Oona’s

Decided to stop by after leaving the iPhone repair shop next door, as I love checking out different consignment stores, and I was blown away. The second I stepped in, it became evident that this shop is one of the most well-​organized vintage stores I have ever been to. All of the pieces on display were so unique and one-​of-​a-​kind. They have, however, started experimenting with carrying a contemporary brand, so there are some multiples here and there which is nice to have as well. The authenticity is incredible and both I and my mother left with timeless pieces at bargain prices to add to our closets. Would definitely recommend.

Used to be a great place to shop. However lately the girl in charge either goes away for long breaks and says back in 5. Or shuts the place much before time and pretends she is not inside. Hope the owners take note of this.

Got a great pair of dress shoes here for $ 40. They are like new. Took me several visits before ones I liked were available in my size but it was well worth stopping by a couple times a week to check.

Expected a closet sized store from previous reviewers, but found a compact, efficiently laid out thrift store. Was shopping for family, but if I was shopping for me, I would’ve easily walked out with several items. Items are reasonably priced for the quality, you can find a good vintage dress here in a heartbeat.

A surviving remnant of the older Harvard Square, a nice little place to get used clothing or just browse on a regular basis.

At Oona’s I always find highend vintage clothes that are in amazing conditions with bargain price. Large accesories selection and wonderful one of a kind jackets and outterwear. For men, great vintage selections of Penfield and Woolrich (I bought XS/​S in men for the boyfriend look) and some of the foreign brands with 100% wool (shame that companies today don’t make clothes with a high quality fabric anymore). Lastest purchase was men’s wool leather toggle coat for $ 50, men’s sports jacket (tailored fit)$ 30, women’s Disel jean jacket for $ 35, Tori Burch silk dress for $ 45. I just wish that Oona’s have online store

Found a great dress here for a vintage styled wedding I was attending. Collection was great and prices very reasonable. I could do a lot of shopping here. Shoutout to Ally for providing great customer service! I will definitely be back next time I’m in Boston!

I almost always find some amazing gems here for both mens and women’s vintage. Love their accessories selection; I find quality vintage pieces at a reasonable price. Love the gold tone belt I picked up last time!
The selection is always fresh, and things are always changing. This shop is more curated than other places that I shop for vintage, and for that I’m grateful. There’s always something cute or dapper, but as with any good hunt, you must have patience to look.

Found this place through Instagram and so glad I did! Best consignment around! Got a 50% off annoucement through their Instagram feed. Staff is awesome and they really know their stuff. Brought a lot of stuff in and they gave a great price for it! I love vintage and this is really the place to go. Thumbs up Oona’s!

This place is a hidden gem that requires a bit of luck — you won’t get a treasure every time you stop by, but when you do, oh boy! The prices are unbelievably cheap for the quality of the merchandise and the neighborhood it’s in. Oona, I love you!

Not really into this place. It’s small and stuffed with some pretty boring vintage items, mostly really cheesy stuff. The store is barely organized the staff was not helpful AT ALL. I used to visit Boston a lot to see family when I was living on the east coast and I would always check this place out hoping it would be better or that I would find something I liked… but it’s barely better than The Garment District and way more expensive.

An update is sorely needed here, wow! I checked out the «new» Oona’s (and actually wrote an article about it, which was just published in the 2011 – 2012 «Charles River Review» at Harvard, unfortunately not yet available online) about a year ago and WOW. Wow! What a great update since the new owner bought it from her boss, Kathleen (the namesake Oona’s mom, the owner since 1972).
It’s «true vintage» now, with a few items from the 90s and most from prior. The men’s section has been expanded, and includes a fancy-​shmancy hipster apothecary section (looks great for gifts for your metro-​but-​masculine man). Most items are arranged by spectrum (pretty!) and all items are dry-​cleaned. You can find a genuine 40s lbd or a 60s poncho or some bell bottoms or… well, pretty much anything. Since this is vintage and people didn’t used to eat quite so ‘well,’ plus sizes are naturally limited, so bear this in mind if you’re not a wee lass (as I am not).
The staff is sooo nice and super cute (and stylin’!). The place is just gorgeous now, a beautifully curated boutique as opposed to a hodge-​podge of halloween costumes and broomstick skirts. When I was in the front room was covered with damask wallpaper hung with flat-​rate-​of-​$ 15 necklaces… hope they’ve kept that price point! I will be back soon.

How have I not known about this place until recently?!
Oona’s is a horse of a different color, definitely. The men’s section (which is all I can really speak of) is extremely organized and everything is high quality. Essentially, a hipster would have an o-​gasm if he walked in here.
The tie collection is amazing, flannel and plaid EVERYWHERE, and really awesome dressy clothes. Everything is dry cleaned before they sell it (which is amazing — no one wants to wear freshly worn clothes from someone else).
The staff are all super friendly. I went here with my housemate to find some new clothes and I was really on the fence of buying a new tie (a guy can never have too many, right?) Anyways, as my housemate was trying on a super neat dress (for pretty cheap) we began casually chatting about my weekend, life, and how I should buy the tie. He sold me – and I bought it for $ 6.00
If you have a few moments to spare, check this place out. It’s not too large, but it has a bunch of gems.

The space is really well organized, and I always find something good here!
They sell real vintage (ie, not consignment), but unlike many other vintage stores out there (ahem ahem, Artifaktori) there are some major differences:
1. Not über overpriced
2. Everything is in very good to excellent condition
3. Not too costumey (ie, this place is not overrun with poodle skirts, plaid pants, and gingham)
4. There is a decent selection of Men’s AND Women’s clothing
5. Interesting selection of jewelry, which is very reasonably priced (yes, it’s costume jewelry but still, it’s cheap!)
Minus one star because, there really is no shoe selection and it’s still expensive enough that I have to think twice about buying some things (ie, it’s reasonable but not a total steal).

Oh Oona’s.
How can you make it obvious to everyone that you have such fantastic men’s clothes. I mean the first time that I was thinking about going in I checked the website five times to make sure that it actually said that there were men’s clothes.
But there are men’s clothes, fancy shirts and jackets, even more importantly some real class bow ties.
Tell the men to come in Oona, get them inside your doors.

The first time I went to Oona’s, it was 1999. The store was fun but very cluttered for such a small space. I hadn’t been back in a while, and I read on Unilocal it was under new management, so I decided to go and poke around.
The first thing I noticed was how the space was redesigned. There was much less clothing, but it was of a higher quality. It felt «curated» rather than random items thrown together, as it did before. I felt like I had found a secret British attic.
The lighting seemed a bit dim, but there was an abundance of table lamps. There was a section for jewelry and accessories. Many of the necklaces were in the $ 15 – 20 range. They were against the back wall and spaced out, so you could really see the details. There was a table with a crisp white tablecloth, and a variety of sunglasses. They also had some French milled soap for about $ 10, with fancy labels. Buying a few of those would be an ideal hostess present.
I am a bigger size (22), so I didn’t look at the clothes too much, as I knew they would not fit. Vintage clothes are already cut for women of a smaller size. I saw some great pieces though. There were a bunch of party dresses with excellent construction. There are also shoes, I should point out. Maybe you can find a matching outfit. There were 2 – 3 dressing rooms with full length mirrors inside.
There is also an alcove full of men’s clothing. Though it was vintage, there weren’t outlandish pieces. It was just clothing you’d want to wear that happened to be vintage. Case in point, I saw a linen/​broadcloth button down with excellent stitching for $ 29.
I was in the market for accessories, and was not disappointed. I found a silk Yves St. Laurent scarf for only $ 15. I actually asked the salesclerk if it was the correct price. It was indeed. My friend found a Liberty of London pink ascot, similarly priced. Oona’s scarf collection is unparallelled. This would be a place you’d want to go after you got paid. Lack of money was the only reason I didn’t buy more.
BTW, the salesclerk was precious. She was showing us ways to style the silk scarf, including a turban. If anyone could pull off turbans for non-​religious daywear, it would be her. She made it look 20s era chic, like Daisy Buchanan might wear on a Sunday. And the owner was there, sorting through clothes on the floor. She was laid back and full of good tips.
All in all, it’s worth going. Oona’s is near Hong Kong restaurant, on the outskirts of Harvard Square. Leave me some scarves though! I still regret not getting the purple Hershey’s silk scarf.

I’m a long-​time San Franciscan, visiting Cambridge/​Boston for the Head of the Charles Regatta. During a lull in the rowing, I was browsing an independent bookstore in Harvard Square and I overheard a girl asking the clerk if there were any thrift stores in the neighborhood. «Just one», he said — «Oona’s». He gave her directions while I eavesdropped, and then I high-​tailed it the 6 or 7 blocks to the shop in question.
Now, I’ve been buying and wearing vintage clothes since 1979 (feel free to do the maths) and, living in SF, I’m spoilt for choice with places that run the gamut from super-​cheap (Community Thrift) to super-​pricey (La Rosa). But I really wanted to experience what Harvard’s take on vintage might be. Oona’s delivered the goods, quite literally.
It’s tough to find men’s vintage clothing that’s not largely kitsch or slimy polyester, and doesn’t attract hordes of ironic hipsters who clog the aisles, asking each other «Does this make my butt look 2007?» Well, Oona’s had an excellent, dedicated men’s section that was clubby and inviting with loads of vintage button-​down oxfords, wool and cashmere knit vests, some excellent shoes, plaid jackets, ties, embroidered belts — in short, it was a little slice of preppy heaven, taking me back to my dorm room closet at boarding school.
I found a spectacular Pierre Cardin double-​breasted wool sportcoat from about 1969 that fit me like the proverbial glove, and for about half of what it would’ve cost me in SF! The two young women in the shop were charming and helpful (not to mention cute), even directing me to the nearest good taqueria (one of the most important bits of travel info a fellow can have).
Oona’s is about 2,500 miles too far away from my home to be a regular spot to patronize, but I’m glad I found them and I’ll bet you will be too. Their women’s clothing selection looked even larger than their men’s, so there’s something for everyone… everyone who has decent taste and an appreciation for things that last.

I walked into this store today while waiting for a friend and was blown away. The store is small and quaint, and the selection is not huge but it is extremely well curated. All of their items are in fantastic condition with very minor flaws (if any at all). Women’s dresses were in the $ 40 – 60 range, which is very affordable for a vintage store where you don’t have to do any work to find treasures.
One thing that really struck me about this store is that they go through the trouble of «standardizing» their sizes as much as possible. A lot of vintage is custom-​made or has odd sizing, so they have measured the items and assigned them modern sizes to make it easier to find things that fit.
The salesgirl was very helpful and picked out a few dresses for me to try, one of which I got. A gorgeous pink shift with scalloped edges for $ 50. My boyfriend got a pair of Bruno Magli dress shoes, which would run $ 500 retail, for $ 45. Needless to say, I will be coming back.

Right now they have a good supply of «Holiday Sweaters». Like ones with reindeer flying through the air, big gaudy red sweaters, holiday vests. They are all around 20 bucks!

I still pop in here about monthly to check out the selection. It’s a lovely place to peruse good quality vintage items. The new management has a great eye for cute vintage stuff that totally works in the present day and it is a pleasant atmosphere in which to look around. This past weekend, they had high-​waisted Levi’s shorts and high-​waisted flared jeans that looked like deadstock from the 70s. There are still a few deadstock black leather jackets from the 60s that wouldn’t look out of place next to a more recent moto jacket. The jewelry display is inspiring me to re-​organize my own accessories. There are even glasses! Fedoras and suspenders for men! Business shirts, casual shirts, chambray shirts — everything for a dapper gentleman’s closet.
I do have to take off one star for the customer service, er lack of. Every time I’ve walked in, no one has bothered to greet me — and I’m one of maybe 2 – 3 customers in the store. The young looking females behind the counter always are wrapped up in their conversation. They don’t acknowledge you, they don’t offer to help, they make no effort to make a sale. Maybe it’s the New England attitude toward customer service, but you would think a small, independent business that doesn’t advertise much or tweet regularly (Apr27 — Jun9 nothing!) would at least put forth the effort to cultivate a relationship with the people who show up in their business and are eager to spend their hard-​earned money on something special.
***updated 7÷17÷11: one of the managers PM’d me that they are working on their staff, revamping their website (I hadn’t found a link from a Google search), and active on Facebook (which wouldn’t appear on Google?).