Saturday, July 7, 2012

I'm (Always) Thinking Hudson



    Last weekend I had a very good excuse to take a day trip to one of the loveliest, most interesting, friendliest little towns in the greater Capital District. I think I can say it now: I'm full-blown in love with Hudson. Sorry, boyfriend. The town has a reputation for being an antiques mecca for the second-home-escape-from-the-City set but that doesn't mean there's not enough shopping and eating for the rest of us to do. I certainly did enough of both for about five people.


    Hudson has a rep for lots of expensive, fussy stuff, but it really is a great place for amazingly well-priced and curated vintage. Sideshow is one of my favorite places in the city. There is a lot there from the 60's through the 80's that just screams my name- Peter Pan collars, tribal prints and maxi dresses galore. Everything I looked at was in very good condition and looked like it was carefully selected, but the prices certainly didn't reflect that. The last time I visited I bought a very Mad Men tie neck blouse for $15 and it looks like there isn't very much above $50. It's hard to see from this picture but the swimsuit on the right is a Budweiser print. I wish it was my size, so I'm considering this a public service announcement so that someone I know will buy it.
    We also popped into Look, which features more upscale vintage finds. There was a small selection of clothes, but most of the shop is devoted to accessories: Vivianne Westwood shoes, vintage Louis Vuittons, old Hermes scarves. Again, it seems like a lot of thought and care went into the selection. We talked to the owner very briefly and she seemed to know her stock very well. I had promised myself that I wouldn't buy anything I didn't absolutely need, but the jewelry made that hard. Look at the sparkle!
    I won't even get into the eating here since this is supposed to be a fashion blog, but trust, there's a lot to be done. And the drinking! We left very satisfied. And I still have a lot of exploring to do. I only really talked about a couple of the dozen or so amazing shops in this limited space. We stopped in at Megagem and I fell in love with just about everything, but it's clear they have a growing business and it would be great to see a few things I could actually afford. It's clear that Hudson is a town that is growing and I'm excited to go back soon. In the next couple months the Basilica Hudson, owned in part by my early girl-crush Melissa Auf de Maur, is putting up some amazing shows so I have a good excuse to make the drive. Even if they weren't Hudson is well worth it as a mecca of local business, art and small-town friendliness.

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