Welcome to My Dead Grandpa – Nothing Here Is New, and That’s The Point…
While the fashion industry is built around the next best thing, My Dead Grandpa is more interested in what’s already here.
MDG is located at 10-16 Ranelagh St, Adelaide SA 5000
Home to 46 local businesses, MDG is a living love-letter to the retro, the repaired, and the reimagined. Inside the 900-square-metre maze you’ll find everything from vintage denim to worn leather, 90’s band tees, and one-of-a-kind knicknacks. Here, time feels layered rather than linear. Each piece has led a full life and is now ready for another.
My Dead Grandpa opened on February 8th 2025, to a resounding turnout from Adelaide fashion and vintage enthusiasts. As someone who attended the launch day, I can personally attest to the lively buzz, and hordes of second-hand clothing and decor. With an easy comparison to Melbourne’s Fitzroy Markets, My Dead Grandpa is a ‘first of its kind’ market in Adelaide, and MDG director Benjamin Troup says that they “wanted to build something Adelaide hadn’t really seen before. Something young, raw and a little unpolished, but in the best way. Something that felt new, but somehow already nostalgic.”
With a fitting name, ‘My Dead Grandpa’, the idea is to walk inside the warehouse space, spot an item and say, ‘Oh sh*t, I think that’s my grandpa’s’, “in a good way, ideally,” Benjamin says.
“We wanted to make something that felt larger than life.”
Although op shops like Salvos, and Vinnies are never far out of sight in our city, true vintage culture is something that hasn’t been pushed enough. “There has always been a huge appetite here for vintage fashion, collectables, records, retro homewares and second-hand treasure, but there weren’t many permanent places where people could experience all of that at scale.”
However, they do not want to be another hub for fast fashion waste, MDG has a major emphasis on accessibility to sustainability, hoping to “inspire younger shoppers to dress in a way that feels unique and personal without feeding into the behemoth cycle of fast fashion and textile waste.” Whilst also maintaining a love and respect for vintage garments, with a lot of wear to go.
“A lot of people care about sustainability, but they also want to enjoy what they wear. Vintage does both. You can find something with character, quality and history, while also keeping clothing in circulation and reducing the demand for new production. Sometimes sustainability is talked about in a way that feels very serious, inaccessible or even political. We want to show that shopping second-hand can be exciting, expressive and full of personality.”
Spaces like MDG provide a fresh, trendy, exciting take on vintage and sustainable fashion without taking away the core message, ‘How can we make our wardrobes less disposable, and more personal.’ It’s not preachy and guilt-tripping, nor is it boring, because the beauty of vintage is that you’re not just buying something that might last a few nights, “you’re buying something that has already lasted decades and can keep going if it’s properly cared for.”
“There’s also something impressive about seeing thousands of pre-loved pieces in one place.” Ben says, “It reminds people that there is already so much clothing in the world. Beautiful clothing. Weird clothing. Very questionable 2000s clothing. But clothing with a lot of life left in it. At its best, vintage is about story. We want people to leave with something that feels like it has a past, and hopefully becomes part of their future.”
Walking into MDG is a masterclass in style artistry, with countless stalls spanning across every aesthetic, core, style, whatever you want to call it. “My Dead Grandpa is designed to feel like you’ve stumbled into the past, but with better music.” To create a fun, and all-encapsulating shopping experience is something very hard to do, but MDG have managed to bring the variety of online shopping into a physical space.
“Online resale is great, but it can’t replicate the feeling of walking into a huge vintage warehouse, flicking through racks, finding something strange in a corner, trying things on, taking photos and getting completely lost in it. Online shopping is convenient. In-person vintage shopping is a treasure hunt.”
MDG is also home to local sellers who specialise in upcycling and reworking clothing too. Sellers like Georgie Girl Made and Priscilla’s Emporium are great examples, taking older fabrics, damaged garments or vintage pieces and reworking them into something fresh, wearable and more modern.”
Of course, branching out into vintage and slow fashion is no easy feat. Thankfully, Ben and the other lovely people at MDG have a sure-fire list to start your journey.
Start slow. Very slow. The best vintage pieces usually aren’t the ones you panic-buy at 1am because someone on Depop said “rare” in all caps. Slow fashion works best when you wait for the right piece and buy things you actually know you’ll wear.
Know your measurements. Vintage sizing is chaotic at best. If you’re buying online, it's best practice to know your measurements. Waist, rise, inseam, thigh, the lot. That will save you from a lot of eBay heartbreak and buyer's remorse.
Know your labels. If you’re chasing a Y2K look, start paying attention to brands like Roxy, Victoria’s Secret, Billabong, Juicy or old surfwear labels. If you’re more into streetwear, look for older Nike, Adidas, Fubu, Stüssy or sportswear pieces.
Don’t rush. The best wardrobes are collected over a couple of years, not slapped together in a few seconds.
Understand wash and care needs. People can underestimate how long well-made, properly cared-for clothing can last. A lot of these ‘secrets’ are stupidly simple, like, wash less aggressively, air-dry if possible, treat stains early, and don’t throw something out just because it needs a small repair. A bonus for beginning your journey at MDG is the benefit of shopping in person. You can actually ask someone who handles vintage every day. Most vintage sellers are full of weirdly specific knowledge.
“We are basically nerds with marginally better fashion sense. You often don’t need to dry-clean to get a lot of stains out of cotton; you can do it with SARD (not a paid ad, lol, it just works really well) and tea tree oil (both available from your local supermarket). And trust me, if you ask a vintage seller how to care for a garment, you may get more information than you bargained for. But it will probably be useful.”
It all starts with what to buy however, which MDG has also graciously offered some advice for.
Understand what personal style is to you. Is it about feeling comfortable, standing in, standing out? Looking chic, modern, timeless, retro? Ultimately, what do you want your clothes to say to the world around you about who you are.
Collect references. Look at magazines, films, Pinterest, old music videos, street style, history, family photos, whatever catches your eye. Personal style usually comes from a mix of places, not one perfectly labelled aesthetic.
Keep an open mind. Try not to lock yourself into one brand, era or trend too early. If you like the fabric, the shape, the print, the colour or the silhouette, try it on. Even if it doesn’t work, you’ve learned something. Vintage is especially good for this because it forces you to experiment. You might walk in thinking you’re a minimalist and walk out holding a racing jacket, a 90s mesh top and a pair of cowboy boots. That’s totally fine.
Ultimately, stay curious. Your personal style doesn’t need to be perfectly defined. It just needs to feel like you.
With all of that being said, and almost eighteen months of success under their belt, what is next for Adelaide’s new favourite vintage market? Benjamin has let us all know that MDG are amped and raring to go for constantly and consistently growing and developing.
“We’re always working on something. At the moment, we’re upgrading our changerooms, building a massive working CRT TV wall, expanding our toy and video game offering, bringing in more great sellers, and finding a young entrepreneur keen to launch a café, coffee, or matcha concept inside the store. However, long term, we would love to see the business grow beyond one location. But for now, we’re focused on making the Adelaide store feel like a place people can’t believe exists here.”
So is My Dead Grandpa South Australia’s new cult vintage warehouse? We’ll let you decide, head on down to Ranelagh Street and discover why looking backwards might be the most forward-thinking thing you can do for your wardrobe.