Illisa's Vintage Lingerie - New York, New York

Lucy Klarich

This place is a treasure and completely unique. You will not find items like this in most corners of the world. The owner is simply lovely and hilarious. Directions: located in the manhattan art and antique center on the 2nd floor, gallery 92.

bao n

i work in the fashion industry *and* i collect 1890s to 1940s slip dresses, and came in with a friend who knew exactly what they were looking for. both of us are knowledgeable re: antique dresses. however, we were told to not touch anything and to instead let them know what we were looking for. my friend described the kind of dress they were looking for, but the older woman working there kicked us out of the store anyway and sent us to the bins outside which were full of torn, unwearable stuff. it's strange because i've purchased from them before, a few years ago, and the younger woman who was working there at the time was super kind and helpful. i think this older woman just saw that we looked kind of young— despite me being 30— and automatically assumed we didn't have money to spend. why would you not want to take our money especially if we know what we're looking for?

Beth Sheinis

I am so excited to have visited Illisa's Vintage Lingerie at the new location: The Manhattan Art & Antique Center 1050 2nd Avenue! The shop in Gallery 92 is at least twice the size so you get a wonderful full view of the collection. Right outside the gallery door is a babbling water feature that will help you breath while you mull over which amazing pieces you can't live without!

Marina Elaine

One word: WOW!!!!!!
Ive been a collector and avid wearer of vintage lingerie for years and never in my life have I ever been in a store such as this.

Illisa has an incredible collection and is so kind. I loved talking to someone that loves vintage as much as I do. She truly is the Godmother of Vintage Lingerie!

I love what I purchased and will hold onto it forever!

Andy S

I visited this shop today during my trip to NYC as a Vintage fanatic Angeleno who is in the vintage collecting / selling community back in LA... This shop was on the TOP of my curated vintage store list - as an avid collector of everything from the Edwardian era to 1970s, and as a performing artist who oft wears garments like these for performances and for PR photoshoots - I was looking forward to finding some pieces for my upcoming tour. Unfortunately upon entering the store my friends & I were shoo'd out by what I can only assume to be the owner, and only allowed us to peruse bins outside full of tattered, unwearable pieces, and smaller items such as doilies and stained hankerchiefs. I thought perhaps I had left a bad impression maybe because of my age (I'm 27, in fact my birthday was yesterday, haha..) or since I told her I was an out-of-towner - she was also particularly disgusted by me using the phrase "y'all", which I found peculiar - and so I explained to her that I myself am a collector and told her precisely what I was looking to buy. Still, she only allowed us to look through the bins outside of the store. To say my heart is broken would be an understatement. Visiting this shop to source pieces was truly my most looked forward to part of my trip here... Oh well.

Cindy Davis

I heard about this shop from a TikTok video saying she was very kind and let people try stuff on and take pictures in it. I went in to get historical reference of lace and maybe crochet. Upon walking in, she said the prices and I asked about crochet since I designed myself. She pulled out what I assume is 1890s to 1910 dress with a VERY basic crochet pattern I’ve seen my greatgrandma use. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to show how crochet was used in garments back then. I went to take a photo, she yanked back the dress and said “if you can crochet, you should do this yourself. You can’t take a photo” and then laughed at me. I left afterwards and as I was waiting for the elevator, I overheard her and what I assume was her friend, laughing about how I crochet designer would want to take reference from historical crochet.

Fritzi Winter

Very impressed with the beautiful vintage lingerie in this store. There is something for everyone from garter belts and stockings to beautiful 1940's silk nightgowns and robes. Can you believe you can be a size 0-2 or 2-3X and you can be fitted...When you are in New York City, make Illisa's one of your places to purchase!

Diana Le

Absolutely fantastic collection of early 1900s lingerie. Illisa’s got a wide variety of colors, sizes, and prints from all different decades, and they are all in absolutely pristine condition. Illisa herself is also a master at finding slips that will skim your body and give you the best slinky figure. I’ve never before gone into a vintage store and struggled with not wanting to take everything home.

I had been obsessively hunting for just the right 1930s slips to buy online, but you never know if the fit will be right or if there will be imperfections that aren’t mentioned in the listing. Walking into Illisa’s was like walking into a dream - I knew I could close all my web bookmarks and forget about mulling over less-than-perfect listings on eBay or etsy.

It is a bit pricy, but you’re getting what looks like brand new lingerie that is ~100 years old. You also get a discount if you come in with cash (but be prepared to bring in at least a few hundreds).