ORANGE took a trip to Frock On Vintage on 3016 Guadalupe Street to find a cute outfit suitable for all of the events happening over Spring Break.

Story by Cinnamon Cornell

Photos by Hannah Vickers

Frock On Vintage displays seasonal trends on the mannequins in their storefront windows, featuring unique pieces selected by its owner Liz Avants. Avants opened the vintage clothing store about two and a half years ago in Austin, with a passion for vintage and a desire to bring together all aspects of vintage shopping.

The boutique offers both women’s and men’s vintage clothing, professional alterations and buy/sell/trade options. “We offer alterations, which is great when it comes to vintage clothing because you can’t just go and pick another size off the rack, you find something you fall in love with and its really nice to have the option to tweak it and make it fit you,” Avants says.

In preparation for spring and the many outfits that come along with South By Southwest, Frock On Vintage let ORANGE writer Cinnamon Cornell pick out a get-up fit for anyone’s Spring Break:

Next, owner Liz Avants talked to ORANGE about the store and its upcoming events in Austin.

ORANGE: How often does Frock On Vintage receive new clothing items?

AVANTS: It seems nonstop. We do buy/sell/trade, so, by virtue of that, we have a lot of new items come through the door on a daily basis, and I do buying trips. We scout out items everywhere, so there will be new items hitting the racks almost daily.

ORANGE: What have you experienced during your buying trips?

AVANTS: It depends. There are people who, for a living, scout vintage clothing, and there are some people out there who have family members that owned a clothing store back in the 60s and 70s, and it closed down and the clothes have been in storage for 20 to 40 years. Sometimes, I can find those people and get some real gems that haven’t seen the light of day.

ORANGE: When a season ends, what do you do with last season’s clothing?

AVANTS: It depends on the items. Like, right now we have 25% off of all of our coats and sweaters, so we definitely try to discount them at the end of the season, depending on what they are, how long they’ve been here or whether we think they have a better chance of selling later. Some of them will go into hiding to be reevaluated to see if it’s something that’s going to be appealing. Even though it’s vintage, there are certain things that can come back around and some that go away.

ORANGE: Is SXSW a busy time for Frock On Vintage?

AVANTS: It generally is. It brings so many people to the city and I feel like each year it grows. The more people know about us, the busier we get. We are actually having a party here for SXSW.

ORANGE: So how exactly did you come up with the name “Frock On Vintage?”

AVANTS: Well you know a frock is essentially a dress and it was kind of a play on words. Frock, rock on, it’s such a musical city — I just thought it was fun. It didn’t take itself too seriously — the name. I sent out the idea to a few people I know and trust and that was the winner.

Frock On Vintage’s Hours:

Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Sunday and Monday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.