I would like to be the kind of woman who manages to find a Dior dress even at the most provincial flea market. You know the type. That woman who shows up at a party wearing a dress that you’ve never seen anywhere else before and looking sensational in it. And when you ask her where she got it from, she inevitably answers: “Oh that? That’s vintage.” Bought in a tiny little store in Paris, of course. For just a handful of Euros, naturally. I would love to know how these women do it. Because when I walk into a second hand store I don’t find sensational dresses. I find so much polyester that my skin crawls just from looking at it.
It’s possible that I simply lack the patience required to dig through boxes of tat just to find one great piece. But it’s more likely that I’ve been to the wrong stores. That’s what I thought when I first went to Soeur on Marienburger Straße in Berlin. Soeur is less a store than a cool friend’s dressing room, where you’re allowed to rummage through the rails and keep discovering little treasures: Oh, a blouse from Wunderkind! Mhm, a bag from Jimmy Choo! Waaaaaahhhhhh, stilettos from Alaia! And everything’s as good as new.
Nina, the owner, favours French labels like Isabel Marant, Chloé and Vanessa Bruno and besides the vintage A.P.C. pieces she also has their younger label Madras. You’ll find Acne jeans, Prada shoes and Moschino handbags here, too. There are constantly new garments arriving and the best pieces are usually sold before the price tag is even attached. I ended up getting changed in the kitchen, because the queue for the changing room was so long.
I took home a silk top from Filippa K. and some beautiful green earrings that day. Next step: finding Dior at a flea market.
P.S. Nina also sells accessories, jewellery, books, ceramics and vintage furniture. That’s her with her daughter Rosa in the last picture.
Thank you, Nina!
