Step into a Dream at Seven Wonders Collective

office caught up with Blumberg after she decided to bring the magic to a new neighborhood by opening a brand new storefront in NYC’s Lower East Side, below.

When did you begin to take up an interest in vintage or secondhand clothing and what spurred it?

I started thrifting early in high school, or maybe middle school. I had a learning difference so I had to move from public to private school and that school had a uniform — khaki pants and polo shirts. I’ve only recently recovered. It’s taken me many, many years but I am finally able to wear tan pants. I always felt like an outsider at that school; getting home and changing out of my uniform was a big part of my day. I was obsessed with the movie Dazed and Confused and I started going to the thrift stores to try and find clothes from the 70s.

How would you describe your own personal style?

When I’m sourcing, I ask myself if it is unique, sexy, or stand-by. I have a kid now, so I do tend to wear more outfits on repeat than ever before. I need those go-to, basic, stand-by pieces that I can wear over and over. I usually change it up with my outerwear. I am very drawn to old, delicate things that clearly consumed a lot of someone’s time to create. Patchwork and embroidery — I am a sucker for you.

Your third location is now in Manhattan, while the others take up post in Brooklyn. Why did you decide to bring SWC to the Lower East Side? Does this neighborhood reflect your own personal style in any way?

Ever since I first visited Manhattan as a child walking around the LES, the style has always been inspiring. When I first moved to NYC in the late '00s, going out meant going to the LES. Shows at Pianos or drinks at Motorcity and shopping at this vintage shop on Delancey called Marmalade was what we did back then. I have always had the idea that having an establishment in Manhattan is big time, and I guess this year I was feeling big time! And if I was going to go for a space in Manhattan, to me, there was really no other neighborhood I was interested in.

Seven Wonders Collective is really a community. How do you choose the vendors to work with and sell in the shop and what does this community mean to you?

SWC is the most amazing community! I feel insanely blessed to work with all of the hard-working, vintage-obsessed vendors that have come to call these shops home. Everyone involved in the shop works together to make the stores the magical, treasure-filled, dreamlands that they are. Now that there are so many people asking to sell in the shop, I try and choose vendors who have the highest quality items and also have their own perspectives. The main reason I started a collective rather than another vintage store on my own is because I wanted the store to speak to as many people who walk in as possible. From doing the solo store thing, I learned that not everybody wants to wear the prints and funky '70s sets that I’m drawn to when I source. Having the collective, I can still buy the kinds of clothes I like for my rack and also have the more minimalist and maximalist bases covered on other vendors' racks. It’s also really much more fun to visit — even for me — because there is literally something, often it’s more like 20 new things, coming in every single day at each location.

What is your favorite vintage garment you have ever discovered?

I think I have two! My favorite garment I ever discovered and regret selling was a lavender crushed velvet Todd Oldham dress with insane beaded flowers all over the bust. My favorite garment I ever discovered and kept is this just perfect 1940s black corduroy jumpsuit with white contrast stitching. I would wear it out and the seam on the shoulder would rip at some point in my night and I would go home and sew it up. The next time I'd wear it out, the seam on my waist would rip, and then the next time the seam on the butt ripped. I kept ‘Frankensteining’ it back together for years and years. I'm almost back to my pre-pregnancy self and am excited to bring it back. It is very quiet but undeniably special.

What is your favorite part of owning a vintage retailer?

Seeing all of the amazing treasures our vendors find and then watching them find new homes and lives with our customers. Our customers are so cool! It’s amazing to see how they style everything after they bring it home.

If you were a vintage garment, which would you be and why? Would you be sparkly? What color would you be?

I think I would like to be a blouse some dreamy teenage girl made and embroidered with flowers in the early 1900s that was then hidden in the back of their closet for years and years until a great-great-grandchild found it and put it on. I would really want to embody the spirit that was built into the shirt. I think that’s what I’m always looking for when I go sourcing — the treasure someone couldn’t discard. I know I could choose to wear some fancy and beautiful designer dress, but the whole reason I got into this business was to discover lost and forgotten treasure and that’s really why I’m still here.

A lot of people don’t approach vintage shopping because they aren’t sure where to start. What is your best advice for beginners? How do you put together the ideal vintage look for you?

I think that beginners should start small. Follow their instincts. What about vintage is calling to them? I like vintage because you can find unique pieces. I know others are in it to find designer staples that they can wear for many years to come. For me, I try to stick with one attention-grabbing item and keep the rest simple. Fun cowboy boots or a bright Coogi sweater, but never the two together!