Kingston Kween

On the hunt for vintage, modified and recycled duds? Dig deep and take a stroll down Kingston Avenue. Kingston Avenue Vintage (KAV) that is.

It's not quite a household name, yet. Scouring estate sales, garage sales and closets all across the country, Cindy Pollack pulls together an immaculate array of vintage digs. This Kingston Kween, as she calls herself on her website, has had the gift of garb for over 20 years.

Roadtripping to New York, living in a van across Europe and a three-year run in Mexico has given Pollack a world view she carries with her today. Bringing culturally unique art to her hometown is what gets her going.

In the 1980s, Pollack opened a boutique, Esparanza's on Cherry Street, which later moved to Brookside. The shop specialized in Mexican fashion and folklore.

After a successful run at both locations, Esparanza's closed its doors and Kingston Avenue Vintage came to be.

"Times where tough and I needed money," said Pollack. "So why not continue doing what I love."

Finding a beautiful vintage piece is a better high than any drug, said Pollack. Her love for all things vintage is what inspired her to start up Kingston Avenue Vintage five years ago. Not only was the shop a subject matter change, but it involved a switch-up in venues, too.

"I decided to do an online boutique so I could be accessible to everyone, all the time," said Pollack.

Her one-of-a-kind finds are only available online, but don't fret when you find something on her site you can't live without. In addition to traditional shipping, Pollack said she could also arrange to meet you with your new vintage piece in hand, as long as it's in the Tulsa area.

Kingston started out selling furniture, wall art and clothing but packaging fixtures and chunky artwork got a little taxing. Pollack decided to stick with clothing and accessories -- just as beautiful and much easier to ship.

"My passion is the hunt," said Pollack. "There is nothing better than digging through those racks and closets and finding beautiful clothes from the past."

Traveling the world and seeing different cultural styles has opened Pollack's eyes to see things as they are on their own and together.

"I'm a Gap girl myself so I sometimes amaze myself on what I can put together," she said.

You won't see Pollack wearing her cute and funky finds, though. "I really just admire their beauty," Pollack said.

Kingston Avenue is a one-woman show. Pollack finds the clothes and the models, designs the outfits, takes the pictures, posts them to her website and handles shipping duties.

Pollack's eBay store is stocked with cute vintage threads that span a hundred years of fashion. She's got men's and women's clothes that can be traced across the 20th century. "I'll sell anything as long as they're beautiful," she said.

If it's cute and stylish, she has it.

Kingston Avenue keeps up with the latest trends. Even though the clothes are old, they need not look that way. Mixing old with new is chic, and Kingston Avenue is a one-stop shop to do it.

Pollack is planning for the future and one day hopes to operate in a warehouse. Not the normal boutique setting but a warehouse, complete with a photography set-up, and a once-a-month opening where eager shoppers can browse the latest finds. Along with some live music, it'd be the perfect place for a fashion show, which Pollack has in the works, too.

Kingston Avenue is here to help you and your closet in more ways than one. "I buy, sell, trade and consign your wardrobe," Pollack said. "My goal is to re-circulate your vintage and designer wardrobe to the world. Purge then come back and splurge at Kingston Avenue Vintage!"

Do a little early spring cleaning, dig through the family closets and let Pollack help you add a little vintage fun to your wardrobe.

Check out her one-of-a-kind finds at KingstonAvenueVintage.com.