A snapshot of soon-to-be-gone LES darling, Marmalade Vintage
Another vintage store gets pushed out of the gentrified LES, and this time the hurt is deeper.
One of my favorite vintage stores, and I think the first one I ever shopped at in New York, Marmalade Vintage is succumbing to the escalating rents. Gone will be the days of stopping by for an accessory before heading for a terrine at Pink Pony and drinks at Max Fish. Gone will be the days of going through their colorful racks of vintage clothes and trying on a rainbow of shoes. And one more store is removed from my LES vintage Saturday shopping circuit - Marmalade, Girls Love Shoes, Daha, Shop, Foley & Corinna, Edith Machinist... before a rest stop at 'inoteca.
I know Marmalade is not gone forever, and will emerge strong, bringing us even more carefully curated pieces at TG-170 and online (coming soon), but it does feel like the end of an era: the store was a LES staple for 11 years. It breaks my heart to think what will go in its space- another Steve Madden? A Madewell store? Let's just hope its an independent seller instead of a big corporate chain.
But put your woes aside for a minute and help Marmalade go out with a bang:
They will be having a 'Last Days on Ludlow' sale through July 26, with Summer dresses, rompers and shorts many under $30.
Fabulous Market Publique seller Stache is having a huge sale!
If you're in the neighborhood (Williamsburg, yo!), stop by her Secret Sale this weekend for an adorable selection of 70s dresses, rhinestone jewelry, clutches and more. Her prices are reasonable on the retail end, so we are dying in anticipation for the amazing deals that will be had.
It's by appointment only, so email or call and let them know Market Publique let you in on the secret...
Sunday, June 6th, 12 - 8pm First Picks
Sale continues throughout the week, with receptions from 6 - 9pm
I browsed the booths and found one of my favorite finds - ever: a gorgeous 50s/early 60s butterfly print dress from Hawaii! Why is this the best find ever you ask? LOOK AT IT:
Trying on the butterfly dress I found at Sammy D Vintage - fyi, I never changed back in to my clothes...
Well, now that you've seen it, I don't think I need to explain myself. But let me indulge: Love the butterfly print, love the one-shoulder sihouette, and even more – love the 3D cuout butterflies on the one shoulder!!! They look like some spring butterflies just happened to land on my shoulder, creating a charming effect.
Detail of the 3D Butterflies
I saw it the dress Sammy's mannequin, and asked her if I could try it on. She graciously took it off the mannequin, pre-emptively apologizing in case it didn't fit - it's a size 14... But it's a vintage size 14, which means it's a LOT smaller than a modern 14. Plus who knows if the previous owner had it altered (which was very common in those times)? I decided to try my luck. And lucky me, it fit! I didn't even take it off after trying it on, and just put the outfit I was wearing in my giant purse and decided to start enjoying this beauty of a dress!
Collectible, interchangeable belt buckles from Sammy D Vintage
Initially, the plan was for me to go check out some of Sammy's interchangeable belt buckles, because I collect them and she mentioned she had some by designer Mimi di N. But, after blowing my budget with the dress, I had to pass on the buckles (for now). Kind of regretting not getting the coiled rope one (bottom left corner) - with a red strip, it would perfect a nautical-inspired outfit of a simple seersucker dress... tempting.
In fact, there was many more tempting items throughout the sale. More pictures below.
If you cleaned out your closet in the transition from Summer to Fall, but haven't taken those bags to Beacon's yet, procrastination is your friend. Save them for next week and swap them with other stylish Williamsburgers at the Score! Swap next weekend.
How it works:
You bring your bags of stylish wares, including clothing, accessories, housewares, music, books, DVDs– even art supplies– to the table at the entrance. Your donations get sifted through by volunteers, led by experts in each category. For example, the clothing will be curated by Nisha Gopalan, a senior editor at überstylish NYLON, to ensure that whatever you get is not a fashion faux pas.
You then go in look through all the stuff, take what you want (yes, for free!!), and if you can't carry it all you can get a hunky dude to help you carry them for $5. Ok, ok, the dude is just printed on their awesome totebag, but still... it's a score.
Plus, hunky baywatch-esque dudes and free duds is not all... There's will also be drinks, great music, even streetstyle bloggers snapping pics of everyone's stylish wares.
Here's what you can bring, and who'll be curating the wares:
Categories: Clothing & Accessories (Guys, Gals, Kids) – curated by Nisha Gopalan (senior editor, Nylon Magazine) Music – curated by Showpaper Art Supplies – curated by Lowbrow Society For The Arts Books DVDs / Media – curated by The Desk Set Housewares & Miscellany – curated by Natalie Kamei
We partied, shopped vintage, sipped bubbly and nibbled on cupcakes - what more could one want?!!
The shop featured items from Market Publique's Fall collection, including some hand-picked by the bloggers at Painfully Hip during their thrifting trip. We had tons of blazers, sweaters, dresses, scarves, shoes, boots, purses... plus we featured jewelry by Erica Weiner and Dirty Librarian Chains, housewares and more fashion from Cure Thrift Shop (which benefits diabetes research), and exclusive vintage pieces from Rabbits, some of which will soon be up on the site!
Bianca, from Cure Thrift Shop and Bianca Rocks Out, helped me set up the shop and also made a fun video of the event:
We snapped some photos too, for your viewing pleasure...
Shoppers browsing the vintage goodies.
Some of our vintage shoes, with deadstock vintage shoe clips by Erica Weiner, whose jewelry you can see to the side.
Cure Thrift Shop's housewares and accessories table. That spotted fur clutch is now mine! No guilt, since the fur is vintage and the purchase benefits diabetes research too!
More shoppers, including Brooke from Fashism, sipping bubbly. She made like a banding with an amazing leather skirt...
It was a super-fun bracelet made out vintage baubles and buttons, the perfect accent to my outfit. I wore it straight out of the box! Thanks Amanda!!
Like the rest of my outfit too? The vintage cropped sequin top is the one I got from Sammy Davis Vintage! The little gold vintage clutch was also my cash register - which one shopper dubbed as "the most stylish cash register I've ever seen", blush! The skirt is 3.1 Phillip Lim and the shoes are Marc by Marc Jacobs (scroll down for pic), from 9 years ago!!
With fashion bloggers Jennine, of The Coveted, and Jordana of Clutch 22. Thank you, Jennine for the awesome post about our Fashion's Night Out event! The photos she took are amazing, go look! I also like this one, which she took:
Priyanka, Jon and fashion blogger Liz. Photo by Jennine Tam.
Here I am, laughing it up with Jennine. She's a lot of fun, and I get to hang out with her a bunch this NYFW... You'll see the pictures soon...Plus, a better look at my shoes and the adorable bracelet from Access Aesthetic.
Sammy (of Sammy D Vintage) was in attendance too. Since I wore one of her vintage pieces, she decided to don a few of ours: the pleated black blouse and the lipstick-red leather skirt. Doesn't she look fabulous?
Tara, The Williamsburg Seamster, will be at our Pop-Up Shop! She will be armed with her measuring tape and pins to do custom fittings for you so your new vintage pieces fit just perfectly!
