American Rebel

My go to spot for boots for the past couple of years! Staff is always friendly and the selection is huge. Definitely one of my favorite stores in LA.

Beautiful pieces, beautiful place. It can get pricey depending on the item, but everything is one-​of-​a-​kind. This is one of the cleanest vintage shops ever. No mustiness at all, but it still feels like a real treasure hunt. Got a very nice, multi-​colored patchwork leather jacket here.

This place is awesome. Like, mind-​blowingly awesome. I’ve wanted a pair of cowboy boots for the LONGEST time so I finally decided to make the purchase as a gift to myself. With extensive and thorough research (with help from Unilocal) for over a year, I had narrowed down a few places. American Rebel, at the time, was the number one listing to pop up. One day after work I took the drive to look for a pair of cowboy boots. Parking on Melrose is possible after 6 PM but because, in my honest opinion, the street is fast-​paced and narrow it’s impossible to easily nab a spot in front of the store. No worries, drive around the even more narrow residential streets for metered parking on a side street. I parked, maybe, two blocks away and took a nice stroll back to the business.
Inside…WOW. Blown away. It’s so cool! I didn’t catch the name of the person who greeted me (she was friendly, that I’ll give her) but I spotted the boots almost immediately and proceeded to go upstairs and get lost in the world of leather. I wanted a pair of black and authentic cowboy boots and boy, oh boy, do you get your wish on styles and looks. I picked out about three pairs that were well under $ 60 each. The only downfall? None were in my size, even rounded up to a whole size. Not giving up hope I looked at the brown selection of cowboy boots. It was like that pair and I were meant to be. Perfect fit, perfect distress, perfect all around. $ 35 too?! FATE.
While the cashier was with another customer I decided to look around at the clothing selections. I may not be the perfect size for their clothes but the selections are fantastic and gorgeous. Definitely worth scouring for the upcoming Halloween costumes.
I’m told that new selections are placed out on the weekends so that’s a bit of knowledge to keep tucked away. You’ll see me again.

I can’t for the life of me figure out why this place only has 3 ½ stars… Awesome selection with a wide range of classic vintage, modern consignment, and new items. The prices are really reasonable for the uniqueness and quality of what you’re getting and the sales associates were friendly and not pushy. I wish I had had time to dig through their giant selection of women’s jeans and jean shorts… another day, another day…

Francisco and Laura are awesome! They were patient, kind, and very helpful. Wound up getting a great red shirt for my wife.
I was also in the market for a leather jacket, and while I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, they helped me narrow things down.
We’ll be back.

I only give this place a three because first off I went and they had a sign on the door saying they would be back shortly… After I waited about 20 mins they came back and they do have a lot of stuff but that’s just it. A lot of it is thrift store quality bit not really consignment stuff. Really unique items if you are searching for that. No one helped me find anything or even ask how my day was. Overall I don’t see a reason to go back.

I really do love this store. I went in with my boyfriend and had been shopping and browsing and my boyfriend spotted a leather jacket, the pricing was expensive ($ 170) so we had decided to not purchase the item. Months later I wanted to buy the jacket. I wanted to call ahead of course, and everywhere i searched it had said the store, originally named «SLOW» had been permenantly closed, and the number had been disconnected. I was so upset, that I was in denial. I wanted that jacket, so I had gone in and found that they had only changed there name. Hmmm. I asked how long they held items, and to my disappointment, they only hold for that day then remove all held items, odd. Without the amount of money I had to go back in the following day. The next day I went in, and had finally after about 4 – 5 months I purchased the jacket.
Very hectic, but worth it in my case.

Best vintage store in LA by LA weekly in 2012 … As far this … is one of the best vintage stores in LA … Great selection … Reasonable prices according the style as the merchandise is in great condition … My favorite place … I strongly invite you to visit this location … A good treasure hunt to visit …

Love love love this place. First off, I love Melrose for shopping. Not the Beverly Hills area Melrose, those Richie Rich, la di da, let’s buy fancy brands because we are dead inside area of Melrose. I’m talking about the Melrose that starts; let’s say by Fairfax and Melrose and eastward– the grungy, the rock n roll, this isn’t the Beverly Center part.
There are tons and tons of vintage shops in the area, but Slow is a great for men’s and women’s treasure hunting. Unlike some vintage shops this one is very organized and everything is clean.
There are always a good selection of vintage t-​shirts, army gear, jean shorts, tie-​dye, jewelry, dresses, and tons of shoes and boots. My fiancé bought a pair of really nice black cowboy boots that were in great condition and only $ 65.
Plus there’s a little boutique area in the back with some other killer finds, think flowy dresses and hippy gear if you missed the 70’s and want to get your groove on. I don’t mean groove like, I am in any way suggesting your actually get it on like THAT back there, but I guess you could.
Every time I’ve been there the staff was laid back and cool, not pushy or the type that follows you around, asking constantly if they can help you or pushing merch on you. Shouldn’t miss Slow if you’re shopping on Melrose.

This was definitely the best of the handful of vintage places I visited on Melrose (I was pretty underwhelmed with a lot of the others).
There’s tons of stuff to look through, and it’s well organized by type of garment and color. The clothes seemed to be mostly from the ‘70s and ‘80s (plus some more recent stuff that they should probably weed out), but there were enough ‘50s and ‘60s gems tucked in there to keep me browsing. There’s some new clothing (leggings, cutoff shorts, etc.) toward the front.
I ended up getting a jade cashmere sweater with pretty neck buttons (maybe early ‘60s?). I think it was in the $ 25 – 30 range; quite reasonable by LA standards.
Worth a stop.
[ETA: I guess this place is now called «American Rebel»?]

Just wandered into SLOW today on a mission to find some 1970’s garb for a video. Their space is very nice, high ceilings, airy with an odd extra wing that was just for cowboy themed pieces. I wasn’t blown away by the selection but found the employee on duty very friendly and helpful. I didn’t feel like she was «watching» me like at some other stores, she genuinely wanted to help me shop, but not in a pushy way. This a «vintage» store, not a «thrift store» so nothing is a bargain and it might be a little on the pricey side. I got a very nice vintage leather belt with a simple but kind of western buckle for $ 18. They also had a vintage GAP leather belt for $ 14 which had a nice wear to the leather but at a thrift store you’d get it for $ 1. There were fancier vintage Western belts for $ 28 which seems expensive but if I was really on a mission for a nice Western belt that probably would be a great find. There were a lot of boots and vintage hats, I didn’t look too closely at the entire selection or prices but I’m giving this store 4 stars because of the nice space and the friendly attitude.

If you’re looking for a very specific type of vintage clothing — particularly if you’re looking for wardrobe from a certain era say, for a movie shoot — than this is the store for you. When it comes to Slow Clothing, as they say, one man’s trash is often another man’s treasure.

One of my fav places to shop… you can find vintage stuff here you cannot find anywhere else! Last time I was there I found an awesome 60’s belt to match my bell bottoms. love it.

Extremely overpriced!
Let’s face it, every store on Melrose is basically the same. You see the same hip as fuck shops and trendy boutiques. Is anyone original? No. All the shops copy off each other and SLOW is no exception.
I love this place but it has definitely changed and it’s getting to be ridiculously expensive. Walk across the street and you could find the exact same item for a fraction of the price.

The prices here are WAY expensive for what you’re getting. The quality is not so great, but they charge you outrageous prices! Maybe because they think they can get away with it by calling it vintage? Hmm…

Another one of my youthful haunts, but this place has SURE changed over the years.
When I first used to come here, it was just vintage clothes all over the place. Now there’s a mix of vintage and new and the prices seemed to have gone up.
This is another spot I usually go boot hunting at, and sometimes come up good, and sometimes not. The last pair I got here totally fell apart which bummed me out but it’s a risk and I took it.
The clothes are pretty solid but just aren’t my exact style to be fair. I do enjoy sifting here though anyway.

Slow, I Have been going there for years. It’s mixture of new and old since the last time I visited, and changed in somewhat yet recognizable.
You will find many nice things, from purses to clothing and footwear.

They don;t buy but they have a good collection of vintage boots. Sorted by color, they are a little expensive (around 40) but the conditions are pretty good.
Found these lengendary Minnetonka mid boots and Teal green cowboy pull ons.

3 stars because my boyfriend found a pair of boots and a jacket he loved here, and he hates to shop.
2 additional stars because I also was happy to discover that this section of Melrose is where all of the vintage shops are clustered, and that Slow carries quite a selection of women’s boots and super-​cute dresses, all very reasonably priced.

Wooohoo!!! Love the décor of this place!!!
So after our brunch, my friend and I meandered on Melrose to kill time. I was looking mainly for wedding accessories!
We happened to stumble across SLOW because they happened to have a garage sale of sorts going on outside the store. He spotted a tie he liked .for $ 1! =) We scrambled through the pile hoping to find another cool one. but did not find one.
The store itself is so well lit and organized. Loved the vintage clothes, accessories and shoes! I was tempted to get an 80’s prom dress and fix it up for the wedding. but decided against it… didn’t have enough time to do more crafts. I also wanted to get a pair of knee high blue boots… but they were not my size. Very decent prices though. The dress was $ 42… and I could definitely see someone fixing it up and reselling for much more.
I didn’t get to walk away with anything because I was pressed for time. But I would definitely come back here!