I’m the first to get up if someone says let’s go shopping. It’s a true *passion* of mine, I love exploring new textures, observing the way people put their shops together, and exploring treasures from faraway places ✨ It’s just pure bliss, so why wouldn’t I write a blog all about the best shopping in Oaxaca?!
Shopping anywhere makes me happy, and if I can find the best vintage sweater ever, the coolest glass blown shot glasses or a dress I’ll never take off… I know I’m in the right place!
Any time I travel, I’m looking for the antique stores, the second-hand stores and the markets. Whether it’s Frenchies in Halifax, El Baratillo en Guadalajara, or l-train in Brooklyn, I can honestly say that Oaxaca was one of the best places for shopping.
Here are some of the things I got!
I love shopping as much as the next person but what I love even more is thrift shopping. For those who aren’t familiar with thrift shopping its the act of buying things that are preowned and likely preloved. I have found some of my favorite items ever from thrift shopping and something that really makes it special is that you likely won’t see someone else wearing it.
What’s the difference between antique and vintage?
- Vintage: Vintage items are generally at least 20 years old, but less than 100 years old. They’re often considered classic pieces and can include clothing, accessories, furniture, and more. Since many people hold onto things for decades, vintage items are usually fairly easy to find.
- Antique: An antique is typically defined as anything 100 years old or older. This can include furniture, clothing, décor, architectural materials, and more. Antiques are often valued for their age, rarity, craftsmanship, and historical significance.
- Secondhand: Secondhand simply means an item was previously owned by someone else. There’s no age requirement — it could be something used once yesterday, or something passed down for years.
- Thrift: Thrift usually refers to items that are affordable or budget-friendly, whether they’re new or pre-owned. Pop culture often uses “thrift” as another word for secondhand, but technically, thrift just means low-cost.
These terms overlap sometimes, but knowing the differences makes it much easier to shop intentionally — especially when buying pre-loved pieces.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I will let you know that I did everything from thrift to antique shopping in Oaxaca. There is SO MUCH to explore, and I am so glad that we spent a good amount of time doing this. Many of the stores were within the city center and not too far from one another. Here is a list of all the places we went, along with some photos of what we found.
The Best Secondhand Clothing Stores in Oaxaca
- Juana La Vintage: This place was amazing! Unique finds, very particularly curated, and I’m pretty sure they have more than one location. The owner was an absolute cutie and so helpful!
- Sobre Ruedas Vintage Store: Maybe my favourite stop. This store wasn’t huge, but it had SO MANY great finds. Honestly, there is one shirt that Giuliana got here that she wears weekly. It was just filled with great finds for even better prices.
- Antigüedades Oaxaca: A VERY cool place on a very unassuming street. This spot was pretty central, but for some reason just felt so hidden. It was amazing, there were so many things in this store, really odd and random stuff, but so cute! We got a lot of funky little trinkets here.
- Vikers Vintage/Thrift shop: This spot I think, had two locations as well and a lot of trendy, funky finds. Kind of one of those shops that you’ll definitely find something you like, but maybe not that you need? I don’t think I left here with anything, but they had A LOT of things for the small space they occupied. I think there’s a pretty cute bakery around the corner that we loved.
- Añorarte:This spot was cute, the vibe was interesting cause it felt like you were walking into someone’s home. There were clothes and homemade crafts, which were great.
Markets in Oaxaca
I hope you didn’t think I was going to leave out markets!! I touched on them briefly in my other post about things to do in Oaxaca, but I can go into more details here. There are so many markets in Oaxaca. We went to about three or four of them and really never felt like it sucked. Trutthfully, sometimes you go to a market hoping to cash out, and there is nothing good – this city really delivers on their markets.
Tips for Visiting Oaxaca Markets
My tips for a long day of market shopping!
- Reserve a full Sunday
- Don’t go hungry
- Use a fanny pack
What to buy in Oaxaca
Literally anything and everything. Some of these stores had the most random items. We got records, coasters, jackets, pants, and so much more.
Best Shopping in Oaxaca
I am going to break down just some of the places you can check out. When I tell you that Oaxaca City is large, I really mean it. There is so much to do besides shopping as well. If you are curious about some fun tourist activities, make sure you check out my blog about what to do in Oaxaca City.
Oaxaca clothing stores
Honestly wow. The clothing that makes its way to Oaxaca is honestly amazing. I love thrift shopping around the world, and this was one of my favourites ever. I really had this idea that Oaxaca City was going to be all about the art and culture, but for some reason I didn’t anticipate there to be so many clothing shops (secondhand at that!)
The prices are reasonable, the finds are unique, and we found some of our favourite pieces to this day. We found some stellar pieces.