Rare Men’s Vintage Items from Gator’s

Gator’s Vintage is like a curated archive of classic American clothing with a strong focus on workwear, Western wear, and heritage pieces. The store was founded in 2024 by Michael Green – or Gator, as friends call him.

Gator opened the store after he was lucky enough to inherit the space from Raggedy Threads. Besides at the store, you can often spot Gator selling at local flea markets like Rose Bowl and vintage fairs like Inspiration LA.

We asked Gator to show us some of his favorite items at the store.

“This is a 1930s woven linen shirt from Desmond’s, which was a department store only about a mile from my store down on Broadway Street here in Downtown Los Angeles. It has a crazy California print with palm trees and Spanish missions and the original Desmond’s label.

It does not fit me, I would keep it for the rest of my life. A friend of mine pulled it out of a Goodwill bin. The bin had been sitting there for a very long time, so I did not pay the Goodwill bin price for it, but I don't hate it.”

“From the front, this is a pretty boring Wrangler 24 MJ, but from the back, it is quite interesting with embroidered Wrangler advertising. You see a lot of these embroidered Wrangler jackets worn by rodeo winners. I've had a few that are a little more explicitly rodeo, but this is just such a cool

piece of good denim with good embroidery. It's nice to have the actual brand written across the back.”

“I have here a very strange 1960s Daryl Rupp fantails jacket. At first, I thought it was like a car club or something like that, given the gothic script, but I looked up Daryl Rupp, and he's actually just a very, very big fan of birds, and I think still alive.

On the front, it is just sort of a boring, almost medical-style chore coat, but on the back, there is some very, very strange embroidery. I bought it in Japan, so the piece has traveled around the world.

If Daryl's out there – I sent you a Facebook message, get back to me, I want to sell you back your jacket!”

“This is a pretty rare one, an early 1950s Vaquera Fashions Western shirt with full California embroidery: California poppies, LA across the back, and it was originally worn by a Shriner in the Rose Bowl Parade. It is such a beautiful, well-kept, and unusually large size for the time.”

“This is a 1950s black Doreen jersey. It is pretty rare to get the color black in good condition, but rather faded. It has got the number 64 on the front and back. It is just a really cool early piece in a sort of rare color way.”

Gator’s Vintage
330 E 2nd St, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA
@gatorsvintagelittletokyo