San Antonio's already limited options for vintage menswear are becoming even scarcer with the upcoming closure of the East Side's Dropout Vintage. After three years of selling denim and retro T-shirts at 125 Lamar St., the shop announced it would close down shop on July 30.
"After three amazing years at this location, we are sad to announce that this is our last month open," wrote the owners in an Instagram post. "We want to first thank everyone who has been a part of Dropout from the bottom of our hearts. It has been a surreal experience that we would not trade for the world. We will be taking a break from the store for the foreseeable future."
After staging a series of successful pop-ups in San Antonio, founders Ike Russell and Travis Ratterree debuted Dropout in August 2022 with an aesthetic that combined latchkey kid nostalgia with Gen Z insouciance. The shop's impressive array of 1980s to 2000s T-shirts covered almost every aspect of the early internet culture, from one-hit wonders like O-Town to the M.C. Escher prints once stocked at Spencer's Gifts.
Dropout Vintage was known for its curated selection of pop culture t-shirts.Dropout Vintage/ Instagram
Recently, the team started reworking vintage pieces with patches, hardware, and top stitching. The one-of-a-kind garments were a halfway point between the DIY ethos of punk and the folksy craft of cult New York brand Bode.
Dropout will go out in style with one last vintage pop-up market in front of their store at the One Two Five Lamar shopping center. The market, held from noon-6 pm on July 26, is planned as a tribute to the store and "the community they helped build."
The vintage store is the latest tenant to leave the strip, once home to some of San Antonio's hippest concepts. Wine bar and cafe Scorpion, along with sibling shop Temple of Offering, shuttered in summer 2023. The San Antonio outpost of Driftwood brewery Vista Brewing, and the retail outlet of haute plant shop Tillage both closed in 2024.
