Rue St. Denis

Profile

Named after the former red-light district of Paris where shop owner Jean-Paul Buthier perused the thrift markets as a teenager, Rue St. Denis has long borne witness to the changing face of the East Village. First opened in 1990 on the Upper West Side, Buthier’s shop migrated to Alphabet City in 1993; just as its Parisian namesake thoroughfare has given way to more seemly commerce, the shop that once clothed gritty neighborhood artists now outfits the local (and not-so-local) gentry with high-end vintage duds. The shop's no-nonsense, floor-to-ceiling collection of mostly unworn clothing, shoes, and accessories from the forties to the eighties—culled from "dead stock" storage warehouses around the world—offers laundered (and often refurbished) merchandise for men and women. The shop is known for its wide assortment of polyester shirts, cocktail dresses, leather motorcycle jackets, and women's coats, but the hottest ticket is their back-room collection of men's suits—sixties skinny suits, polyester leisure suits, three-piece classics—all unworn, and made even more attractive with in-store alteration services. For women looking for a reprise of Annie Hall, Rue St. Denis carries teen-size men's suits by Pierre Cardin and Yves St. Laurent. — Sarah Walker