Emilia Haus

The tempting hip-hop instrumentals and racks outside the venue beckon bin-diggers, first-time thrifters as well as the more fashion-forward. A decorative display of Levi’s jeans, mini skirts, graphic tees and potential “grails” of all sorts await the intrigued thrifters of Miami, spending their weekends tracking down the traveling flea markets of the magic city.

Two in particular stand out to Miami thrift enthusiasts: Little River Flea and Magic City Flea. Changing locations each weekend to varying venues around the downtown/Wynwood area, these flea markets welcome racks and racks of curated pieces with a wide range of prices. With various vendors contributing to the execution of the flea market events, pieces range in style, price and age.

Vintage reseller and owner of 610 Vintage Cassandra Volikas sets the scene for Magic City Flea’s market that took place on the third weekend of March.

“Right now we’re at Magic City Flea, today we’re at Savage Labs in Wynwood. [Magic City Flea] is a vintage flea market, there’s a lot of different curated clothing, accessories, handmade goods … A collection of people’s different styles,” Volikas said.

The market itself features different independent vintage curators with their collections to sell under the Magic City umbrella, helping encourage the growth of the thrift and second-hand scene in Miami.

“I think [thrift culture is] very new in Miami, I think there’s a lot of room for growth in Miami because there’s obviously a lot of stylish people here who are really into fashion, so I think it’s definitely just getting started down here,” Volikas said. “Over the past few years, the awareness of the sustainability of thrifting, the fun in it, the unique fashion you can find in it as a trend has really gone up.”

For those looking to kick-start their collection of vintage pieces, Miami’s up-and-coming thrift scene provides multiple options to get started. 

“Going to the racks or the bins like a Goodwill storefront or any Goodwill store, or Salvation Army … Church shops, estate sales, yard sales. Just going and seeing what you can find, experimenting with yourself from there, I always say it’s an inexpensive way to experiment with different styles because you can get one or two pieces for $5 and see if it works for you,” Volikas said. “[When] building a collection overall, you just gotta put a little bit of time, not a ton of time, but enough time to be able to go to a store every now and then and be able to take an hour or two and really take your time.”