Fans of the late vintage store Killer Trash, fear not. The beloved Broadway shop was taken over by Jamie Sapia and Bill Holzerland, who renamed it Glitter Rat in September 2017. While there were some slight changes made, you can still count on Glitter Rat to bring you the best in vintage with both costume and everyday options to keep your wardrobe nice and quirky. We talked to Bill and Jamie about the store, their style icons, and least favorite trends.
How did you come up with the name Glitter Rat?
Bill: We kicked some discrete ideas around and then tried to associate them with Baltimore. And so the harbor thing and the rodents, but like a playful take on it. That was sort of where we decided to go with it.
Jamie: It’s like “pack rat,” but with glitter! And that sort of encompasses Baltimore street style because you can get away with so many ostentatious outfits. Like you could wear a full-blown glitter anything in Baltimore, so I feel like our name kind of encompasses Baltimore style and what we are.
If your store had a Tinder bio, what would it read?
J: All about fun! I mean it’s all about fun, right?
B: Sparkles, shiny things. Yeah there’s a lot of fun energy in here. When people walk in the door for the first time, it seems like they’re sort of overwhelmed by the amount of light shining off of all of the fabrics in here—but in a good way. So we do always tell folks to have fun.
J: It would be, “For a good time, call Glitter Rat.” That would be the bio.
B: Like in a men’s room stall or something.
J: In Cat’s Eye Pub!
What era is most of your vintage fashion from?
J: ’70s, ’80s, ’90s. We really have a little bit of everything. We have a pretty good mix. I gravitate more towards the ’70s because that’s my favorite era. But if it’s vintage, and I like it, I buy it.
How do you get items for the store?
J: I hand pick it now, but we get stuff from everywhere. We have people that come in sometimes with bags and bags of stuff and they’ll say like “Oh my grandmother passed away, I’m cleaning out her house.” And a lot of people will have stories when they bring their stuff in. We actually had one person come in and it was very flattering actually, she said “We’re cleaning out my grandmother’s house and my dad just passed away and when he was alive he always said that he wanted his mother’s stuff to go to Killer Trash, we’re so glad you’ve taken it over.” So people sell but I hand pick everything. We do estate sales. Thrift stores. Yard sales. Flea Markets. We go up and down the coast. My parents pick a lot of it too, down in Florida.
No outfit is complete without what?
J: Leopard print. Or fringe. Or sequins! My gosh, I don’t know. There’s so many good things.
B: I think the answer would be a little bit different for me. The right pocket square and a great vintage watch. As a guy, that’s kind of it.
J: Or you could just say confidence, because that could work for both.
Who is your style icon?
J: Rick James and Janis Joplin.
B: I love a lot of the classic stuff like Steve McQueen, David Bowie, Mick Jagger.
What is your favorite trend as of late? Least favorite?
J: Wide leg pants are in again, right? I don’t like the drab ’90s stuff people are doing. Totally can’t get with it. But we have some in store because we know some people love it.
What is the best part about owning a shop in Baltimore?
J: The people. Totally the people. It’s great, it’s social, it’s fun. I love Baltimore.
B: Yeah, we’ve met fabulous characters here. Musicians, artists, people with office jobs, all walks of life who had been shopping in this store when it was Killer Trash and are happy that we’re here. And we love hearing their stories. We have a poster hanging behind the cash register area that was given to Killer Trash by a gentleman who comes in all the time, he’s a musician and this poster came from Bowie’s studio in Chelsea. So yeah definitely, the people and their stories.
Our top picks:
