Visiting The Vintage Bazaar

At noon on Sunday, August 22nd, I queued up at the end of a line that stretched around The Congress Theatre for The Vintage Bazaar. Over 100 vendors had loaded their wares into the theatre for this modern pop-up flea market. I went armed with my camera to scope out the event.

The Congress was packed with vintage resellers and, by the time I made it into the theatre, a crowd hungry for deals. Katherine Raz and Libby Alexander organized an eclectic group of vendors for this one-day event. In addition to the racks of vintage clothing, there was also a fair share of vintage furniture and housewares.

The theatre was so packed with eager shoppers that nagivating the aisles between vendors was a bit tricky. And, due to the darkness of the Congress, photography was a bit of a challenge as well. Judging by the number of people I saw carrying purchases, the crowd and the heat in the theatre did not hinder sales.

For information about the vendors at The Vintage Bazaar, check out Vintage Bazaar. Be sure to sign up for the twitter feed to be updated about the next event.

Image: Jason Loper

Comments (11)

I though the vintage bazaar was terrible and I much prefer going to your typical flea markets. It was too crowded and hot, and the vendors were overpriced. I found very few interesting things that I would have found at any other flea market.

Personally I have to disagree with NormaJean. I thought this was a great event. A little hot, but its August in Chicago, darling.

I notice your comments tend to be a bit on the negative/whiny side, NormaJean.

Thank you for posting this! I just did a write up on the Bazaar over at our blog:

http://www.yellowbrickhome.com/2010/08/23/the-pop-up-flea-market/

While it was hot in there (I mean, wow), I did have a blast and don't mind a crowd.

@leather&lace - yes, but she is entitled to her opinion. no need to chastize.
and it has been a WAY hot summer.

I would've appreciated an idea of the prices of items at this event, however, so if one rolls around again I'll know if it's worth it to go or not. Really, more detail about the event in general (who are the organizers - I know there are links but then I have to go away from the apartment therapy site; what inspired them to do this event; is there a possibility for others?). This wasn't very well publicized in advance, I live in the 'hood and didn't hear about it.

didn't hear about it either...

off topic -- i went to brown elephant in andersonville a few days ago and spotted a what looks like a real arco lamp. $850! really?

Yay for the Vintage Bazaar! I loved it (although I guess I'm biased since I was a vendor there). In terms of future plans, I read that there will definitely be future events-the organizers are currently working on the 2011 schedule. According to the blog post below it seems they might be planning four shows next year. Wow!

http://boutiqueville.com/2010/08/17/have-a-bazaar-sunday/

Darn, I wish I would have seen something before the show.

wow, leather&lace -- getting personal. just because you disagree with my assessment. i was disappointed with the vintage bazaar because i had been looking forward to it and that was that! i have been to plenty of flea markets and it is one thing to be hot outside and another to be hot in stale air. i'll put a positive spin on this to please you -- i appreciate flea markets now much more, i'll tell you that!

@NormaJean - I fully support you stating your opinions even if people label them as negative. Sometimes the Polly Anna police pop up in the strangest places. Why has our world so suddenly become obsessed with people being positive instead of just saying what's on their minds?

@Any such name - They seemed to have a handle on advertising city wide. I heard about it in tons of places like AT, TOC, & 848. But it is too bad they didn't publicize it in the hood.