New Jersey Vintage Wonderland

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Ever wonder where all that super-expensive vintage clothing comes from? Think the owners of Ossie Clark dresses or wardrobes full of Biba just waltz into stores to sell? Nah. Meet Trans-Americas Trading Co., a New Jersey clearinghouse for second-hand clothing that sorts through 70,000 pounds of used garments each day, eventually selling its wares to a carefully edited list of 40-or-so high-end vintage retail stores. YSL jackets, Issey Miyake dresses, costumes from the Met and the Royal Opera in London? It all winds up here. [BlackBook]