Most thrifters will agree it’s nearly impossible to find well constructed, warm, odourless second-hand outerwear that doesn’t cost about a million euros. When you do, you know you’ve found a vintage fashion treasure worth bragging about.
Of all the vintage shops I had in my itinerary during my trip to Brussels last weekend, this one was definitely the least enticing. I even excluded it from the list originally thinking a kilo shop would be too many clothes to browse in so little time.
Melting Pot Vintage Kilo in Brussels
We had a bit of time to kill between sunset and dinner, and it started to drizzle as we randomly walked past this shop’s front door. Our visit to Melting Pot Vintage Kilo was thus, completely unplanned.
In case you’ve never set foot in one or heard about the concept, in a kilo shop everything is priced by weight. You place your items on a scale in order to gauge how much they cost. Here, it was 15 euros per kilo.
Most clothes on display are either unbranded, a bit worn out or simply out of trend, which explains why they’re so cheap. Potential is usually what you’re looking for in a kilo shop. You also need a bit of luck to find anything worthwhile.
The issue with wool blend
I spotted this coat hanging on one of the walls. The colour, a mix between squash and gingerbread, was unusual enough to catch my attention. The material felt soft to the touch, which could only mean one thing. I was in the presence of a wool and cashmere blend. Bingo!
You probably already know these materials are hard to come by and deemed a luxury. Various amounts of synthetic fibres – polyester or polyamide at the top of the list – have entered the composition of “wool” coats in the past few decades.
Knitwear is now often described as “wool blend”, usually with less than 50% wool. The shell of this particular coat is 90% wool and cashmere, 10% polyamide. In other words, an excellent score for a castoff in a humble kilo shop.
