Travelogue: Vintage Adventures in Brooklyn

Admission:  I secretly love hipsters.  Alright, if you know me personally, you know that's not much of a secret.  I'm quite sure that at some point in the last four years, I've gotten a paper plate award for "Most Likely to Drink PBR Ironically and Listen to Some Band You've Never Heard Of."  Thus, it may come as no surprise that one item off my New York bucket list is to explore Brooklyn.  Thus on my day off yesterday, I donned my best checkered silk Madewell shirt and fake Ray-Bans and hopped on a train to Park Slope's 5th Avenue for some girl time, vintage shopping, and the desperate hope that I would run into my current brain-crush Lena Dunham with my lovely friends Nicole and Anna (the insanely talented artist behind Grey-Hoodie).  One can only hope for the last one, right?

In any case, what was intended to be a lighthearted evening of progressive coffee drinking and Israeli food eating, turned into two hours of vintage shopping and chatting with various shopkeepers about ridiculous things like belts and boys.  The first of whom was Shay of Pony, who proved not only to have excellent style but was definitely and instigator for our shopping addiction.

Left, Bottom-Right:  Pony at 5th Ave. and St. Mark's Place; Top-Right:  Banana Republic Strappy Sandals for $23.

Pony has got to be one of the keenest shops I've ever been into.  Mind you, I'm not a huge fan of vintage shopping.  The idea of wearing someone else's clothes weirds me out to no end.  You don't know where it's been!  Not only do they have an excellent collection of second-hand designer goods from Marc Jacobs to Diane von Furstenberg at affordable prices, but they steam and clean each one of their pieces.  My favorite part has to be their selection of jewelry, bags and belts.  Not to mention, Shay will tell you how great you look the entire time, which is great for your self confidence but not for your wallet.  I came out with a comfortable pair of strappy leather heels for $23.  My wallet blames Shay and Nicole.

Did Park Slope make my wallet cry more?  Want to know some more vintage shops to check out?  Click that next page, and click it HARD.

Next up was Beacon's Closet, which is like Goodwill but with more sequins and Zac Posen.  Luckily, the clothes there were more there for entertainment value.  Somehow, I can't see myself walking around in a skirt with giraffes on it topped with a gold sparkly bra-top in Atlanta.  However, in that very vein, the selection there was abundant, with racks and racks of clothing to sort through.

Beacon's Place on 5th Ave. and Warren St.

Now, the rest of the shopping trip was a bit of a blur, due to lack of eating at the expense of exploring more. For as many vintage stores in Park Slope, there were tons of vintage-ish stores as well.  By vintage-ish, I mean fake vintage -- stores that sell old looking clothing but they're actually new and somewhat mass-produced.  Stores of note include Habit, Two Lovers, Flirt, and Teddy.  Is it just me, or do many of these stores have one-word names?  

Top-Left:  Anna rocking out a Beacon's Closet Giraffe dress at Habit on 5th Ave. and St. John Pl.; Bottom-Left:  Flirt on 5th Ave. and Baltic St.; Right:  Teddy on 5th Ave. and Prospect Pl.

By the time we exited Habit, my wallet had still not forgiven me for what I had put it through earlier this credit-card cycle.  Sadly, my dream of running into Lena Dunham and becoming her best friend did not come to pass.  I came out of Brooklyn with some sexy new shoes and some much needed girl time which is great enough.  Plus, 50% off dinner at this delicious Israeli restaurant called Miriam was a nice consolation prize.

Side note:  If you haven't had a chance to catch the season finale or entire season of Lena Dunham's "Girls" on HBO, be sure to catch it.  Not only did it serve as my only reference for what Brooklyn's like (because let's face it, I base all my important life decisions and references on things I see on television), but has some of the most subtle and funny writing and acting on television today.  If you have seen "Girls" or love Brooklyn, holler back down in the comments.

Eventually, I'm going to work up the courage and the energy to start the Look Book portion of the blog too. If you have any suggestions, comments are much appreciated.