Your Second Hand and Vintage Guide to Shopping in Berlin.
Berlin is bound to play host to an interesting and delightful array of items when exploring its streets to uncover its retro and vintage past. There are plenty of vintage shops and flea markets just waiting to be discovered in this fantastic city. Be ready to discover 1950′s eastern european crockery sets, shoes from as early as the 1930′s and half decent east german 1970′s pieces of furniture for a fraction of the price found elsewhere. Home to the Bauhaus school between 1932 and 33 whose criteria was to focus on the creation of a total work of art in which all arts could be brought together, including architecture, Germany’s art and design history is bursting with iconic and kitsch design many of it hidden away in its capital city ready to be unearthed.
So where does a retro kitsch vintage magpie fly when visiting this city? One of the best places to start are most probably the notorious flea markets that pop up over the weekend in Berlin. Though overflowing with tourists Mauerpark Flea Market in Prenzlauerberg is widely accepted as a true ‘Berlin Experience’. I would advise you to turn up at the end of the day to rummage through the stock the sellers don’t want to take back home with them. Boxhagener Platz Flea market located in Friedichshain ihas plenty of vinyl, junk, crockery and second hand fashion. Be prepared to haggle for your items as all markets are run by private sellers and prices can start off quite high particularly for tourists.
A favourite shopping experience in Berlin of mine is OFT (Ohne Frage Toll) in Chaussestrasse for true vintage shopping, good vibes and aesthetic pleasure. Walking into this shop transports you back in time to a 1960′s retro kitsch underworld which specializes in lighting, interiors and clothing. OFT has plenty of high quality stock and is a must-see on your list of places to visit.
If you are willing to spend time searching through endless dizzying piles of second hand clothes in order to bag yourself a true bargain then Jumbo Second Hand maybe for you. Filled to the rim with dresses, shoes, shirts, bags, belts, you name it, it is the perfect second hand clothing destination if you don’t have too much cash to spend with a decent selection of quality stock. For shoes, make your way to Calypso with hundreds of pairs of shoes from all decades starting as early as the 1930´s, whatever you are searching for you will most probably find it here hidden amongst its rows and rows of possible delights for your feet!
Immaculate Heart located in Rosa-Luxemburg Platz is a cute little boutique. When browsing through this shop it is easy to see that all its items are chosen with love and care, combined this makes a lovely shopping experience for the customer as you don#t find yourself feeling lost searching through piles of disorganised rubbish and junk. If it is that sort of experience you are craving and it is quantity over quality you wish for your euro’s find your way to Frankfurter Tor to a second hand like department store named Humana. Filled with quite literally thousands of items over 5 floors, cheap and cheerful and most definitely worth a look. Some second hand, some vintage, you could quite literally spend a whole day in this place.
Next, for a true Berlin second hand shopping experience is Garage Berlin, famous for selling its clothes sold by the kilo. Don’t be expecting any quality items from this shop, most of its good stock is priced individually and not apart of the kilo deal, however this is perhaps a good place to go if you are handy with a needle and thread and searching for a make do and mend project. Most of its stock is pretty hit and miss but as always, the odd bargain is sure to be found. Head to Rock a Tick Vintage for plenty of second hand menswear, this shop is for the rockabilly crows specialising in American forties and fifties wear. Plenty of vintage denim and loud Hawaian shirts for your man available here.
Categorised as: Women's Fashion