Hype And Seek

Home to some of the best vintage threads to be found in Adelaide. Be sure to set aside some decent browsing time, because all their retro furniture, old-​school design pieces and thrifty classics like military style coats and plaid shirts will keep you busy.

I met the lovely Gen who runs this preloved haven. Decked in red and white walls with a forest themed wallpaper framing the walls, this store is not your regular op shop haunt.
There are neat racks boasting floral and vintage style dresses. The dress range are beautiful and so feminine. Some remind me of the styles of Somerset Bay and East India labels I used to wear in my mid teens. The shop is beautifully laid out with bags and satchels from yesteryear.
You’ll find hand picked bric a brac, homewares and I was drawn to a vintage German tile calendar by Braun. An absolute beauty, a shame it was way out of my budget.
Mad Men era or grandpa’s era furnitures are aplenty here, decorated in style to give you some idea of decorating at home. It’s a lovely place to come and be inspired and if budget permits you, to take home a piece of history home with you.
A must visit!

Adorable goodies of the old school variety, friendly staff and truly excellent wallpaper.
I for one am a huge fan of Queen Street in Croydon. It’s not that I’m particularly vintage in my tastes; I do collect the occasional piece for my home or my wardrobe — but it’s more the spirit and personality of the area than the items themselves that I’m a fan of.
Adelaide isn’t a huge city, and to have an area devoted to aesthetically analogous wares is a hard thing to do with a limited marketplace. But Queen Street has slowly cemented itself as just that. Need a Meet Me At Mike’s latest book? Or a vintage dress? Or a letterpress card? Queen Street is the place to go.
Hype & Seek is a perfect addition to the street, with a mishmash of retro treasures, from home wares and trinkets to fashion and accessories. A few gems that caught my eye on my last visit: ‘70s typewriter, round vintage glasses, Alexa Chung-​esque modified vintage dress, digital watches and a modular table.
I’ll take one of everything, thanks!

Some might say it’s stupid to buy yourself presents just before Christmas when you’re actually struggling to pay for all the presents you need to buy for other people. But if they saw the brown leather bag in this store I think they’d agree that it was completely necessary.
Are you in desperate need of a Glo Mesh Wallet? Or a hand painted condiment set? Me too! It’s all here!
This wacky little shop has sweet little treasures you will want to purchase and display in the high traffic areas of your home. They have cool art deco kitchen accessories and funky jewellery, and novelty items like vintage basketballs. I spoke to the lovely proprietor about the racks packed full of dresses and she explained that she hand-​picks the dresses, gets them bought in from Japan, and then alters them to make them modern and cool. Which explains why there are dresses in so many weird and wonderful materials.
The girly stuff like dresses and bags I found affordable, but the homewares were a little more pricey and might be for more ‘motivated’ buyers than my limited self.
I did buy a leather keyring with a horsy on it from this store, and I like to keep it in my pocket and stroke it every now and then. Bit weird? Definitely. But if you saw it you’d wish you’d got there first.

The original vintage shop on Elizabeth St Croydon which has grown and how. From humble beginnings — from across the road where Mushroom Boutique is now — Hype & Seek has certainly built itself a reputation for stocking anything and everything from a by gone era.
Clothes, furniture, pictures, prints, shoes, anything. A condensed garage sale of finds across Adelaide and beyond.
No website but they are on Facebook, which appears to be the way to go and surprise, surprise on ‘myspace’ — is this another revival? If it is those investors are going to be mighty pissed off when it didn’t take off all those years ago!
I still don’t get why ‘vintage’ is so expensive and no matter where I’ve looked ie Gumtree, E-​bay, etc it’s the same. As a friend of mine said ‘it’s cheap in England, so pricey here’…so are we being ripped off in that case? Whatever, you like it you buy it, I on the other hand still like to browse.