Vintage Finds & The Power of Kindness
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Ah, summer. To think that it was only a couple of months ago that I was enjoying the heat of the NYC summer, and here we are again, unpacking our A/W clothes. Inevitable I guess. Some may hate it, but I love feeling the hot, sweaty weather of a summer’s day. It makes me feel so much, but most of all, it makes me feel alive.
One of my favorite past times whilst in this city, or any city for that matter, is to go walking around neighborhoods I haven’t been to before. This time I had decided for Bed-Stuy as my new adventure and it was a lot of fun. A journey of discovery, I would say!
It all started on a Sunday afternoon in Herbert Von King Park, where a mini Jazz Festival was taking place. From there I walked down Tompkins Avenue, which was full of gorgeus vintage shops, icecream bars, coffee shops and little restaurants to explore. Dear Friends Books, Sincerely Tommy, TumbleWeed, Brooklyn Kettle and Brown Butter Creamary are some of my fave spots, to name a few. At some point I turned on Halsey St to then come back up to my airbnb via Malcolm X Blvd, wrapping up for the day at Ornithology Jazz Club, a must.
Monday was a hungry day, and that led me to Taqueria El Torito on Flushing Av. Inevitably that led me back to my all hoods Greenpoint and Williamsburg. Before I knew it I was vintage shopping.
As I was roming the streets of Williamsburg I found out this caravan selling lots and lots of second-hand clothing and I decided to stop to see if there were any goodies on offer. There were, of course, there always are. Amongst mountains and mountains of clothing, tremendous colours crying out loud and fabrics wanting to be picked, this beautiful, soft, elegant shirt stood out. I picked it up.
It was perfectly pressed, as it had been waiting for somebody to notice. It was gorgeous, special. A print of a french bakery in 100% silk fabric with bits of embroidery in it. A delicacy. How much? I said.
The seller, an oldie man with a bit of a grumpy attitude, told me the price and I was already sold. However, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t being ripped off. One must always check that the price is right and so I went online to check for similar shirts and their cost. Little did I know this would end up having the seller tell me he no longer wanted to sell me the shirt and that I should have a nice day, good bye.
I couldn’t understand the situation, and so I went away. But boy, I felt bad. Boy, he made me feel bad! And for what reason? what did I do wrong? I came back to apologise for something I wasn’t aware I did, and the seller treated me like I was a silly girl. He then proceeded to tell me he just wanted to show off the shirt for a week before selling it and that if I was truly interested I could come back in a week. If I wasn’t feeling silly before, I felt it then. Amongst the vast amount of clothes for sell and he wants to keep the one that I am ready to buy? Odd, I thought.
in the end I thought I was the bigger person and that I had to let him and his shirt go. We don’t know what goes onto other people’s minds and we need to accept that everybody is different. Got on eBay and got the same shirt for half price.
I guess you can’t win all the times, but it pays to be kind.
And always, always, you can buy second hand.
TCB xx
