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Just got back from the beach last night. Downtown Wilmington, NC has some very stylish spots. Edge of Urge, for example, is a really well-stocked boutique (even though the shopkeeper refused to let me use a sink after I’d liberally applied what turned out to be Eau de Bacon — Demeter’s Bonfire). 008 on Market Street is another store with equally desirable inventory. Pravda, a “Soviet-style vodka bar,” and its sister spot Odessa look like they would stand out in New York- or at least hang with. Charley Brownz, Cafe Phoenix, Deluxe, YoSake with its anime-clad walls — good design and originality abound all along Front Street and its adjoining blocks.
But here’s the catch– none of that stylishness and edge has rubbed off on the town’s inhabitants. Granted, in the summer season much of the downtown crowd is bound to be tourists, and the university is obviously not in session, but M and I were appalled by the absence of a single person whose personal style did justice to the look and feel of the places we went. The unofficial Wilmington uniform is solid-color cotton and khaki. Not a soul seemed to dare to be different, and it’s not for lack of trying that we didn’t really meet anybody interesting.
Maybe it’s because of a lack of good vintage? We stopped in at Flashbax, a vintage store I had remembered from my last trip to Wilmington. This was before I really got into buying and selling it– I must not have known much about appropriate pricing, because even though I remembered it was slightly on the pricier side, I didn’t register that the prices are downright exorbitant! M picked up a, yes, very cute, cotton tank sundress from the 1970s in a yes, very pretty, browns-and-oranges pattern. I’m thinking $25, $30, $40 absolute maximum. The damn thing was $79.00! And that’s not a fluke for that store.
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