Holy City Vintage Market (HCVM) invites thrifters and secondhand shoppers to The Royal American on Sept. 5 to celebrate its five-year anniversary.
Born in 2016, HCVM was established as a way to bring people together.
“All I wanted when we began was to create a place for like-minded souls to gather and share their love and appreciation for all-things vintage and secondhand,” said founder and co-organizer Kelly Rae Smith of Rhubarb Vintage in a press release.
In honor of its anniversary, HCVM will organize its largest ever vintage market in The Royal American’s parking lot. During the market, a flash vintage fashion show, Fashion on the Fly, will take place and all proceeds will benefit We Are Family — a local nonprofit focused on advocating and providing safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth and encouraging leadership development.
The market will be 11 a.m.-4 p.m., and the flash fashion show will begin at 3 p.m.
Volunteer models will be assigned to stylist teams that must create runway-ready looks using clothes from specific on-site vendors. Models will be assigned at noon on the day of the market, and stylists will have two-and-half hours to pull together their best vintage ensembles.
Spectators can vote on a winner by donating money to the team they want to win. All donations will go directly to We Are Family.
“I never imagined that we’d be here five years later, with an entire sustainable fashion movement that so many local vintage vendors are responsible for ushering into Charleston,” said Smith.
Ancien Vintage and Closet Case Thrift will be among the on-site in addition to Smith’s pop-up Rhubarb Vintage. Other vendors will offer tarot card readings, henna tattoos, fresh flowers for purchase and more. Dr. Dence will be playing vintage rock and pop song covers and The Royal American will be serving up celebratory cake.
For updates on Holy City Vintage Markets’ latest events and happenings, check out @holycityvintagemarket on Instagram.
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