House of Kismet

Fun and funky vintage clothing and accessories. There is always something fun to look at and reminisce about when we wander through.
In the River Arts District, it's one of many shops to stop at and enjoy!

House of Kismet was a wonderful vintage shop that kept us entertained and looking for quite a while. The employees seem to know a good bit about the merchandise and even went to the back to find a particular style of dress we were curious about dating back to the late 70's. Although it was out of our price range, they were kind to let my daughter try it on just for the thrill of it! My 19-year-old son fell in love with a jacket there and though it was out of his budget, I went back later and got it for him for Christmas! Can't wait to see his face when he opens that gift.

The only way this place would be acceptable is if it's a vanity project for the owner and they don't actually want to sell or have customers.

We spent some time here this weekend during a little arts fair in the parking lot Aka lots of people around. We came to look at things and are very vintage driven. My wife looked over the whole store thoroughly and then showed me her favorites and I looked at some pieces (I'm a huge quilt collector and they have some)

Never once.

Not once.

Not a single time Did the person working the desk look up from her phone call to acknowledge that we were even in the store much less offer any help or suggestions.

I would like to reiterate that I hope that this is a store to feed the ego of someone who doesn't need to sell and just wants to own a store and the aforementioned someone is the person working the desk otherwise the service was abhorrent and they could do better to get patrons to buy by basically doing anything at all to engage.

I will tell everyone who will listen to skip this spot and go next door to wildflowers as the owner there was so kind and helpful.

We were in the area to go to another vintage store nearby and popped into House of Kismet on a whim. WOW. This is the BEST vintage store I have ever been in, and I do a LOT of vintage shopping, from NY to FL. I was completely knocked out by H of K because:
1) They have larger sized women's clothing! Several dresses that were probably size 10-12 which is super rare since most vintage is size 2-4.
2) They have men's clothes - a lot of them. Most vintage stores have a lot of women's items and hardly any men's, but H of K is about 40% menswear.
3) EVERYTHING is in immaculate condition. The prices reflect this, but nothing I thought was out of reach since you're buying one of a kind, well made clothing. To be clear, this is vintage, not thrift. Some of the items are up to 100 years old, so you can't expect it's going to be $5.
4) Woman working there was so nice! Not pretentious, not pushy, not overbearing, but welcoming--and very sweet when I asked if I could take pictures for my review.
5) There is NO junk or random crap - it's obvious that someone has a keen eye for beautiful things and thoughtfully puts them together in collections. When we visited, there were selections of kimonos, smoking jackets, leather capes (!), summer dresses, etc. What's amazing is that it would be 8-20 of each "genre" so you have a pick of colors and sizes... it's not just one random cape or top hat.

There's also home items sprinkled throughout, but in a way that is intentional and curated (like the wool camp blankets in the men's section, vintage quilts near a small section of kids' clothes, selection of aluminum thermoses by the outerwear).
6) I collect vintage women's hats and the selection at H of K is exquisite. Very fine examples of 40's/50's hats in absolute mint condition, and fairly priced.

I went a bit bonkers taking pictures of everything - this shop is an absolute dream, and I wish I lived closer so I could visit every weekend. House of Kismet is an incredibly rare combination of incredible items and friendliness.

Need to work on their professionalism. Was greeted with "thanks for looking at our handsanitizer". A better way to handle someone not seeing your hand sanitizer in your very busy store would be "welcome in.. please use the hand sanitizer." Immediately walked out.

@Luke H, I am the customer that the owner of House of Kismet was on the phone with when you were in her store. When I came here to express my gratitude for how wonderful and kind Sara was to me during an exceptionally hard time, my heart sank to see your strikingly harsh review. Your dramatic interpretation and blanket assumption of the events of that day, could not be more misguided.
Sara was on the phone with me because, for the first time since my friend's passing in March, her husband and I were able to see each other, and start the process of selling off her online store. It was an emotional and overwhelming task, and I called Sara for some advice. She told me she was at the store, and would have to go if a customer came in. But she answered my call because I know she felt my anguish at that moment. I was overcome with grief, sitting in a room surrounded by racks of clothing my friend had thoughtfully collected over the years, many of the items were from her own closet, and beautiful costumes she had designed & hand sewn. Sara understood what we were letting go, and how hard it has been to cope with our loss during covid isolation. For the past month, Sara has selflessly helped to guide us so we could trust that our friends collection would end up in the right place, and I do not know how to thank her enough.
I can assure you that House of Kismet is no vanity project, it's a labor of love, run by a knowledgeable and passionate community driven independent small business owner trying to safely keep afloat during a global health crisis.
So, I highly recommend you stop by (again), and bring kindness and support to this amazing human and the staff and artists that make this place special.

I love the experience of going to House of Kismet. The owner really is knowledgeable about her finds and the quality is top notch. She even had some rare vintage sunglasses!! Also it's just a fun environment, it's located in the River Arts District and right in the middle of everything. A few times I have been in there, there have been Djs and photo shoots happening. Super fun and happening spot!!