Sadly, our three days in NYC had to end. However, my trip was not over yet. We drove more our to go to Corning, NY and we took a little shuttle bus ride to their downtown area. I loved it so much, the atmosphere was very vintage-like. All shops were all private-owned, some are started way back, when I wasn't even born yet. It was very beautiful.
Desire, Irene's sister, and I walked around the little historic part of the town and were very thankful we did because we found this amazing vintage/second hand store called Mint Velvet. Both being in love with anything vintage (granny advocates), we were in awe the moment we came in. This was our EB Games to gamers, Canada Computers to geeks, Las Vegas to gamblers, Oscars to actors. We were shrieking at everything we see because it was absolutely adorable, vintage, thrifted, everything.
Mint Velvet sells everything from vintage clothing, accessories, house decor, furnitures, and antiques. I did not want to leave. Everything was beautiful, did I mention that?
This place had two storeys of good stuff. I had a chance to meet the lovely owner, Rochelle (I hope it really is Rochelle, I couldn't remember its been months!). She recently just opened this store and we could tell because upstairs, on the second floor, it wasn't as filled as the first and it was just clothes in a rack. Some of them didn't even have any price tags yet.
According to Rochelle, she decided to open up this store because she thrifted way too many things! So all of the items in the store are thrifted. I really admire this woman because of her great eye in good, cute things and because she is down-to-earth, kind, and very welcoming (she complimented my mint green shorts from Zara kids, yes). She allowed me to take pictures of things in her store. We told her we were visiting from Canada and coincidently, Tommy Hilfiger in Yorkdale Mall bought two pillows from her store to re-decorate their store! So, she gave us her business card so we can contact her and take pictures of where they put the two pillows. Up until now, I haven't visited but I've been meaning to, I promise! It's just, it's a two-hour ride from where I live.
I wasn't going to leave the store without any souvenirs! Here is what I snagged from the lovely antique store. Remember, this was nearing the end of my trip so my cash was not as flexible as when we were grabbing everything in the Sanrio store in Times Square. So here's what I got:
- A vintage scalloped handbag - $15
- A chunky and comfy cable knit sweater - $10
At the end of the day, I was very happy with my purchases. These two remain to be one of my favourite items to wear when I'm out and about to go to school, run errands, or even going out to go skating.
I recommend everyone to pay a visit at Mint Velvet because it's just lovely. Such a lovely ambiance, especially when you're coming from a city with mostly rude people. I would definitely come back to get feed my vintage fix.
