If we weren’t welcome I certainly was not going to give her my patronage.
The rest of my friends stayed in the store and heard her call out to me, «Byyye» in a drawn out and sarcastic manner. Two others soon had enough of her attitude and decided to leave. The remaining few stayed in the store long enough to hear her say, and not apologetically, «I’m sorry, but teenagers just come in here and wreck the place».
Needless to say, we will not be vising that shop again.

Retro Joe has been a Magazine St. fixture for a long time, and for those vintage minded or collection-​oriented his shoppe is a treasure trove of costume, jewelry, kitsch, and housewares. Joe’s keen eye has adorned the upper and lower crusts of NOLA for many years because he doesn’t sell the other crap over priced thrift stores calling themselves vintage boutiques sell, he deals in style.
Retroactive is like the loving rapechild of Ebay and a thriftstore without poor people.