a 4 minute visual vacation
to a flea market in Denmark
It’s freezing outside.
I needed a visual vacation and sought out the solace of my camera roll. Within, I found photos from a particularly good afternoon in Denmark last Summer. It was a warm day and I visited arguably the best flea market within 10 km (a 15-minute car ride or 30-minute bike ride) of central Copenhagen, Gentofte Loppemarked.
The first thing you see when you walk in are flowers. And what a greeting it is.
Past the flowers is a gravel path. The path is lined on either side with tents and tables, and their generally cheery salespeople who stand and answer customers’ questions.
Even if you don’t have a dime to spend, the whole thing is a glorious visual affair. And the people-watching is bar none. So many cool girls dressed to the nines. Cool, hip, preppy. All sorts of interesting combinations and styles. I think Danes have a little more personal style than Americans. It’s not just that they dress well, they have taste, they’re original. They are not mere iterations of each other. Design is in their DNA and I don’t think they’re as inundated with or affected by the “you need to look this way and dress this way” messaging. They have the confidence to curate their styles based on what they like.
The path opens up to a large gravel plot. It sounds otherwise totally unromantic, even gross, but it’s gorgeous. Gorgeous people in their gorgeous outfits with their gorgeously unique and funny objects. It’s a wonderful sartorial circus.
The only sadness you feel at the flea is not being able to take home everything with you. It’s part of the game to feel a pang of regret when you open your camera roll and see pictures of what you left.
I spy with my little eye a light pink/peach pleated satin slip dress. Something about it reminded me of the bow that the “Little Dancer” statue has in her hair by Degas. It came home with me for 90kr ($13).
Something you should know about these Danish flea markets: you’re going to need to bring cash—or a Danish friend that you can Venmo later (wink wink thank you, Celine). Denmark has their version of Venmo called MobilePay which you can’t get unless you’re a Danish resident and have a Danish bank account to connect it to. Long story short, don’t forget cash.
What I did bring home was: the peach pink satin dress $13, a suede coat $7, a silver serving spoon with an engraved “A” $3, and an oatmeal-colored sweater vest $5. Sweet treasures.
On the way out they had a food truck bakery and I got my favorite pastry: a cardamom bun. Mmmmm.
Tak fordi du kom med! (thanks for coming with!)
Mkh (with loving regards), Addi