Vintage Whidbey: Market offers second-hand glamor
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, April 7, 2026
There is something addicting about shopping secondhand, as any of Whidbey’s vintage curators will tell you. Don’t worry, they could stop any time.
On April 18 and 19 at the Coupeville Rec Hall, Dina Koehn, owner of Dina’s Great Finds in Oak Harbor, is hosting a vintage market featuring vendors bearing glamorous garb, one-of-a-kind antiques and oodles of other treasures. A myriad of reasons exist to shop secondhand, and the upcoming market — Koehn’s fourth — will satisfy any and all cravings for vintage.
“Part of it scratches that itch of the buying, the selling, the dopamine rush of seeing everything,” Koehn said. “It’s about, you know, the recycle, the repurposing and giving these old things new life. And doing that with people who really care about that, and don’t mind things with a little bit of scuff or have a story to them.”
Whidbey’s vibrant vintage scene, Koehn explained, enjoys “no shortage” of treasures given the large population of retirees and military personnel. The latter often travel all over the world for work, giving them the opportunity to bring home trinkets from afar.
“People bring me stuff every week, or they invite me to their homes to go shopping,” she said. “I don’t even have to go sourcing.”
An eclectic variety of vintage finds await market-goers, Koehn explained, including primitives — century-old antiques typically made of wood and metal — kitsch and mementos of 70s mod. What unites all vintage regardless of age and era, though, are the stories they carry, both known and unknown.
“What I have told my customers is, you’re part of (an item’s) history. So you get to write the rest of its story,” Koehn said.
Vendors Sara Dean and Kim Leuthe find vintage clothing to be an excellent conduit of personal expression.
Dean is opening her vintage store, Yon Bureau, downtown likely later this month. Leuthe plans to sell some of her clothes there while continuing to auction off clothes to her thousands of followers on the live shopping marketplace app Whatnot.
Leuthe describes her sense of style as incorporating elements of 80s glam rock as well as the silhouettes of the 90s — think Fran Fine of the 90s TV sitcom The Nanny — whereas Dean indulges in western wear and novelty pieces. Despite their differences, both women preach dressing solely for one’s own happiness, and disregarding what anybody else thinks.
Styling unique vintage pieces is one way to encourage that kind of confidence in people.
“I think people are always looking for something that excites them. I think it’s just a way of finding that confidence within and learning how to express themselves, learning how to dress,” Leuthe said. “I think that’s where we come in.”
Establishing personal connections with customers in that way is important to vendor Robin Bridges, too.
Bridges specializes in finding and restoring cast iron skillets, some nearly a century old, laden with rust and seemingly beyond saving. Bridges estimates she has restored 200 skillets so far; the growth of her sizable collection forced her to begin selling some of them.
“I don’t want to be a hoarder, so sometimes I have to let some of this go,” she said facetiously.
With nearly two decades of experience in manufacturing and an insatiable curiosity, anyone who strikes up a conversation with Bridges or purchases from her will learn how to properly care for their skillet. Those educational interactions are part of what Bridges enjoys about selling vintage, and she sees the market as another opportunity to make those connections.
See what vintage spoils Koehn, Dean, Leuthe and Bridges have to offer when the vintage market takes place from 12-6 p.m. on April 18 and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 19.
