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New York City has more stores than anyone could physically tackle, but somehow we always keep returning to the usual suspects. To break out of the rut, we've asked some local shopping and fashion gurus to provide their hidden retail gems—those unique stores around our fantastic city that we might not all know about. Cue the Beatles: We're about to get a little help from our friends.
Image via Metropolis
Meet Mark Armstrong Peddigrew: Renaissance man, antique junkie, adventurist, and founder of Cartography40n74w, a collection of necklaces created from found objects. Each of his pieces is a vignette of art and history and no two necklaces are the same, although they are all comprised of a knife, an animal, a religious icon, a stone, and a token related to travel. He tells us he's spent his live savings on the perfectly fitting vintage tees from Metropolis, a pre-loved rock and roll clothing emporium in the East Village.
I am a vintage t-shirt junkie—the more beat up and falling apart the better. But not just any vintage t-shirt will do?only the rock and roll ones. Being 6 feet and 220 lbs, it's often difficult to find the perfect fit, as XL in 1985 is more like a medium in 2012. But I never leave Metropolis in the East Village empty-handed. The t-shirt gods are always on my side, guiding me to ultra-rare Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Sinead O'Connor, The Pixies and The Smiths.
I considered the astronomical amount I spent on Morrissey and the boys to be an investment as I have thrown away my retirement on these delicate threads with plans of opening a t-shirt museum. This isn't a store to breeze through though—t-shirts inhabit a multitude of racks, with the most precious of them all lining the walls, columns, windows and railings. And then of course, there is the great selection of dusty lace-up boots.· Metropolis [Official Site]
· Cartography40n74w [Official Site]
· All Shopping Confidential Posts [Racked NY]