Sunday, December 03, 2006

Urban Outfitters in Charleston


On Saturday, Alex and I went to Charleston. We took four large reproduction Audubon prints, twelve antique shell engravings, sixteen or so chromolithographs of various fruit, and seven 18th c. hand colored botanicals in Italian burlwood frames. We had a lot of work to do rearranging the walls at Terrace Oaks, but the place looks good again. We headed to King Street, the heart of old Charleston for lunch at Moe's, a few used CDs at Millenium Music, and to shop at Urban Outfitters. Parking is generally a problem in this tourist section of town, but my van has a commercial license plate which means we can park in the loading zones. There was a place right in front of the store! Alex has no problem getting me to go to Urban Outfitters, a store aimed to the fashionable youth of today--hardly a place for a middle aged mom like me (or at least Alex laughs at the idea that I would wear clothing from the place). I love the place, however, for its architecture. The former, elegant theater is refurbished in such a manner as to simutaneously showcase the ornamental decor of a by gone era with the popular cosmopolitan look of a New York artist's studio loft. I took dozens of photos, mostly from the former theater balcony which now serves as the men's clothing section. Alex found a part of medium gray cordoroy pants and a tee shirt with the title, The New York Times, across the front in the proper, distinctive font.


3 comments:

Unknown said...

I have been searching for images of this store since my visit a few years ago. They did a marvelous job on this.

Do you by chance have anymore images? Do you have any detail shots of the lovely furniture that was made from reused materials?

Susan Lenz said...

Megan....your profile doesn't allow me to leave you a message....so I hope you check back here. I used to have an entire file of images from that day but can't find it anywhere on my computer....but I don't think I captured any of the furniture. I was "in love" with the building!
Susan

Unknown said...

I was as well! I am a designer and focus a lot of my practice and thought in material reuse. I wish I had taken photos that day as they took everyday objects and made them into something both functional and beautiful.

Thanks!!