Meet Brodie Weis owner of Toowoomba’s Fat Tony’s Vintage

While he still rocks a Rip Curl jacket from his parents, this vintage thrifter is bringing the best threads of the ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s into a regional Queensland city. See the video:

Rocking clothes that once belonged to his parents is how 26-year-old business owner and thriftier Brodie Weis ended up opening Fat Tony’s Vintage.

But while cringe could refer to your parents’ taste, there is nothing cringe about how vintage and cool Brodie’s store is.

Nestled in the back of Matilda House, a boarding house built in the 1800s, only doors up from Toowoomba’s iconic Norville Hotel along the railway, Brodie has filled one of the old boarding rooms with nostalgic items from the most recent turn of the century.

Brodie Weis is the owner of Fat Tony's Vintage, Toowoomba's only vintage streetwear store, it boasts an eclectic array of ‘80s ;90s and early 2000s clothing, games, comics and toys. Wednesday, August 28, 2024 Picture: Christine Schindler

These include streetwear like authentic shirts with ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s vibes from Hot Tuna, Mambo, Stussy and Quicksilver, and all things Simpsons and Looney Tunes, figurines, dressing gowns and shirts, a Nintendo Console and a decanter full of Mighty Beanz.

“I still rock around a Rip Curl jacket from my parents, and there’s a few pieces in the store like trading cards that they held onto from when they had a brand new,” Brodie said.

“I got into thrifting and it was fun and all, but I really fell in love with vintage.”

After trips to Melbourne and Sydney he started growing his vintage collection, took them to a market and it just “snowballed” into a store.

Brodie Weis is the owner of Fat Tony's Vintage, Toowoomba's only vintage streetwear store, it boasts an eclectic array of 80s 90s and early 2000s clothing, games, comics and toys. Wednesday, August 28, 2024 Picture: Christine Schindler

Once Brodie had a couple of brothers come in saying as kids all they wanted for Christmas was stuff from the Simpsons. Now, 20-30 years later, they walked into his store and said they found “the most ‘me’ shirt”.

“Young kids love it, but the older generation are reliving it,” he said.

He got the keys to the small apartment in April 2023, but took six months before he was ready to open.

Eventually “push came to shove” when he was doubling up as a full-time manager at Woolworths, so he decided to cut back his hours and focus on the store.

In the first week of September, Brodie will release his vintage spring collection.

Fat Tony’s is open Fridays 1pm – 6pm and Saturdays 10am – 4pm.