Mill Crest Vintage

The only reason I’m giving this place anymore than 1 star is because a lot of the dresses are actually stunning. HOWEVER, they are so insanely overpriced it is ridiculous. When I made this comment to my friend as we were walking around the store the owner made sure to let us know that these prices were totally valid, as she was not «some thrift store». Maybe I have misunderstood what the word «vintage» stands for but paying this much money for worn clothing is crazy.
It was also extremely uncomfortable shopping in the store. If the owner caught me so much as to glancing at a dress she would comment «oh that dress is so beautiful, it’s by a famous designer» etc. It got so annoying my boyfriend and his friend had to walk out of the store because she couldn’t stop commenting. My friend and I decided to try on a few of the dresses, mostly for fun as they were all around $ 300 – 400. The owner was so intrusive and kept telling my friend to tie the dress she was trying on a certain way to the point where she almost yelled at her to tie it.
It’s really sad cause this store has potential. But charging insane prices and harassing the people that come through your door is so uncomfortable. I work in the fashion business myself and some of her stuff is by no means worth what she is charging and no one deserves to be stalked around a store like that.
I have never met a more harassing sales person in my life.

Wanting a vintage themed wedding I was excited to find this store. The owner was helpful to set up the appointment and guide me in what she needed ahead of time.
The dresses are beautiful and a charming store. I arrived with my husband to be. She offered me options and a variety of styles. I settled on a more expensive dress not posted online, which was way overpriced at $ 1700.00. However, I wanted to see what I was getting. She expressed the dress was cleaned. In reflection, this was likely after it was originally worn.
When I went to get the dress just steamed at a cleaner that specializes in clothing restoration and wedding dresses they would not touch it finding that the dress is dry rotted with stitching coming apart.
The whole reason I did not buy on the Internet and went to a store that specializes in vintage dresses is to get one in vintage condition, not deteriorating. Otherwise I would have purchased on the Internet for over ½ the cost.
Please be wary when buying vintage wedding dress.

I had a really bad experience at this place, but Paula actually responded to my one-​star review with a very thoughtful, long response. I haven’t been back since, but I’m changing my review because I know it’s HARD being a business owner and sometimes certain people have a different way of interacting with others. She does have beautiful things, so let’s all just assume that she’s read the reviews and has changed her approach to customers.
I’ve had this experience at other stores where disgruntled shopkeepers read negative Unilocal reviews and end up becoming a lot more friendly (I think they seriously did not know they were offending people). It can happen, so if you’re in the area it never hurts to check the place out :)
[Original review deleted]

Paula replied to my review!
Next time I’m in town, I’m going to check out the better pricing and improved service. People do listen! I’m excited for vintage.
Thank you! :)

This is a review for the bridal section only. First, I can understand some of the negative comments. I also was made to feel a bit awkward about not having anyone with me during my bridal appointment and getting a bit of makeup on one of the dresses. That being said, every dress I saw was high quality vintage/​antique in immaculate condition. This was my third time trying on wedding gowns, so I did have a pretty specific idea of what I wanted. I would not suggest making this your first stop. Figure out what you want and then go there with a specific idea in mind. I ended up purchasing a stunning early 1900s cotton embroidered gown that I could not be more in love with. Overall, I would highly suggest that any bride looking for something more than the generic cookie-​cutter wedding gown check out Mill Crest. The new/​modern gowns just don’t hold a candle to the antique and vintage dresses I tried on at this shop.
Quick note with regard to $$$. I’ve shopped around and I think the bridal gowns are priced competitively as compared with other high-​quality/​excellent-​condition vintage and antique wedding gowns. I looked at some of the other vintage clothing on the way out and the prices were ridiculously high.

This is a fantastic vintage dress shop. The owner is amazing! She goes out of her way to help you. Can’t wait to stop in again.

I fell in love with everything until I saw the price tag!!! It’s way overpriced for me. I simply wouldn’t spend $$$ on my clothes.
Though I liked the dress at the front door, I didn’t try. The price made me very uneasy.
I gave 5 star for the quality. But I decided to minus two for the price.

There were a number of things wrong with our visit that together lead me to believe that what I experienced was not simply an off day.
Prior to my visit in February, I emailed with the owner about a vintage bridal gown. She seemed lovely and I wasn’t sure what all of the negative reviews were about. Well, despite our (what I thought was) very personal & detailed discussion with my measurements, budget, and era preferences, when I came in she couldn’t remember who I was or what we had corresponded about in the past week. That made me feel unwelcome, and Paula gave me a sidelong glance when I said that my mother had not been able to come after all (she lives 4h north). She indicates that «most girls» come with their mothers, and gave me a grim look, asking if I still wanted to look. Yes? I drove from Philadelphia.
So I had to reiterate my preferences and the setting and details of our wedding because she forgot our long email exchange. She was upset when I reminded her that I had a budget of $ 700, something she said was not a problem on email. While she has an exceptional number of gowns in the back of her shop, Paula was not helpful in finding a dress at all. The dresses are packed so tight you can’t flip through them and look at them, but I was hoping she would know her inventory or have some sort of organization. No. I felt lost and overwhelmed when she pulled some dresses out that were nothing like what I described or was presently wearing (things like a weird chiffon babydoll dress with soft plastic straps for hanging that was clearly not vintage). I tried them on, and she seemed settled with her choices. She didn’t offer anything else. None of them were right for me, but she just kept ooing and aahing over them, sort of like she was going to flatter me into buying one today. She tried to tell me that she could give me a sale on one of them (a polyester «Mexican» wedding dress that was huge on me, «designer» but didn’t have any brand tags, and was «so french, so chic» — what?) that would only be valid that day because she can’t hold such high demand things. While yes, someone could come in and buy it tomorrow, the dress conspicuously did not have a price tag like the others, and seemed very overpriced at $ 750.
Many of the dresses in this showroom are beautiful, but a significant of the dresses were yellowed or stained and would require extensive alterations and cleaning repairs. I wear a lot of vintage, and many of the dresses were not designer, not well made, in cheap fabrics, and don’t have the beautiful construction techniques and details that I look for in vintage clothing. I had to rescue call my mother and indicate to Paula that my mother and I would talk tonight and make an appointment with her tomorrow when my mom could come with me, so I could escape. Paula then did a complete 180 on what she had said earlier, indicating now that «most girls» buy their dresses without their mothers.
I would not recommend going here without a strong personality on your side that can push back when Paula tries to gently manipulate you. I just felt like her techniques of false flattery and fibbing were insulting and transparent, and I ran out of there as fast as I could.

Unfortunately I have to agree with several others. the owner is rude and the store compared to other vintage stores is way overpriced.

I bought 2 wedding dresses at Mill Crest – one for a City Hall ceremony and one for a big party the next night. Overall, I had a great experience.
When I made my bridal appointment I had a pretty clear idea of what kind of dress I was looking for and I sent Paula a list of ones I liked from the website. When I got there her and her assistant had some of those pulled as well as some others. Paula had a keen eye for what she thought would look good on me. I ended up with a 50s lace tea-​length dress and a 60s cut-​out shift.
More challenging was the fact that my 50s dress was several sizes too small for me. With the absolutely incredible help of Susan, the seamstress who works with Paula, we were able to transform the dress to fit my body perfectly (over 4 alteration visits), all while keeping the original spirit of the dress.
Visits to Mill Crest can be slightly chaotic. I would not come to your initial bridal appointment with a large group of friends/​family, there is simply not room for them in the bridal salon. Better to bring one, maybe two people whose opinion you trust. Also don’t expect rock-​bottom thrift store prices. Paula’s dresses generally seem to range between $ 500-​$ 2000, but the selection is great and from what I could see they were largely in fantastic condition.
My future mother-​in-​law and I had lots of fun hearing about Paula’s experiences working with vintage. Her big personality definitely made the experience of buying my wedding dresses memorable. Keep an open mind and just have fun with it.

The owner is EXTREMELY RUDE & her prices are ridiculous! I went in with a group of my friends one weekend — all in our mid 20s and dressed causally — each time we went to touch something we were told «it’s extremely delicate», or when we asked a price we were told it was «very expensive.» I am a fashion designer and travel the world sourcing vintage and buying garments for inspiration — I could have purchased anything in that store — but she took one look at me and decided because I was in flip flops and a t shirt I couldn’t possibly. My parent’s actually live in New Hope — and I often see the owner at the Golden Nugget Flea Market on Sunday’s shopping at the same vintage stand I always do — buying things for $ 50.00 and turning it around for hundreds. If you want great vintage in the area walk down Union street. There are three or four really cute antique shops with great finds to be had!
Paula — I have never been treated this way in my life. You need to take a lesson in how to run a retail store. Whenever my designer friends and I are in New Hope & Lambertville and they ask me to take them vintage shopping — I point to your store and say, «NEVER go in there. The woman who owns it is SO rude.» Your store is in LAMBERTVILLE. Walk-​in traffic should be your bread and butter… but instead you make me just walk-​on-​by… and I go into the super cute home store right next door (where I bought my kitchen table).

Yeah, I’m with everyone who couldn’t stand Paula.
Yes, the place is gorgeous, and her stuff is hard-​to-​find, and all that. If you have tons of money to burn and don’t want to put any effort into finding a beautiful vintage dress, and can stand dealing with people with crazy egos, go ahead.
Her attitude is just so awful and I shop vintage all the time, but never never never would I spend a thousand dollars on a dress from the 50s. It is USED. I could get someone to MAKE me the exact same thing BY HAND for that price.
One of the worst shopping experiences of my life.

I bought my wedding dress from Paula at Mill Crest and I had a great experience here. I looked at dressed that I wanted online, and then set up an appointment. When I came in, all of the dresses I wanted were pulled, plus a few more. Paula was always very pleasant via email and in person, and even more important to me, her main concern was finding me my dress and making sure that I was happy.
If you’re looking for a dress at Mill Crest, I would go online first and have a clear vision of what you’re looking for. Make sure you set up an appointment so you can take advantage of their beautiful bridal room (it’s really amazing; it’s a vintage bride’s dream).

I have been wanting to check out Millcrest for a while now specifically for a vintage wedding dress. The first time I made it over I was in a car accident so I never actually made it to the shop. Well, I finally made it back to Lambertville for an appt. regarding said car accident. I decided I would try again to get to Millcrest. I made it there and It took a few minutes before (I’m guessing the owner) to even acknowledged that I was in her store. I was specifically in search of the wedding dresses, and after not spotting them and clearly looking confused I decided, well she’s obviously not going to ask if I need help so it’s time for me to speak up. After asking where the bridal dresses were she replied in a very short manner «that room is closed». I stood there confused expecting more of an answer out of her. but nope, nothing. So I asked when it’d be open. She replied «It’s on my website!».
I just said «good to know» and walked out.
by the way, her website is pretty awful.
Alas, I will not be going back to Millcrest and I really wouldn’t recommend anyone else to check it out. I mean, her store was packed with vintage dresses but all very pricey, And I DO understand good vintage but dont go there if you dont like rude people and dont want to spend at LEAST $ 200 on a shirt.

I came out to Mill Crest Vintage to try on a specific wedding dress I’d seen on their website. Paula was very helpful and responsive via email messages, but I’m one of those people who likes to see and try clothes on, especially my wedding dress.
I set up an appointment with Paula and it was probably the best thing I could have done. She closed the store and worked with me one on one for about an hour. The original dress didn’t fit my body and even though she works with a costume design tailor who could have edited it, I decided to try on other dresses. After trying on about 10 (and getting surrounded by a sea of white) I spotted a beautiful
Paula’s personality can be a big and over the top and that might be what some people find off-​putting. Still, her passion for great vintage clothing is unmistakable and now I have an amazing 1950’s dress to prove it!
This store is literally overflowing with vintage clothing, shoes, and accessories. If you’re looking for something specific I’d suggest making an appointment. Paula has a great feel for the clothing in her store and what will or wont fit your body. It was a little pricey for vintage, but not terrible. I didn’t try haggling, but for anything but a wedding dress I would have.

Mill Crest has the largest collection of vintage dresses and accessories that I have never seen anywhere else!!! I wonder how much time and money the owner spent to make this dream come true! The store is literally filled with tons of dresses, hats, bags, shoes, and more and more lovely items. I, however, found some dresses looked a bit over priced compared to other stores I know. There are more vintage clothes store in New Hope, but Mill Crest is a must-​visit!

Please stay away from this establishment.
The service is extremely bad and you would be better served by going somewhere else.
Since I was personally screamed at by the owner I think it is fair to say I will never be back here ever again.

Wow, I was at this place today and, as the other reviews state, the woman who runs the store is one awful person. I’m almost compelled to use profanity when describing her, but will refrain since it’s a public site.
She went on a rant about Chinese-​made goods and how clothing, specifically from China, is garbage. Seems she’s got a problem with China. It was really rude, and she brought it up about 3 times in the, maybe, 7 minutes we were in the store. Then, talked down to my friend and I when my friend stated how nice some of the fabric felt to the touch– saying how many people like feeling nice fabric because they never have before (Implying that we hadn’t); and that she dislikes when people come in a touch the clothes because they ruin them (clearly directed toward us). My friend and I are both well acquainted with well made vintage clothing– that doesn’t mean you can’t touch dresses that you might want to buy. Who would spend $ 400+ for a vintage dress without touching it, or trying it on for that matter?
I suppose we weren’t classy looking enough to be in her store, and she continued to make snide comments, with a smile on her face, until we left. I wouldn’t buy anything from this store, ever, even if it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. She also thinks she’s hot stuff because her clothing is used in some TV show… which means nothing to me, I don’t rot my brain with that stuff. Inflated ego maybe? Though, she probably makes enough money ripping customers off online, and from that TV show, that she doesn’t care if her walk in customers come back.
Do yourself a favor, take your business elsewhere, and support vintage shops run by good people, without inflated egos.

I’ve been shopping vintage for years and I must say Mill Crest has the finest selection I have ever seen, anywhere. However the prices are ridiculous especially considering a number of the pieces I looked at were worn/​damaged/​in need of repair. I also could not find labels on a number of items, which makes me think they were not designer.
An example was an early ‘60s dress (with no label, for $ 400) that needed sewing, and a purse that had pen marks on the exterior and dirty suede that went for a couple of hundred. I have no idea if she’ll haggle, I didn’t try. But may be worth the effort.
If you have money to burn and don’t have the patience to dig, this is your place. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

Perhaps this review isn’t fair because I haven’t actually been to this store, but I was so turned off by the owner’s attitude on the phone I just had to write a review!
I saw this store in Martha Stewart Weddings and since I want a vintage chic wedding, I was excited to visit the shop. I called to ask about their hours while I would be in town in hopes that I could visit. Well, the owner basically did not want me to visit! She kept repeating that people only go there who are VERY serious, who know what they want, come in for a specific dress and just buy it. Uh. how do you know that’s NOT me? People looking for vintage wedding dresses are a very specific breed and there’s no reason to think that i would NOT have done that — in fact that was what I was planning on doing! I have been looking at vintage dress websites for ages and I was so excited about the possibility of trying on vintage dresses. I tried to tell her what era I was interested in and what types of dresses I was looking for, and tried to make an appointment, but she was basically not interested. She just kept repeating that she only wants serious people and only takes appointments and it takes a lot of time for her etc (and condescendingly asked me if I understood what «antique» meant) — even though i WAS serious — and didn’t even let me make an appointment! Maybe she gets a lot of phone calls from brides that aren’t serious, but what a turn off! Isn’t the whole point of vintage shopping the thrill of the hunt? You know basically what you’re looking for, you browse, then find something you like, and it’s magic?
I can’t believe that especially in this day and age, a small business owner would actively discourage/​refuse to make an appointment for a customer who would have potentially laid out thousands of dollars for a dress. Bad, bad customer service.