Thursday, December 9, 2010

Hipsterville

I was in the mood for another lonesome adventure, so I thought, considering I was so intrigued, to check out hipsterville in Brooklyn for market research. Williamsbourg is Hipster Capital, I literally had to walk 20m from the station to find my first example. They were a cute couple who pointed me in the direction of the central hub, Belgrave Avenue. One of their biggest tips for people watching was to head to a cafe called Oslo, which is run by some attractive young lads. The experience is comparable to Cup in West End I suppose...loyal regulars and connoisseurs in coffee, and then the passers by who know of the place and their clientele.
The suburb honestly disappointed me on the whole. I found every aspect pretentious and overwhelming. Williamsbourg style is nothing to fuss about; granted everyone is pretty chilled, but I think I would be pretty chilled too if I spent my weekly income on Cheap Mondays and some green.

So in curing my frustration, I headed on the first train to Manhattan, and retail therapy hit the spot in SoHo. I headed straight to my favourite vintage store, What Goes Around Comes Around (351 West Broadway) to organise some opera attire with a $300 budget challenge. Not sure if I mentioned it in earlier posts, but I struck up friendship with the lovely vintage collector Colby who works at the store, who has been fantastic in supporting my shopping obligations (for educational purposes of course) while in New York. We had originally planned to spend the day out at the store's garment and textile archive in New Jersey; however, work commitments restricted us in SoHo. Never fear, readers, I spent as much time as possible doing what I do best: scouring every rack and knook for possible and excitable treasures. Downstairs from the street level (and generally closed to the public except by appointment) is a whole other room dedicated to periodical womenswear by era and designer, where I found some extravagant pieces by Pucci, original Hubert de Givenchy, and Azzedine Alaia among others. Collections by era included everything from Victorian through to 1980s without missing a single defining moment in fashion... I even found braided edging on jeans by Vivienne Westwood. Unfortunately I could only be permitted a couple of store photos, and even then I felt a bit dodgy taking the time to capture good ones. But if you're ever in town, place this store high on your shopping hotspots for vintage because you'll want to spend every penny you have left there.
By the way, I ended up purchasing a 1960s pleated kaftan with a deep keyhole back opening. It reminds me of a sunrise, so now I need to find some Marni blue shoes to wear it to Carmen at the Met Opera tonight.

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