hovercraft!

My boyfriend and I had a great experience at Hovercraft over the weekend. It was my first time to visit Austin in almost three years (shameful I know), and seem to remember that this used to be a different store. Anyways, the experience was fantastic. They had a great collection of vintage items, graphic tees and some fun (and cheap) sunglasses. The prices are pretty reasonable, but I’m also used to San Francisco pricing which makes prices everywhere else look amazing.
However, the best part of all was the service. The woman who was working was very friendly, and a great salesperson. I walked out of there with a cool new tee and a pair of black/​white sunglasses.
Definitely will be back… whenever I’m in town.

Hovercraft is amazing! They have the best of the best and the prices are pretty reasonable for high-​quality select vintage. I’ve gotten some great things here over the past few years & the sales staff is so great :)
Playing Ping-​pong with a beautiful lady AND finding awesome vintage/​artisian apparel… at the same time?!! Deal.

They might not have a huge selection for guys, but the stuff they do have is usually really good. They currently don’t have shoes for us men anymore but a manager told me that they would be getting some back soon (something to do with difficulty stocking the right sizes and the economy).
The shirts might seem a tad expensive, but the stuff they sell is expensive in the first place so it makes sense. You’re not going to find a Heavy Rotation t-​shirt with headphone schematics on it for cheaper.

This place is NOT Parts & Labor! We made the (foolish) mistake of saying that just above a whisper and the woman who working quickly informed us of our little gaffe. But, she was actually probably the nicest, and helpful, salesperson i have ever encountered in a little boutique store.
They have lots of cool stuff, though it seems they have more for the ladies currently. The dudes have a pretty good selection of vintage button-​ups and unique screen printed t-​shirts for a reasonable cost. I wanted all of it, but to my surprise, I walked out the proud owner of a very unique watch. Not what I went in for, but it makes me and my wrist very happy.
This place will leave you wishing you had more $$$, but if you happen to have just a couple $ then you should stop in and see what rad gems you can find.

I am totally in love with this store. I almost walked right past it, but something told me to go check it out, and I scored four pairs of vintage shoes that fit perfectly! And the staff was great, she was this kick-​ass chick named Phea! I can’t wait to go back! If you love vintage, go to this store RIGHT NOW!

I really love this store. They have a wonderful selection that is not overwhelming. The redesigned vintage dresses are amazing. The shoes are rad, which makes me think that creatures boutique is involved somehow. Honestly, this is what I envision when I think of Austin boutique. Mid priced local unique streetwear.

This store is in my top five list of places that make me wish I had more money!
I want to buy every tee and bag they have here, but I can’t afford to pay $ 50+ for these simple things. They do have good shoe sales (does that go on all the time?), but the selection is not solid enough that I’ve ever found two pair I like at the same time — so it’s either an awesome deal, or a really clever marketing ploy.
They’ve got the keep Austin weird thing down, but i wish some of our local businesses would be a little bit cheaper so us common people could afford to shop there.

This store has always appealed to me from the outside [the windows are dressed up super cute] so I finally ventured in. My first time in, no one really paid attention to me, but I was okie with that as I truly was just browsing around. The second time, I was on a mission for converse all-​stars in black. And they had them! It was the last pair, but it happened to be my size, so I was in luck.
Unfortunately for the sales associate helping me, I saw the sign that said «Buy one pair, get the second free» and since these Chucks were $ 95, I was bound and determined to get another pair of shoes for free. After sending the poor guy to the back of the house for over 20 pairs of shoes, I finally found another pair I liked, in my size in a color I needed. I think I was in there for close to an hour.
While I wasn’t the only person shopping, the guy helping me was THE ONLY sales associate. He did a great job helping me and everyone else, but they really could have used a second person. It was a Sunday afternoon after all. Isn’t that when people shop on SoCo?
Don’t worry, Hovercraft, I’ll be back. Next time you have a shoe sale.

Ok Hovercraft, I am starting to get you. I did not get you at first, but I think I am starting to, and maybe some day we will be good friends.
When I first went into this place (right after it opened) there wasn’t much merch and I just didn’t feel like I got the kitschy hipster thing. However, I went in again just recently and there was a lot more merch – some of it very cute – and there were lots of cute shoes.
I only recently got into that flat/​tennis shoe combo thing. I know, I know, this has been going on for like 5 years or something. But as I’ve elsewhere said, I haven’t done a comprehensive wardrobe update in a long time, so I didn’t know about this. So shoot me.
Anyway, there are lots of those cute funky Ked type shoes in this place. And two stars for having sales staff that dared put me into skinny pants.
I said, «No way.» He said, «Way.» Reluctantly, I agreed to try them on. And what do you know, they looked good. I didn’t end up finding my size there (note to owner of Hovercraft – PLEASE, longer inseams and more selections in the 28 – 31 range!), but next door at Goodie Two Shoes – but I would not even have known to look for these were it not for Mr. Hovercraft. He was not afraid to tell me to look elsewhere for something that fit me correctly and what that meant.
Now that’s what I like in a shop – some place where the people working there actually know what might look good on me better than I, in my terminal fashion confusion, know myself. And a sales person who is confident enough to tell me that I need to keep looking instead of trying to push something on me that does not fit is going to see a lot more of my business in the future.
I call that «doin’ it right.»
I award an additional star solely for having freaked out a conservative person from San Jose, Calif.

I always snicker at the name of this place because it reminds me of the line from the Monty Python «Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook» sketch — «my hovercraft is full of eels.» Who knows, they probably get that joke here and named this cute boutique accordingly.
Inside, Hovercraft reminds me of the now-​defunct Factory People, with concrete floors and an open floor plan and a very laid-​back loft party sort of vibe. My friends from out of town and I wandered in here to browse around and they immediately found lots to open their wallets for. One of my friends found a hilarious silk-​screen man-​turning-​into-​wolfman tee. Another found a great newsboy cap that rivals the best from Justin Timberlake’s ample collection. And while I didn’t make any purchases, D. and I started playing with the fun selection of Holga cameras strewn out on one of the display tables. Seeing as how I know as much about cameras as a chimp knows about ballet, here was our convo:
Me: Ohhhh, this is one of those Holga cameras! I keep hearing about these.
D: yeah, they’re really popular with amateur photographers because they have all these cool effects like overexposure that would take you forever to do in Photoshop.
Me: It looks like it comes with tape. Is that a joke?
D: That’s because they’re really flimsy and also people use the tape to create filter effects and stuff.
Me: So, essentially, this is a broke-​ass camera?
D: Well… yes.
But in all (kinda) seriousness, and despite my rudimentary broke-​ass camera lesson, it was very cool that they have Holga cameras, color filter instant cameras and other useful hipster trinkets. There is also a really good selection of unisex wallets and funky purses and bags that I might be back for.
And, though some of the broken-​in kitschy tees and skirts seemed to be better sized for a 12-​year-​old girl or a starvation artist, they were definitely unique and colorful. In all, Hovercraft is definitely a nice complement to Goodie Two Shoes and Therapy.
For the record, I am here to tell you that this Hovercraft, thankfully, is not full of said eels.

I am bumping this to 5 stars for for supporting local artists & designers. Hovercraft is obviously very in touch with who their target market is.
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So I went down to S. Congress on my lunch break today and walked around some of the shops. I found a new one called Hovercraft. The signage on the window said they sold «Clothes, Sneakers (rawk!) and accessories. It’s located in the same building as Goodie Two Shoes and Therapy, which makes sense, because the price range and quality is somewhere in the middle of those two.
The first thing I noticed about the store was that they a quite a selection of moderately priced graphic tees. I’m a sucker for those. A few of their knit tops I thought were over-​priced ($ 60-​$ 80-​ish) But then they also had a couple of cute dresses for around the same price, which seems reasonable to me.
Hovercraft also carries some cool boy clothes, although I didn’t look to see what the price range was on those. Sorry guys!
As far as the sneakers they had some pretty cool ones. Not a crazy selection, but I really liked the shoes I saw.
I didn’t notice many accessories, but there were a handful of really fun swimsuits for summer! Which reminds me I need to keep walking, so I can get into swimsuit shape!