The shop

Sanford & Kid

A storefront on Houghton Street in North Adams, Massachusetts, dealing in vintage dresses and antique-style jewellery. This page explains who we are and how we describe what we sell.

What we keep

The stock divides in two. On the rails are day and evening dresses cut in the shapes that ran from the war years through the late sixties — swing skirts with the waist taken in, cotton sundresses, lace collars, chiffon and tulle for parties. In the glass case sit rings, pendants and charm bracelets worked in the Victorian, Art Nouveau and Art Deco manner: openwork, old-cut stones, bows and crescents and clovers.

Both halves are catalogued the same way. Every piece carries the era it belongs to and the material it is made from, and those two tags follow it through the site so you can walk the shop by decade rather than by guesswork.

How we describe things

This matters enough to say plainly. The jewellery we sell is reproduction. It is made in the antique manner, and it is beautiful, but it is not dug out of an estate sale. The metal carries a plated gold or silver tone finish and the stones are simulated or lab-created. Every jewellery listing says so in its own description, and the prices reflect it — a genuine Victorian gold ring with a mined diamond does not sell for thirty dollars, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

The dresses are reproductions of period cuts, made in modern fabrics and modern sizing, so that they fit and wash like clothes you can actually wear. Fibre content, closure type and care instructions are listed on each product page.

If any description on this site is unclear or looks wrong to you, write to Support@sanfordkid.com and we will correct it. We would rather fix a page than argue about it later.

Buying from the other side of a screen

The hardest thing about selling clothes online is that you cannot hold them. So: colour is photographed under daylight, not staged lighting, and the photographs are the honest record of the piece — a screen will still shift a shade or two. Measurements are taken by hand and can move a centimetre either way.

If a hem length, a clasp, a lining or a specific measurement is going to decide the purchase, call the shop on (413) 663-7489 while we are open and somebody will take the piece off the rail and check for you.

Coming in person

The shop is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, ten until five, and closed Monday through Thursday. We are a short walk from MASS MoCA, which is the reason most people find us in the first place. Online orders can be collected in person during opening hours if you would rather not pay for postage — mention it in the order notes.