On Fourth Avenue, between Sixth and Ninth Streets, several people are making the old new again. They recycle culture, couture, and anything else you might imagine.

A group of vintage stores are located on the eighth-of-a-mile strip just west of campus.

Life-size cardboard stand-ups of James Dean and Marilyn Monroe invite you in through the front window of Kanella's Now and Then, 338 N. Fourth Ave.

Anything goes here, says owner Kanella Conklin.

Once inside, leather-mania takes over. There are new and used chaps, vests, motorcycle jackets, pants, skirts and more than 300 pairs of cowboy boots line the back wall.

Even Wyatt Earp never saw such a collection.

At Kanella's, boots come in bright green, blue, snakeskin, gold-trimmed, as well as traditional brown or black.

"We have really fun and funky clothes - nothing conservative," she says.

The stretchy velvet tiger-print dress is a good example. Brand new, it sells for $20. The lavender leather fur-trimmed overcoat from the 1960s might go perfectly with that.

Don't forget the fuzzy top hat from New Orleans, complete with a ring of piano keys and music notes around the rim. It rents for $15 a day€you can keep it for $45.

A 2,000 square foot back room houses almost every costume imaginable. A six-foot tall Betty Boop holds a sign reading, "This is the rental costume section, baby!" Pink Ladies and T-Birds, sheiks and Jeannes, they're all back there somewhere.

The average costume rents for $30 per day, but they can range from $10 to $200, Conklin says. Sorority and fraternity theme parties provide a lot of her business.

"Our two main customer bases are bikers and sorority girls, so that should tell you something about the variety."

"Sometimes the sorority girls have parties where they dress like bikers, so we get to cross over. But not too many bikers dress as sorority girls. If they do, they keep it to themselves," she says.

Conklin, her husband and her brother opened the store 14 years ago as a strictly resale shop.

"Things change, our customers shape us a lot," Conklin says.

Just across the street, at 417 N. Fourth Ave., another funky store, Loose Change, sells toe rings, overalls and bell bottoms.

Owner Barbara Van Dyke opened the store 13 years ago when her job as a social worker was discontinued.

"I saw potential in the store, so I bought it, and it's really blossomed since then," she says. "The whole idea of the store is to show people how to mix vintage with today's styles."

People often buy Levi's 501s and pair them up with a shirt from the 1940s, Van Dyke says.

A rack of 1970s shirts provides inspiration. With big cuffs and butterfly collars, the shirts come in polka dots, paislies and even a galloping horse print.

Jazz music plays as Mindy the Mannequin stands by the counter, wearing a powder blue classic sheath dress with white dots - matched with white gloves, sunglasses and a strand of pearls. Jackie Onassis would be proud.

If there is one item in abundance at this store, it's the hats. Old hats, new hats, felt hats, blue hats. About 650 of them line the walls and stack up on the shelves. New Humphrey Bogart fedoras sell for $28. Corduroy Gatsby hats cost $19.99. One lady's pillbox hat comes with plastic flowers sewn on, another is made of blue felt and lined with glittery trim.

"It's just fun," Van Dyke says. "You sit here and look at all the people that go by. The college kids that come in here are a riot, and the ones that work here keep the store young and fun."

"Johnny Depp, Cher, and Sharon Stone have all been in here. We get drag queens - anyone," she says.

Next door to Loose Change is How Sweet it Was, at 419 N. Fourth Ave. The shop specializes in older vintage, from the 1800s to the 1960s.

It covers 33,000 square feet with three rooms. The ceiling is pink and the walls are covered in red and black hand-painted Victorian wallpaper. Classical or big band music plays in the background and Oriental rugs cover the floor.

"We designed it to look like a 19th century bordello," says owner Connie Lauth.

Having a lifetime passion for things of the past, she opened How Sweet it Was 22 years ago.

It is one of the oldest vintage stores in the country. Originally, the shop was located in a smaller building just up the street.

Vintage wedding dresses cost about $100. They come with features including poofy crinolines, fine lace, hand-crochet button covers and leg of mutton sleeves.

"You just don't see workmanship like this anymore," Lauth says.

Cameos and other costume jewelry lie under the counter. Beaded necklaces come in all colors. Big, dazzling rhinestones form together to make earrings, necklaces and broaches. Hand-decorated evening bags shine with hundreds of small beads or faux pearls.

Lauth also has a large selection of "deadstock," clothes which were made decades ago, but have yet to be worn. Collector's items can be found among the racks and on the shelves.

Lauth collected her first vintage dress when she was 15.

"It cost $5, and I just sweated bullets over spending that much because I was making, like, 25 cents and hour baby-sitting," she says.

A museum built into the store has seven mannequins modeling gowns from the 1920s.

How Sweet it Was also offers restoration, such as removing stains, replacing buttons with authentic ones of the era and replacing a seam. Custom reproductions are another available service.

"Say you can't find a Victorian frock coat. Come in, describe what you want, and we can make it for you," she says.

Once you have vintage clothes, what's left?

John F. Kennedy salt and pepper shakers, a vintage flour sifter, cuckoo clocks and colonial lamps can all be found at Yesterday's Variety Store, 344 N. Fourth Ave.

Renee Boone opened shop in October, and she already needs twice the space.

"I try to pick out unique items and put new stuff out all the time," she says.

Original autographed pictures of Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich and Cary Grant hang on the walls. A shelf full of antique cameras cost from $8 to $28 each € one of them dates back to 1902.

Boone restored a 1950s Singer sewing machine to run like new. The wooden cash register from the 1930s also works, but is much bigger than today's compact, electronic versions.

Yesterday's carries many collector's items, such as Campbell's Kids rubber dolls, an English Tudor tea set, and a genuine 1940-style mink shawl made from four minks with their heads, feet and tails still attached.

Boone says she has been selling antique items in consignment shops for years, but has always dreamed of being her own boss.

"Vintage has a lot to do with memories," she says. "When people see something old that they had when they were a kid, it brings back memories."

Conklin says, "When a woman who grew up in the 50s buys a prom dress from that era, it's nostalgic. It brings back memories of her school years."

"I think vintage has a lot to do with individuality," says Jessica Bell, a salesperson at Loose Change.

All four of these stores are full items which seem to be old, but find new life in the 1990s.

"The quality of the vintage can't be duplicated in today's world," Lauth says. "I think it allows one to be more self-expressive than the look of the year does."