It’s to no one’s surprise that college students tend to run short of cash. The hunt for the cheapest deals is an ongoing personal battle during every hour of the day. The most important survival factor is of course, food, but clothing comes in as a close second. In a city where fashion is so prevalent, how and where can students keep up?
Thrift is a great answer to a lot of problems. Need something cheap or want something unique? Perfect. Need to get out of your room or go on a new adventure? Also a good choice. A glance at the past isn’t always for the museums and Montreal provides great opportunities to find it elsewhere. Throughout the year, Montreal hosts a variety of different thrift events all across the city. No one sale is the same, and better yet, every find is unique. Tons of people have found crazy items and insane brand deals at the cost of almost nothing. So, it was my time to find something of my own!
On Sunday, March 24th, a Vintage Clothing Pop Up was being held on St. Denis, a couple streets over from campus and well within walking distance. Gathering two of my friends, we set out on what we assumed would be a quick few hours, but turned into a full day’s trek. To start, we walked down St. Denis when we should have walked up. By the time we realized that we had been walking a little too long, we were nearing Old Montreal. Between the buildings slowly turned the humongous Ferris wheel, and being a nice day, we were tempted to try it out before shopping. So right there and then, we decided we would eat, go on the Ferris wheel, and still make it back to the thrift event by taking the metro back up the hill. Not soon after, we ditched the Ferris wheel and food plan and took the metro to the nearest shop on St. Denis. Proven to be easily distracted, we stopped in a few stores on the way and bought our own wardrobe additions: a pair of white and yellow Converse for one of my friends and a pair of white and brown Adidas for myself.
A good hour later and we made one last stretch towards the vintage event. After passing a charming pet dog on the street, we had finally arrived. Funny enough, we had only noticed we reached the event location by the site of a very long line. Curiosity of the commotion led us to check it out, where we happily got in line and waited our turn to enter the doors of the building. We were thankful when we reached the doors a short ten minutes later, sliding into the very small room, ready to browse.
The room was set up with vendors, all dedicated to their own little corner. Each had their own unique aesthetic style according to their store they came to represent, and all offered something different. We migrated to one section in particular, where we began trying on funky glasses and admiring neat pins. In particular, a Nantucket baseball hat and a Nike sweater stood out the most, and after a little bit of convincing, both had new homes. Unfortunately, the clothing didn’t come back with me, but the experience did.
To end the day even better but a few hours late, we satisfied our appetites and stopped to eat at a Japanese restaurant. The room was empty and the atmosphere was relaxed, a complete opposite to what we had just gone through. Being a nice contrast, we could unwind for the walk back, where we got bubble tea like a newly formed addiction. Now, the day was over, but the search for more upcoming thrift and vintage events was just starting, especially with the warmer months of the year rounding the corner!
