Eyewear Store Near Me on Washington Avenue, South Beach: Vintage Frames Company

Vintage Frames Company, at 601 Washington Ave in The Goodtime Hotel, sells never-worn designer frames from the 1950s to the 2000s, with a 1990s Dior pair listed at $800 and house-made frames from $125. The shop is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. It opens 11 am to 6 pm on Monday and Thursday to Saturday, and 11 am to 5 pm on Sunday, so plan your eyewear store near me search around those days.

The company's About page says that since 2008 it has traveled the world collecting what it calls the largest deadstock vintage eyewear archive, frames from the 1950s to the 2000s that were made, boxed and never sold. Deadstock is the key word. These are not secondhand glasses from an estate sale but original shop inventory, so hinges, lenses and finishes look the way they did when they left the factory.

Founder and creative director Corey Shapiro, a former fashion history student, built the business with the stated aim of creating a new lane for the optical industry. In 2018, the About page adds, the company began to design and produce its own frames. Its only other shop is in Montreal, and stockists include Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Holt Renfrew and Kith.

Miami Living magazine reported that the South Beach store opened on November 30, 2022, as the brand's first U.S. flagship. The company's own blog announced it on the hotel breezeway under the tagline Not Here for a Long Time, Just a Goodtime, a nod to its host. The design drew on Miami Vice and the Art Deco buildings of the district, so the room feels closer to a 1980s boutique than a clinic.

On local TV station WSVN in December 2022, Shapiro compared the store to walking into a high-end optical shop between 1992 and 1998 when you see the Jean Paul Gaultier and Dior pieces. He also likened buying a statement frame to buying a gold chain, except it goes on your face. His line about fitting is the one regulars remember: frames are not supposed to fit your face, they are supposed to fit your personality.

The online archive gives a clear idea of the range. A Dior 003 frame is listed at $800 and a Ferragamo 1085 at $600. A pair of Gucci GG 1188/S sunglasses and a Fendi SL7635 are both $450, and a Genny 756 is $275. Each archive piece is usually a single unit in a specific color, so if you see the right one in the shop, buy it that day.

WSVN singled out a few of the shop's showpieces: runway Pierre Cardin, Versace pieces of the kind Lady Gaga wears, and an extra-large style modeled on the sunglasses Robert De Niro wore in Casino. Ask the staff to open the vitrines rather than browsing only the wall. The most unusual frames are often kept behind glass and come out only when someone asks for a particular decade or designer.

The VF house frames are the easier entry point. WSVN reported that the vintage-inspired line started at $125, and the official shop lists the King Size Black Acetate frame at $200. Shapiro told the station that the house frames are made on original machinery, so the proportions match the old pieces in the archive. They come in heavy acetates and gold-tone metals that read clearly as 1980s and 1990s.

The FAQ covers both prescription and non-prescription lenses, and each lens is customized to the order, so a frame you like can be made into everyday glasses. Bring your current prescription, since there is no optometrist on site. Shapiro also noted on WSVN that the frames adjust to your eyes, which makes them more comfortable, a useful point for heavy vintage acetates that need to sit level.

Read the rules before you fall for an archive piece. The FAQ says all designer vintage archive products are sold as is and are final sale, and the one-year warranty on frames and lenses does not cover that section. House frames and lenses carry the one-year warranty against manufacturing defects. The FAQ also lists HSA and FSA cards at checkout, plus Apple Pay and 0% instalments through Sezzle.

The Tuesday and Wednesday closure catches visitors out, so build the trip around the other five days. A weekday opening at 11 am on Monday, Thursday or Friday gives you the most time before dinner, and Sunday closes earlier, at 5 pm. Allow at least half an hour, because the fun of the shop is trying on frames you would never pick from a photo online.

The shop sits on the ground floor of The Goodtime Hotel, where Washington Avenue meets Sixth Street, and the company's own announcement points visitors to its spot on the hotel breezeway. Come with a decade or a designer in mind, such as early 1990s Gaultier or 1980s Cazal, and the staff can pull matching pieces from the archive rather than leaving you to scan every shelf.

Start south at the Jewish Museum of Florida–FIU, at 301 Washington Ave, set in a 1936 synagogue designed by Henry Hohauser. Then walk north past the shop and continue to The Wolfsonian–FIU, at 1001 Washington Ave on the corner of 10th Street, a museum of design and propaganda from the late 19th and 20th centuries. Cut one block east to Ocean Drive for the Deco facades, then wear your new frames back down the beach side of the street toward the shop.

Address: Vintage Frames Company, The Goodtime Hotel, 601 Washington Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139. Email: miami@vintageframes.com. Hours: Monday 11 am to 6 pm, closed Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday to Saturday 11 am to 6 pm, Sunday 11 am to 5 pm. Archive prices: Dior 003 $800, Ferragamo 1085 $600, Gucci GG 1188/S $450, Genny 756 $275. House frames from $125. No eye exams on site.