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"  We love a good vintage shop and the hidden gems they house. But whether or not you&amp;#039;re just graduating from college and are on the hunt for your dream job, or just a girl in the world looking to amp up her wardrobe with a few day-to-night pieces, we all need a little guidance when it comes to shopping vintage. So, we called up Shareen Mitchell of Shareen Vintage in NYC, LA, and West Hollywood to give us the skinny on what separates to scoop up that will last a lifetime. &amp;quot;There are certain eras that are more professional and some that are more fashionable, so it depends on what you&amp;#039;re looking for,&amp;quot; says Mitchell. &amp;quot;But there&amp;#039;s no reason to spend a lot of money on a blazer or jacket, like a navy boy blazer that you can wear with a skinny jean or pencil skirt.&amp;quot; Other pieces Mitchell recommends picking up at a vinage boutique are a classic sheath, pencil skirt, tweed blazer, high-waist pant, cashmere or wool sweaters or cardigans (they&amp;#039;re a great find and they&amp;#039;re useful forever, she says), denim jumpsuits or dresses and high-waist jeans. &amp;quot;Pencil dresses are also very sharp and powerful, like the ones Joan wears on Mad Men. They&amp;#039;re a good work choice\u2014especially because they make you feel professional, but give you a sense of identity since you won&amp;#039;t look like everyone else.&amp;quot; Actually, that&amp;#039;s why vintage pieces are amazing in Mitchell&amp;#039;s opinion, since the younger generation is all about originality and expression without giving a sh*t about what anyone says. &amp;quot;And dressing in a way that is different and buying a dress that no one else can get or probably has, is a way of showing that you&amp;#039;re unique\u2014even in the work place.&amp;quot; Here&amp;#039;s how the shopping experience at Shareen transpires: &amp;quot;When a young woman comes into our shop that hasn&amp;#039;t shopped vintage before, we start her out in the late &amp;#039;70s,&amp;quot; she explains. &amp;quot;The waist that came out during that time works on everyone because it&amp;#039;s elastic, and the rest of the cut includes a V-neck, cap sleeve, and A-line skirt. It&amp;#039;s essentially a fit-and-flare and looks cute/sexy on everyone.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;But I always tell my clients to not be limited in the way they look at vintage. You can hem pants or a dress, take off the sleeves, and update a &amp;#039;60s [or whatever era] look to appear more modern. It&amp;#039;s also important that they pay attention to what&amp;#039;s going on on the runway, and then apply that to what you see in the vintage store. For example, midi dresses are hot for spring and summer and I carry a ton of them that are work appropriate, yet they look like no other style you&amp;#039;d see in a department store.&amp;quot; Mitchell also told Cosmo that any vintage LBD is perfect. And if the skirt is boxier than you&amp;#039;d like, you can take it in. &amp;quot;Little black dresses are classic and the fastest way to update them is to slim it down and take it in,&amp;quot; she says. Another snippet of vintage wisdom from Mitchell: &amp;quot;There are a ton of prints that you&amp;#039;ll find in vintage shops that came out of the &amp;#039;70s and &amp;#039;80s. These aren&amp;#039;t the power dressing frocks with shoulder pads, they&amp;#039;re the kinds of dresses that you can pair with a wedge and wear from day to night.&amp;quot; We&amp;#039;ll take five of those, please! But the one point that Mitchell wanted to drive home about vintage shopping is that it doesn&amp;#039;t have to cost an arm and a leg. Shops like hers have reasonably-priced separates that are uncommon and will set you apart from your co-worker in that big meeting or make you stand out in a crowded bar. Bottom line: Give vintage shopping a go. We promise you&amp;#039;ll thank us later.  Photo: flickr.com/photos/curiousexpeditions Follow Carly Cardellino on Facebook and Twitter. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/fashion/news/a13067/how-to-shop-vintage/>