Historically, in small New England and Northeastern towns there were Clothiers: small shops with a curated assortment of goods that were appropriate for the upwardly mobile lifestyle of post-war America. If these shops were in a college town, the product and atmosphere would lean scholastic. If the town oriented itself around field sports and agriculture, the shop reflected a more rural way of life. Either way, the shop and the town worked as one — a projection and purveyor of the region’s innermost values and idiosyncrasies, a furnisher of refined essentials.

Functional materials, expert craftsmanship and intuitive form. These are the tenets of our shop, though tenets sound a little serious. But we are clothes hounds and students of the history of clothing and in particular the history of post-war American clothing. We love the confluence of materials and style that define that era, the attitude and optimism. We appreciate clothing that was created out of utility and function and has been repurposed by youth culture: denim jackets, chambray shirts, moleskin, Oxford shirts, flannel, leather jackets, Shetland wool sweaters, Army coats, corduroy jeans. 

We are Alex and Renee Casertano and we opened Black Sheep Mercantile in November of 2021. At first we carried carefully selected vintage clothing — the type of clothing that the aforementioned clothiers and“Ivy” shops and Co-ops would have carried. Alex has worked in clothing as a designer and creative director since 2006 and traveled throughout the US, sourcing garments to use as design reference for companies such as J.Crew, Todd Snyder and J. McLaughlin.  Since opening we’ve added some other brands and also started producing our own designs with trusted vendors that Alex has worked with for many years. We aim to make honest clothing that lasts a lifetime and then some. 

Our shop has expanded as we have added products. We now carry women’s along with men’s clothing and accessories. Come visit us. Spend some time in town. We’ve traveled the world, seen some things, but we always find ourselves back in Millbrook.