Lost Eras - Vintage Clothing | Antiques | Rentals | Jewelry — Local services in Rogers Park Township

Why the lowest rating? Because I don't like people who don't have character or EMPATHY. An acquaintance of mine once rented a furnished studio from Charlotte and she encouraged me to visit this antique shop to check to see if there were any available units available for me to rent. I called Charlotte's son a year ago and he encouraged me to stop by...so I did and ended up purchasing 2 vintage coats and a shrug. On one instance I had placed a piece on lay away but my coat had been misplaced and they couldn't find my physical proof of purchase in their filing system. Fortunately for me I have a photographic memory because the owner was going to attempt to overcharge me. We decided on the remainder portion of what I owed and I mentioned I was still in deep need of an apartment but she stated her unit hadn't been fixed after her friend died of cancer there. I mentioned I had two separate storage fees I pay and renting from her would be of help to me to alleviate my high costs each month. She suggested I sell all my antiques to her; but that's not the answer I wanted to hear nor an option for me. One of my coats i purchased has a button that now must be repaired and the shrug was a poor purchasing decision I made because it's in poor condition. Nothing there is stored properly so you may end up buying an article of clothing with flaws or micro tears in the fabric if you aren't careful. I haven't been back to make any new purchases because I can get much higher quality elsewhere in the city. My word of advice to anyone is if you intend to put any item on layaway keep your receipts and don't wait too long to finish your payment plan because they are disorganized and indifferent here. If you find a piece you absolutely love look for rips, flaws in the lining and other issues so you can renegotiate the price. She purchases everything from estate sales then she marks the price up so look out for your own interests here. I wish to also add one more piece of information. When you take time to browse you may end up finding objects that are unlabeled so Charlotte will give you a price depending upon her own discernment so if she isn't present physically in the store you may need to wait around longer than you originally intended. I don't think it's a good store policy for any private business owner not to clearly label items with a price. You might definitely find something you love here but be prepared to find out it may not be labeled with a price. I stopped coming here once my coat fell apart on me. I'm actually going to end up spending extra money now hiring a tailer to make repairs. I now purchase vintage items on ebay or etsy because the sellers back up their merchandise. I also found better antique shops in the Wicker park area so there is no compelling need for me to visit Lost Eras but they do have costumes for rent. You may wish to take photographs of the costume you rent to prove that you didn't damage the piece before returning it here if you don't wish to incur additional cleaning fees. I was also contacted by the owner's daughter in law after writing this review and I didn't appreciate her insinuations that these events didn't happen to me. They did misplace an item I had on hold and most definitely misplaced my receipt for what I had already paid for but it was resolved after 40 minutes was spent looking for the tiny coat which was stressful. There are objects here without pricing and I had made it well known how badly I needed a studio to rent. I left with a bad taste in my mouth and no longer encourage people to come here. I can't recommend any store that treats...

This would be a great store if was not for the fact that it looks like nothing has been cleaned in years. They have a few nice antiques but everything else looks like it came right out of an alley. There is a costume shop in the store that is awful. Again nothing seems clean. You can smell the BO coming off the unwashed clothes, and everything in the basement is covered in mold. The worst part about this store is the employees. The manager and maybe owner is a middle age blonde woman that does nothing but yell and scream at costumers that want to haggle or ask about a price. (Another thing is almost nothing in the store is priced.) Not to mention she looks like she's on some type of pills. The other employees look like harden criminals, one of which has a tear drop tattoo on his face.

The thing that got me the most, and made me leave the store, was that in the 30 minutes I looked around at least 4 homeless people came in with items to sell. Things that looked like they came right out of a dumpster. She bought everything that came in for a few dollars, slapped a price tag on them, and put them out on the floor with out even whipping them down for good measure. I was interested in one of the items brought in but it had days of dried nastiness all over it. This is the only store in the Chicago area that will make you need to take a shower...

I'm a vintage picker and dealer that's been to shops in Portland, Seattle, Charleston, Atlanta, Boston, and other cities, and I have NEVER seen a more impressive collection of vintage clothing in my life. Everyone in the shop is incredibly nice and give you room to dig and shop. The basement...well, you aren't ready!!! You'd need a whole day to go through it. Alfred Shaheen, Betty Barclay, Pendleton...just WOW. Four hours and I barely scratched the surface. I think it's important to note if your vintage experience has been the more curated boutiques, upstairs is more your style. This is also not a thrift store.

If you're used to picking and digging in dusty houses and estate sales where you're used to the smell of old clothes, the basement is solid gold. I think it's also important to note the clothing ranges from the 40s to the 80s, meaning stuff has been stored away for four to eight decades. Things get moth holes, tears, stains, etc. Just get some woolite or take it to a dry cleaner. Even with that said, most everything was in great shape. I can understand why other reviewers might not be used to that (I wasn't in the beginning either).

Thank you for the most exciting deep dive into decades of clothing. Shopping here was an absolute pleasure. I can't wait...