Antwerpian Vintage

Well, I’ll kick off my Antwerp-themed posts with some vintage goodness.  The first pages I try to find in Time Out travel guides (the best sort of guides for shopping!) are second hand/vintage stores.  So mainstream is vintage nowadays that it warrants a section in travel guides.  So, my first day was spent visitng the various vintage haunts of Antwerp.  Obviously, Antwerp being quite miniscule in size, there aren’t vintage stores in abundance but the ones that are there are quite fantastic. 

My first stop was Episode (Steenhouwersvest 34a), one of the biggest ones in Antwerp with several branches elsewhere in Belgium.  The best thing about this store is that EVERYTHING is meticulously organised.  The store maybe be crammed full of stuff but you don’t feel like you’re overwhelmed because everything is sorted by type, colour and trend, making it very easy to navigate around the store.  The second best thing about Episode are the prices.  I tend to find vintage in off-the-beaten track places are cheaper than say London or Paris.  If the prices were in pounds, it would still be less than what I’d pay in London and so even better that they were in euros!

Scarves galore!  I think I could spend a day just going through them all….

This was the first shop I went to so I was very tentative with my purchases.  Very basic pieces but essential for the summer.  Cable knit cardigan and some navy shorts – came to a total of 25 euros.

The next place I found by accident as I was walking around around in circles trying to find the Bernhard Willhelm stocksale (more about that later).  It didn’t look much like a vintage store with its elegant interior and high high ceilings but this store Verlaine, had the word ‘vintage’ marked in discreet letters on the window.  I went in and immediately a very enthusiastic owner welcomed me in and said that Verlaine was actually have a stocksale the moment.  Grinning like a cheshire cat, I immediately started trying on beautiful beautiful dresses.  The owner was ever so attentive but not in a creepy way.  I tried on an ever so pretty Oscar De La Renta dress that was sadly a little tight around the waist, some wonderful 1920’s day dresses and a very Lanvin-esque green tulip dress with soft pleats and bows.  It reminded me of a daytime version of Nadias Closet (which I reviewed back in March), as all the pieces were very well edited and in superb condition. 

I passed up the beauties that I tried on for fear of not getting enough wear out of them and did a sensible thing and bought dresses that I’d get a lot out of.  (That’s a first for me!).  So I bought this wonderful yellow crepe cotton loose shirt dress and a sweet navy polka dot mini dress w/ ruffled cuffs.

I think I have mentioned Labels Inc before when I yapped on about how much I loved Antwerp and my visit there proved fruitful again as I bagged a Martin Margiela skirt for 50 euros which is very reasonable indeed.  Not exactly vintage but definitely second hand, Labels Inc always has a good selection of all the Belgian designers – Ann Demeulemeester, Margiela, Dries Van Noten etc.  I never go to designer consignment stores in London because a) there aren’t that many and b) the ones that are there always have crap like frayed denim jeans by D&G or stuff of similar ilk.  So it’s nice to visit one with stuff that you would ACTUALLY want to wear.