Vintage Made Easy
No Musty Mazes to Navigate for Finds at Vintage POP
Thrift shopping tends to be, more often than not, a needle-in-a-haystack sort of situation.
For every mint-condition vintage frock, there are a hundred muumuus peppered with worrisome stains and scratched leather pumps with half-broken heels—and sorting though it all sometimes requires more dedication then it’s worth.
Luckily, this week there’s someone to do the dirty work for you.
Vintage POP, a side project of POP Montreal, takes hand picked designs from the city’s most seasoned second-hand shoppers.
This edition will be focused on fall wear, with eleven designers from around the city selling their vintage finds.
Although the vendors usually operate under Etsy pages and web stores, the sellers will now be taking their second hand stock to the public.
“I recently sent a tank top all the way to India… That’s neat looking up these rural addresses,” says Caitlin Loney, the vendor behind Etsy shop MeliMelo.
“But on the other hand, it’s nice seeing the person who’s buying the clothes and being able to see them be able to try a bunch of different pieces on.”
Although it may still technically be sandal season, the vendors have already found and altered pieces to work with the upcoming fall weather.
“Very wearable vintage,” says Loney of her collection.
“I’m really into patterns right now, and putting a nice vintage floral or art deco shirt with a pair of black jeans can really look great.”
This year is the first time since Vintage POP started that the event hasn’t been hosted in Mile End. Instead, this year it will be occupying a storefront in the McGill ghetto.
“I’m really into patterns right now, and putting a nice vintage floral or art deco shirt with a pair of black jeans can really look great.” -Vintage POP vendor Caitlin Loney
Although Tessa Smith, director of Puces POP, admits that this year’s location wasn’t necessarily planned, it will be the perfect place anyway.
“It’s going to be aimed at the back-to-school shopping crowd; for the first time we’re doing it in the McGill ghetto,” said Smith. “So it will be nice to be coming to a new neighbourhood and connecting more with the students.”
Not only is Vintage POP changing location, but this year will also be the biggest sale yet. Eleven vendors will be setting up shop in the
Prince-Arthur St. W. storefront, some who have worked at the festival before as well as some newcomers.
“There’s no competition or anything like that, it’s definitely a fun atmosphere” says Loney. “Part of the fun of setting up is hanging out with the people there, checking out their stock. It’s fun to sort of geek out and look at each others vintage lot.”
Among the eleven vendors are Etsy sellers Cheap Opulence, New Wave Natives, Young Captive and Soubrette.
To see who’s selling what, and to check out their online stock, go to popmontreal.com for the full listing of vendors.
Vintage POP / 19 Prince- Arthur St. W. / Sept. 5 to Sept. 9 / Wednesday to Friday 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. / Saturday and Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
