Tuesday, December 29, 2009

On fait du shopping

My brother and I went to some after-Christmas sales Saturday and ended up spending the whole day on South Congress Avenue in Austin. Below are our favorite places from the day. I highly recommend these and others!

Prototype Vintage and Design

Prototype is actually two different stores; the home design store and vintage boutique are separated by Feathers, another of my favorite South Congress second-hand shops. On Saturday, I literally picked through every rack of clothes at Prototype. This wasn’t a tedious task at all, though, considering that the store is so well edited and that all of the pieces are in very good condition. Even better, the price point for most of the pieces (about $20=$70) is extremely reasonable.

I was REALLY tempted to buy this camel-colored turtleneck tunic from the 70s, but the fabric was way too itchy – 70% nylon acrylic/30% mohair is not a good combo.

I did end up buying this amazing leather 1950s trench coat. It fits like a dream, is in perfect condition, and it was only $54! I couldn’t believe it. I definitely didn’t need another coat, but couldn’t stand to pass it up.

Friends of Sound

We would have never known this shop existed if my dad had not somehow stumbled upon it -- its façade is very unassuming and, frankly, a little sketchy. Located just behind Prototype, the record store sells extensive collections of jazz, soul, electro-pop, etc. The place is kind of a hole in the wall, and you have to be willing to search, but I think it’s worth it. My brother walked away with a rare Jay-Z single that neither of us had heard of before.

Hovercraft

was our third pick of the day. This vintage redesign store just opened a few months ago, and is, again, very well edited. After doing quite a bit of damage in Prototype, I forced myself to buy this red and black knit sweater vest circa 1990 (which I’ll get pictures of as soon as I have more batteries for my camera!) and pass on these two gorgeous Ben Sherman dresses. I'm planning to go back once I can think of a good excuse to go shopping again...

I’m visiting Houston right now and probably won’t have time to post until the weekend. But hopefully I’ll have good New Years Eve pictures to share by then :D. A bientôt!

3 comments:

  1. Your next shopping excuse will come when Roxane gets there! That multicolored dress just above is so pretty and very "Colleen". Aaaaaand I'm going to borrow it from you every day. Kidding. Maybe. Anyway Roxane was asking about malls...I realized I've NEVER been to the mall in Austin - I told her that they exist, though...The Domain? idk. But you should (obviously) take her to SoCo as well! :)

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  2. Yayyy! I have a new shopping buddy. I would let you borrow the dress, of course, but I didn't end up buying it :( . I really liked it, but it's completely out of season, and I couldn't justify paying $95 for it. But maybe they'll still have it in the spring.

    As far as malls go, Barton Creek and the Domain are probably our best bets. I like the Domain a lot better, but Barton Creek is très américain, so maybe it would be good for us to go :D

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  3. I love Prototype! I bought a really funny all-over print versace t-shirt there. That's a kick ass trench coat!

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