What Vintage Finds Is East Nashville Most Known For?

February 19, 2026

East Nashville is Nashville’s best vintage shopping neighborhood, and it’s not particularly close. The concentration of vintage clothing, records, home goods, and oddities within a few walkable blocks of Five Points and the Fatherland District is something that developed organically over decades rather than being installed as a retail concept.

Vintage Clothing

This is East Nashville’s signature category. The Hip Zipper at 1008 Forrest Ave, open since 1999, is the oldest of the established vintage clothiers and covers the full range: pieces from the 1930s through the 1990s, men’s and women’s and children’s, at prices that don’t assume you have an unlimited budget. Owner Trisha Brantley ran the shop for years before East Nashville became a destination, which means the inventory has been curated with actual knowledge rather than algorithmic trend-chasing.

Black Shag Vintage at 1220 Gallatin Ave occupies a converted historic fire station and specializes in rock-and-roll aesthetics: vintage concert tees, well-worn leather jackets, boots, denim, patches. Owner Tommy Daley is a musician, and the selection reflects that background. The store is well enough known nationally that Miley Cyrus, Hayley Williams, and Drake have shopped there.

High Class Hillbilly in Inglewood was launched by country musician Nikki Lane and curates a specific mix of Western and Americana-leaning vintage, cowboy boots, Western shirts, belt buckles, but also mid-century oddities and things that don’t fit easy categories. A 1940s Chinese dress next to a Mariachi set: that kind of range.

Western Wear and Cowboy Boots

The Fatherland District’s Ellie Monster specializes in Western and retro-styled clothing, vintage shirts, cowboy boots, and belts. Goodbuy Girls in the Five Points Alley Shops is specifically known for vintage boots in a way that gives it a dedicated following.

The vintage Western wear category in East Nashville occupies a specific niche: these are not the new cowboy boots sold on Broadway to tourists. They’re worn-in leather boots with history, Western shirts from the 1970s, and belt buckles that predate the current Nashville aesthetic by decades.

Vinyl Records

Grimey’s Records on East Trinity Lane is Nashville’s most respected independent record store, operating since 1999, stocking new and used vinyl, CDs, and books, and hosting in-store performances. The staff knows the inventory; the recommendations are genuine.

Daydream Records in the Fatherland District sells used vinyl with a focus on rare and collectible records. Anaconda Vintage and Black Shag Vintage both also carry vinyl as part of broader inventory.

Vintage Home Goods

Rusty Rats Antiques at 1006 Fatherland St is the neighborhood’s specialist in vintage home goods and oddities: old drum heads converted into wall art, rusty horseshoes, retro toys, repurposed traffic signs. The inventory is genuinely unpredictable in a way that rewards return visits.

Riverside Village in Inglewood has additional antique shops with more functional vintage home goods: furniture, kitchenware, decorative objects from various decades.

Books

Defunct Books in the Five Points Alley Shops has been operating since 2003, specializing in used, rare, out-of-print, and collectible books across all genres. Fairytales Bookstore in the same complex handles children’s books.

How to Do the Vintage Circuit

Start at Five Points: Hip Zipper on Forrest Ave, the Five Points Alley Shops on Woodland (Goodbuy Girls, Defunct Books, Raven & Whale gallery), and work south to the Fatherland District at 129 S. 11th St (Rusty Rats, Daydream Records, Ellie Monster, Mourning Brew). Then head north on Gallatin to Black Shag Vintage at 1220 Gallatin. If you’re going to Inglewood, Riverside Village adds antique shops and High Class Hillbilly. The entire circuit is drivable in a day, walkable in the Five Points-Fatherland section.

Sources

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