Blast From The Past

Say “vintage shopping” and you get visions of dank, musty old stores full of yesteryear’s castoffs − where finding anything good takes hours of digging.

That couldn’t be farther from the scene at the new Cloth boutique, which just opened Saturday.

Owner Micah Iaukea has done all the heavy sorting already, hunting down classic and funky dresses, tops and housewares to fill the shelves in her sleek charcoal and white space. She knows all the best estate sales, thrift stores and other secret spots (both here and on the mainland) to score the best vintage specimens. Check out the chocolate -colored shift dress she staked out and scored before it could be snapped up by a costume designer from the hit cable series Mad Men, known for its perfect replication of 50s-era high style.

The boutique also carries some new things, such as a line of locally handmade jewelry, and a few well-chosen handbags and belts, as well as vintage luggage, dishes, and men’s shirts and blazers, many with the original tags from their old-school Honolulu manufacturers.

This is one new friend who keeps the old.

Cloth, 909 Kapi‘olani Blvd., Honolulu, 808.597.9006. Check www.myspace.com/clothhawaii. The official website launches later this month: www.clothhawaii.com