When I was a student living in Boston, I would always be on the lookout for bargains. A favorite activity entailed making the trek to Cambridge to score some great local thrift store finds at an unassuming old textile building called the Garment District. My friends and I would dig through a pile of secondhand clothes and fill our bags with bargain treasures that we would purchase for only a few dollars. Fast forward to 2024; I am now the parent of a thrifty teen and the Garment District is still going strong. A trip here was calling our names!

I hadn’t been back to the Garment District in many years, and I was excited to see if it had stayed the same as I had remembered it. This simple outdoor sign was the only clue leading to the bargains hidden inside.

My daughter and I entered the building and discovered a whimsically decorated interior full of vintage decorations and colorful walls. We decided to start our shopping on the ground floor.

I was so happy to see the store still had the pay-by-the pound-shopping. While the cost is now $2 per pound of clothes, it is still a great deal. We wasted no time digging into the massive pile of clothes that were scattered all over the warehouse floor.

We rifled through, shirts, dresses, pants, ties, Halloween costumes, and children’s items and ended up with some pretty great finds. As the bag got fuller, I wondered how difficult it would be to carry it back to our hotel across town.

I made a mental note to myself to stay at the nearby Residence Inn by Marriott Boston Cambridge during our next visit.

We whittled down our purchases, doused ourselves in hand sanitizer (I honestly don’t know how we ever lived without this stuff), and headed to the cash register for the moment of truth. I hoisted the bulging bag onto the scale and watched in amazement as it weighed in at 7.8 pounds. The price ended up being $15.60. What a steal!

The cashier tagged our bag and stored it behind the counter. My daughter and I headed upstairs to check out some more bargains.

As we rounded the corner at the top of the stairs, we were met with rack after rack of clothing of every sort. There were concert t-shirts, flannels, overalls, dresses, jeans, and shirts. We also discovered numerous displays of jewelry, handbags, hats, sunglasses, and shoes. While most of these were secondhand items, there were also some brand-new finds.

There were also tons of vintage items from the '80s and '90s as well as a great assortment of costumes and accessories. The Garment Store building also houses “Boston Costumes,” a quality costume rental and retail shop full of wigs, theatrical-style costumes, and makeup.

I am definitely visiting again prior to Halloween!

My daughter and I ended up spending several hours thrifting that day. In addition to our 7.8 pounds of downstairs finds, we ended up with several more steals from upstairs.

We left the store without breaking the bank and made the journey back to the hotel with armfuls of new treasures.

Have you visited the Garment District? Do you have another favorite local thrift store? You can find out information about this unique store on the Garment District's website and the Garment District's Facebook page. I can tell you that after all that shopping, you will probably be hungry. The Miracle of Science Bar + Grill is a science-themed restaurant just a short walk from the thrift store.

For more great thrift store finds, hop in the car and take this savvy Massachusetts thrift store road trip.