It’s been 20 years since besties Angie Gavin and Kate Schultz started slinging vintage together, buying and selling for antique shops, auction houses, and estate liquidators. That ultimately led to their own Hampden shop, Milk and Ice Vintage.

When the store closed in 2020, vintage fans were dismayed. But good news! The Great Pause of 2020 allowed the pair to reevaluate their small business and, this summer, Gavin and Schultz opened a new shop in Lauraville, with a new look and a new sense of purpose.

“We both live here and felt it would streamline our business to find a location with a studio for processing, photographing, and prepping vintage, plus a retail space—it’d give us that much-needed work-life balance,” Gavin says.

Gavin and Schultz have spent over a year designing the new store from the ground up. Painted with black ceilings, black walls, and custom industrial rolling racks full of curated vintage, the space has lots of flexibility.

“Our business is [now] organized in a way that allows us more freedom to explore the creative side of vintage,” says Gavin. “We felt the best way for us to grow was to pivot,” adds Schultz.

The store can also function as a community space for what they hope might be themed dinner parties and lectures on art or fashion.

So what should vintage customers expect?

“We want folks to be able to shop for more approachable vintage, staple pieces you pull out every season and have stood the test of time,” says Schultz. Think pre-war cocktail dresses, soft T-shirts of the 1970s, and 1990s must-haves. But fear not, since Gavin and Schultz’s personal styles lean toward historical pieces, their trove also includes collectibles from the Edwardian and Victorian eras.

“Life is just too short not to wear that crazy garment that speaks to you in a surprisingly loud way,” Gavin says. “Let’s push for the trend of throwing fast fashion in the trash can and splurging on something that really makes us feel seen and heard.”

In keeping with that sentiment, the ladies from Milk and Ice are Halloween connoisseurs—and if you’re ready to ditch Party City once and for all, they’re your girls. Stumped on ideas? Here are a few straight from the source:

Icon: Odd Nerdrum, classical painter
You’ll Need: White antique smocked nightgown, a heavy jacket or cloak hung loosely over shoulders, a floppy hat, 1920s wire-framed circle glasses, and a paintbrush.

Icon: Olivia Newton-John
You’ll Need: A ’90s tube top, ’80s peg-leg high-waisted jeans or leggings, clasp belt, a cropped leather jacket, high heels, cigarette (for effect).

For even more inspo, look no further than the Milk & Ice Instagram feed:

Halloween is our annual opportunity to step outside of our normal selves and embody someone (or something) else for a night of revelry. Whether you’re aiming for spooky, silly, or sexy, we’re of the mindset that the best place to source your best festive look isn’t Amazon or Party City. If you’re willing to dig a little deeper, vintage shops are a treasure trove of inspiration and unique pieces that will bring any look to life. We asked local vintage mavens to put together costumes pulled from their racks and give us hot tips on shopping used for a memorable look.

“A costume doesn’t have to be blatantly obvious—explaining the gist of your idea to people can be half the fun,” says Sara Autrey of new Charles Village vintage mecca Get Shredded Vintage. Autrey’s “Eccentric Yacht Couple” couples’ costume, is the perfect example of that sentiment. On their own, each of the pieces can be worn in normal life for an on-trend nautical look or worn all together, with a sprinkle of wanderlust attitude, the costume comes to life.

Looking to party hard this All Hallows Eve? The Halloween queens at Milk and Ice Vintage have you covered. “Don’t hesitate to ask the owners at a vintage store if they have any ‘wounded birds,’ meaning cool vintage that’s not for sale because it’s flawed in some way,” says Kate Thomas, who co-owns the store with Angie Gavin. “You can often get super rare and more interesting one-of-a-kind pieces at a discount, and you don’t have to worry about damaging them if you’re out partying!”

Once you’ve got the basics of your holiday ‘fit picked out, the last piece of the puzzle to a successful costume is all in the attitude. “The key to pulling off a DIY costume is going all out,” says Morissa Rothman-Pierce of Bottle of Bread. “Go the extra mile and paint your face. Roll around in a pile of dirt if you’re being Pigpen. Just go wild, because Halloween is an excuse to be your wildest self.”

We asked our favorite vintage owners from Get Shredded, Keepers Vintage, Bottle of Bread, and Milk and Ice to style (and model!) some of the best potential Halloween looks in their stores.

Do you think people are intimidated to try a DIY costume?
AG: Sometimes I feel like people just don’t think about it. But that’s what we are here for. We want to walk with you on this journey.

KT: We take people to a different level of costume. It’s not just going to a Halloween store and finding a pre-made “sexy” Raggedy Ann thing. You can come here and get an actual red and white gingham house dress and possibly even wear it again. You can get a cape and be so many different characters, but then you can wear a cape for winter.

There is nothing worse than “sexy _________” costumes.
AG: Yeah, we are so not into that. We find it funny when we are like, ‘I’ll be this gross thing.’ And maybe that is a confidence thing, but don’t be afraid to be something different. Like if you are a dude and you want to do a tight shave on your head and be Eleven from Stranger Things, you should go for it.

KT: In some cases, you gain confidence after you have everything on. I mean, I was dressed as Doc Brown yesterday from Back to the Future and, as soon as I had it all on I was like, ‘Man, I look fucking cool.’ And it wasn’t exactly what he looked like, but we made it work with everything that we had.

What is the key piece or item to pull off a DIY costume?
AG: We always say that accessories are really important. If you don’t have the exact outfit or color that the character wears, you can still pull it off with accessories. Like if you are being Jackie Kennedy Onassis, you don’t have to have a ’60s pink two-piece suit, you can wear a blue one. But get the pill box hat, gloves, pearls, and all the little things that are nuance-y. Wigs and makeup can help a lot, too. We always tell people for $20 you can do a head-to-toe look in our shop and then spend the rest of your money on a wig and/or makeup from a specialty or Halloween store.

What is your favorite costume you’ve put together in the store?
AG: I think Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding was pretty funny because it really was random. We found these ‘60s leotards and of course we didn’t have ice skates or anything but I think the angle worked.

KT: That one was really fun because it was so random and we were like, “Huh, we have these leotards, what are we going to do?” And then we had to research to characters to make sure Tonya was the one with the baton.

What are you being for Halloween this year?
AG: After doing this now for three years, we always end up doing something avant-garde and really out there for our personal costumes because we have all month to think about it. If we have funny things that we have ideas about we get that creativity out through the month of October for the store.

KT: Last year we were the sun and the moon, but it was very ’30s style. We had pin curls, gowns, and big headpieces.

I’ve noticed you guys also do amazing Halloween window displays each year. How do you come up with the theme for the windows?
AG: This year we did Stranger Things, which kind of caters to vintage. We felt like we had to do it. The timing was so perfect.

KT: Our first year we did witches and they were all in crazy vintage black gowns. Last year we did Carrie with a mannequin in a vintage prom dress, and then someone pulling the cord to pour the bucket of blood, which was actually metallic streamers, onto her head.

How did you get the name for your boutique?
AG: Milk and Ice is because we both grew up loving milk with ice, specifically with pasta. We found out that a lot of people don’t like it, but we thought the name was just very us.

Do you have a go-to saying or motto?
AG and KT: “Work smarter not harder.”
AG: It’s kind of “dad-ish.”
KT: We really do work smarter, not harder, though. I mean, we work pretty damn hard.
AG: But we’re learning.

No outfit is complete without . . .
KT: A jean jacket. All year round, it really completes an outfit.
AG: If you don’t wear it, at least have one in your car.

What are your current favorite and least favorite trends?
AG: We’re both kind of tomboys so when that starts to become popular, which we’ve been seeing lately, it’s easier and very comfortable for us to embrace that.
KT: And it shows no limits for women. We don’t have to wear dresses and stuff to feel confident. We can wear jeans and T-shirts and feel good. My least favorite: It’s got to be a mini-backpack.
AG: Yes! A clutch is a much more chic way to have a small purse.

Our top picks:
Lumberjack plaid puffy vest ($21); Patty Boyd dress ($65); Bow pins ($5/each).