handpicked

Bridgehampton's Best Vintage out of the closet

Racks of designer vintage gowns make for great browsing.

Anne and Amanda Hearst at the opening party for the store's adjacent studio, Photo Op, on September 29.

Out of the Closet partners Lucy Martin and Ruth Chernaik don't love it when customers come to shop for Halloween costumes. It completely misses the point of their stellar vintage boutique, which has rooms bursting with perfectly preserved clothes and accessories purchased from antique dealers and estate sales around the world. They specialize in men's and women's clothing and accessories from Victorian times through the 1970s, featuring a lot of Chanel and Pucci designs (including fantastic vintage sunglasses). These are not the wares of one big party night. They are to be treasured-and treasures don't come cheap. There's a seamstress on the premises to make sure every seam, button, and hem is perfectly in place or to make special adjustments on request. They also run an adjacent photo studio, Photo Op, for local stylists and photographers to rent the pieces on sale. Last month, Anne and Amanda Hearst hosted the studio's opening. Their fashionable celebrity clients include Sarah Jessica Parker, Richard Gere, Renée Zellweger, and Helena Christensen.

A showcase laden with one-of-a-kind pieces of vintage jewelry.

"I often buy with a certain customer in mind," says Lucy, who has been a longtime vintage collector. Ruth's background is in antiques. They used to own separate shops in Sag Habor, but decided to join forces and move into a large duplex store with a front yard in Bridgehampton about five years ago. Their biggest complaint besides people shopping for cheap Halloween costumes? Tight-lipped devotees. "Sometimes people don't want to share a terrific find," says Lucy. "Often people tell white lies, like that something they bought here belonged to their famous Great Aunt Bessie who was a Broadway star."