Nestled among the bustle of Lincoln Road, you’ll find Habitat Hyett. The store is the brainchild of brother and sister duo Ann and Kyle Hyett, who scout, buy, and resell clothing, shoes, and accessories, plus decor pieces like desks, lamps, bar carts, art, and more. “The premise was everything we’d want in our habitat—whether on our bodies or in our homes,” Ann explains.
Ann discovered the value of vintage during a pandemic-era hustle, buying and reselling vintage lingerie at New York City markets. “It was very niche,” she admits. “But there was this trend where girls were wearing vintage nightgowns as dresses, and it’s still happening,” she says. Kyle says he first fell in love with vintage when plucking gems from the now-shuttered Bargain Barn in Wynwood in a bid to furnish various apartments over the years. When he’d fill up his own apartment, he found himself continuing to buy (and then reselling online) pieces that spoke to him. Eventually, he got the bug to go bigger; Ann’s success gave him the idea of teaming up to open a vintage store together. Ann agreed and moved to Miami Beach. “I gave my brother a three-year plan,” she says. “I was like: We’ll see. But now I can’t imagine moving back to New York.”
The pair targeted Lincoln Road as their dream location, and they soon found what they were looking for: a 1940s Art Deco building complete with a cash wrap salvaged from the iconic Rose Bar from the Delano Hotel. They opened their doors just over a year ago.
When Ann and Kyle aren’t working the floor of their Lincoln Road boutique, they’re using their spidey-like style senses to find the coolest vintage around (what Kyle refers to as “the thrill of the hunt”)—and then taking it back to their store to sanitize it, repair or rework it (if needed), and resell it. Recently, we followed Ann on a buying trip to two estate sales to see how she turns forgotten fashion finds into your closet’s next sartorial star.
8:03 a.m. Estate Sale #1
Ann’s first stop is a single-story, ranch-style home in Kendale Lakes. She’s targeted it from a post on estatesales.net, though she also finds garage sales advertised on social media groups. The photos posted in the sale notices help her decide when to arrive: if the images look promising, she’ll show up as much as two hours early. Otherwise, she’ll arrive later to avoid the initial rush of folks who have arrived at the crack of dawn, standing in queues snaked along sidewalks and swales.
But there are no lines this morning. We’re greeted by a pair of attendants who tell us that “literally everything” is for sale. This seems to have been home to someone’s abuela, recently passed. There are quinceañera and first communion portraits of grandchildren hung on the walls, knickknacks displayed on mirrored bookcases, and a storage room filled with Christmas decor. Ann pauses at a rack of clothing. “Is this all the clothes today?” she asks. The attendants exchange a laugh. “Head back to the bedrooms,” one tells us. “There are clothes for days.” “Brace yourselves,” warns the other.
Armed with a voluminous blue bag to corral and carry her finds, Ann heads to the primary bedroom. The attendants weren’t kidding. There are clothes on every surface: piled on beds, stacked on chairs, displayed on dressers, and hung in packed closets. The lights aren’t working, so Ann uses her phone flashlight to make her way through the wares.
She gravitates to a pair of red shoes with a kitten heel and puts them in her bag as the day’s first find—but not before examining them as closely as possible. “Shoes are tricky, and you have to really look at them,” she says. “Especially the heels, which can be broken or worn.” But these red shoes pass the test. “They’re in great condition, and kitten heels are really trending now,” Ann explains. “You can never go wrong with a red shoe. They’re a total closet staple.”
She considers a beaded gown that’s giving Golden Girls vibes. “I tend to go for more wearable pieces,” she says as she shoves the dress back into the overstuffed closet. “Kyle is always choosing wild pieces like this,” she says, laughing. “I always say he was maybe a crazy ’80s party boy in a past life.”
There’s a lot of grandma-chic style here, but Ann finds timeless pieces to add her bag—among them a pair of camisoles, a Versace-inspired skirt, and a ’50s-era red kimono with a hand-embroidered back. She considers a shoulder-padded blazer just long enough to pluck an enameled bee brooch from the lapel. “Our clients are loving little pins like these,” she says as she tosses it in the bag. “They just add flair.”
Ann says brand names are important but not paramount. In fact, she’s not so much scouting to find certain brands as she’s weeding out what not to buy; fast fashion like Zara, Target, Shein, Walmart, Costco, and the like are hard no’s. “If it’s a really cool piece—and as long as it’s not fast fashion and it’s in good shape—I’ll take it,” she says, admitting that when she’s on the fence, she’ll ask herself: “Can some hot Miami girl make this look good?” If the answer is “yes,” the piece makes it into the bag. “That’s the protocol,” she says.
Ann comes across some lingerie—a nod to her own vintage-hunting origin story. “This one’s great,” she says, holding up a silk and lace slip with spaghetti straps. “It’s got the tags on and it’s still perfectly white.” Other lingerie she comes across at the sale is a definite “no.”
“Too vintagey,” she says, returning a peignoir set to the pile she plucked it from.
Habitat Hyett sells both men’s and women’s clothing, but there is scant men’s clothing here—an attendant tells us the husband died several years ago—but Ann still scores two guayaberas in crisp linen, and a “holy grail find”: an Yves Saint Laurent dress shirt, still in its packaging. Two T-shirts catch her eye, too: one commemorating the then-Florida Marlins’ first World Series win in 1997 and another ’80s-era Miami Heat tee. (Pro tip from specialized vintage hunters who Ann refers to as “T-shirt bros:” Look for a sewn-in tag as opposed to a label printed below the collar to identify a true vintage tee.)
Moving to the dressers, Ann paws through scarves and sunglasses among trays of perfume bottles, prayer cards, and a pile of rosaries. In a tray of miscellaneous trinkets, she picks up a small box that reads: “Novelty Ladies’ Lighter.” Ann pries the box open. It’s a lighter alright—in the shape of a penis. “What a find,” Ann says, laughing. (Perhaps abuela wasn’t as conservative as her home suggests she might have been.)
Ann makes her way to two other bedrooms—one filled with a phalanx of clothing racks, and the other with a king-size bed stacked high with piles of purses and bags in every shape and size. She adds several Y2K-style models with large buckles and hardware to her haul (checking each for a clean interior, making sure clasps are working, and straps are intact), but passes on a bunch of chain mail and beaded clutches. “Oh, I love these!” she says, wistfully. “But I bought a bunch just like them two days ago. Otherwise, I’d be nabbing them for sure.”
We pass a series of long tables covered in costume jewelry that reflect decades of style. Ann says vintage jewelry is a big seller at Habitat Hyett, explaining that while vintage clothing sizing can be tricky, jewelry fits everyone. But for today, it’s not on Ann’s shopping list. “Kyle just did a big jewelry buy, so we’re all stocked up.”
After a quick tour around the kitchen and dining room—where the cabinet doors are flung open and items cover countertops, tables, buffets, and even a portion of the floor—we head to checkout. But not before Ann snatches up a mug emblazoned with the phrase “Bull Shit” and an ashtray that reads “Cuba.” The mug is what she calls a “Why not?” find. The ashtray, she says, is a must-buy. “You’d be surprised how popular ashtrays are. We can’t keep them in stock.”
Before checking out, Ann takes a seat on an overstuffed couch near a window and removes the items from her bag one by one to check for stains, tears, or other defects. Two or three things get the boot, but most of it returns to the bag—25 pieces in all. “The more stuff you buy, the better deal you get at checkout,” she says. “There’s definitely a benefit to walking out there with a full bag because when you do, the price per piece goes down.”
A price is settled on and Ann pays via Zelle, heading out to her truck where she keeps boxes and other packing materials “just in case,” she says. With her vintage haul safely stowed, we head out to the next sale.
9:45 a.m. Estate Sale #2
At a townhome in Kendall, a sale coordinator named Rita tells us this is a “downsize job.” Like sale No. 1, everything is fair game. Unlike that first sale, though, the volume of items is significantly smaller.
Still, Ann bags some sweet finds: a pair of Panama hats that appear to have never been worn, a double-breasted white linen Ralph Lauren blazer with the tags still on, and a pink handbag embellished with a hand-beaded, floral motif. Ann considers a chic black sheath dress by Tahari, and then puts it back. “We have so much black in the store right now,” she says. “It’s too bad because this is a great piece.”
At checkout, Rita sorts through Ann’s finds. She holds up the pink handbag and shrieks, “Where did you find this?” Ann tells her she dug it out of a box of handbags that was concealed beneath a pile of athleisure wear. “Well, it’s great,” Rita says. “Good find!”
11:45 a.m. Arrive at Habitat Hyett
With Ann’s purchases from both sales secured in her truck, we make the drive to South Beach. The back room at Habitat Hyett is like a tinker’s workshop for making vintage items like-new and ready for upscale customers. There’s a workbench, a wash basin, and a pair of laundry machines, but the star here is a refrigerator-sized LG Smart Styler steam closet—which Ann and Kyle use to sanitize every item they buy. “We spend a lot of time doing laundry,” Ann admits. “Kyle is our stain-removal guru. Anything stubborn or tricky I save for him.”
Ann checks every pocket and every bag—finding loose change in several places. “Already a profit!” she says, laughing. When all items are sorted, logged into inventory, cleaned, and tagged, they go out on the store’s sale floor, where customers get their first look at Ann’s style-making selections. “We like to turn it around quickly,” Ann says. “Once it’s clean, it’s ready to be sold.” Perhaps a nod to Rita’s shrieks at the second estate sale, the pink beaded bag is plucked up by a customer within hours—going from discarded in a hidden box to a prized one-of-one item in some lucky Miamian’s wardrobe.
“That’s kind of the magic,” Kyle says. “It’s being able to find these gems that other people haven’t valued for whatever reason, and then being able to offer them to our customers as the amazing treasures they are.”
On the Hunt
Ann’s dos and don’ts for snagging one-of-a-kind vintage treasures
Do:
Shop all sizes: Vintage clothing sizes can be inconsistent. Allowing yourself to browse through an array of sizes will greatly increase your chances of finding your dream garment.
Mix and match: Pairing vintage with your current wardrobe is a great way to dip your toes into the vintage world. Look for pieces that will compliment items you already have.
Try it on: Vintage silhouettes and prints are vastly different from those of today. Your body has the power to transform a garment from its “strange” hanger appeal to a showstopping piece.
Allow for alterations: Say you find the perfect dress, but it hits at an undesirable length. Almost any garment can be altered for a perfect fit!
Don’t:
Assume the piece will be there tomorrow: There is an industry adage that goes, “Nothing haunts you more than the vintage you didn’t buy.” If the item fits and you love it, snag it.
Forget the power of accessories: Vintage jewelry, purses, and scarves can jazz up any outfit.
Shy away from delicate fabrics: People think that silk needs to be dry cleaned. Simply hand wash in cold water to save on a dry-cleaning bill. If cared for properly, silk vintage pieces will continue to live a long life.
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