Dreams come true at Midwest Vintage Flea

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I’m on assignment at Midwest Vintage Flea, but my friend, Curtis Feldner, is on the prowl. A fan of vintage clothes, he quickly scores a find at the flea market, inside the Garver Feed Mill.

“I thought this shirt only existed in my dreams, but here it is in your booth,” Curtis gushes to Ian Szymczak of Oubliette Vintage as he looks over a single-breasted, button down blue-and-black striped jacket with deep pockets. Curtis suspects it is a chef’s coat from the ‘80s. “I seriously thought I was going to have to learn to sew to make my vision come to life.”

We take a lap around the venue to scope out the best pieces. Curtis runs into his friend Addie, another vintage-lover. In recent years she has worked the event, but this year she is here to shop. Curtis tries on a long gray tunic with tassels, modeling it for feedback.

“If I am at a vintage show,” he says, “I want to find either actual vintage archive preserved pieces or handmade pieces.” He passes on the tunic. 

About 4,000 people came out May 13-14 to peruse the wares of more than 40 vendors at the flea market, according to Pete Benck, the event organizer and owner of Good Style Shop, Madison’s longest-running independent vintage clothing store. The store is actually a collection of independent vintage vendors. “I thought that Madison deserved a big-hearted, community-minded clothing store,” says Benck.

He started Midwest Vintage Flea in 2016 with eight vendors from a few states. “I wanted Madison, Wisconsin, to be known for vintage clothing,” he says. This year’s event drew five times the number of vendors from seven different states. 

When I arrive on Sunday morning, which also happens to be Mother’s Day, it’s overcast and drizzly. But the weather never really keeps anyone away, says Benck. “This is definitely an indoor sport.”

Rebecca Light, who sells vintage clothes out of the Good Style Shop under her brand Picture Day Vintage, has been at every Midwest Vintage Flea. She tells me about a customer who stopped by earlier in the day, immediately recognizing a Badger Bowl jacket with the name “Jerry” stitched on the front. The woman said the jacket belonged to her grandfather, Jerry, who once owned the now-closed bowling alley in Stoughton.

“She had tears in her eyes when she found this jacket,” Light says. “How much is that fate that you just found your grandfather’s jacket!”

“It’s so exciting to see people find that one item that really speaks to them,” Light adds. “Sometimes you see somebody and they grab an item and you know, of course this is the person that needed to have that.” 

The offerings at the flea market are diverse, with vendors carrying everything from modern vintage to ‘20s workwear. Benck says sometimes someone will find pieces of a two-piece set at different booths, or their old prom dress; they can tell it’s theirs from the smallest sentimental detail.

“There’s some treasure hidden in there somewhere,” one woman tells me after pointing out a pair of vintage riding boots. “If it’s for you, then it’ll call to you, and you might be able to take it home.” 

As I wrap up reporting, one piece does “call to me” and I nearly knock into a woman holding a gorgeous floral mesh corset. “Oh my gosh, that is so cute. What a good find!” I tell her, slightly jealous I hadn’t found it first. 

To my luck, the woman isn’t buying but selling — she was just about to add the corset back to the rack. 

I’ve been searching for a piece like this for quite some time, and now it is all mine. 

4,000

Number of people attending Midwest Vintage Flea 2023

40 

Vendors hand-selected to be featured at this year’s market 

20 years old

How old a piece has to be to be considered vintage 

100 years old 

How old a piece has to be to be considered antique

Two

Midwest Vintage Flea events a year (fall and spring)

Vintage fashion niches at Midwest Vintage Flea

Psychedelic-era clothing, midwestern kitsch, premium denim, Queer history T-shirts

Where to find Good Style Shop

817 E Johnson St. Madison, WI 53703