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Montreal Goth shopping: retro vintage alternative clothing. Bazaar of the Bizarre, Creatures, Diabolik.

Montreal street art, mural

Let’s continue our Montreal Alternative Adventure with a red light district walk, rockabilly vintage shops, and council of sausage dogs! On the second day, I wore…

Black hooded leather jacket: Danier Canada
Metal rings skater skirt and leggings: GladNews, from Shibuya 109 Tokyo
Black stud ankle boots: Yosuke, from Shibuya109
Eyeballs purse: Izzue Hong Kong
White cateye sunglasses: Dolce and Gabbana

steampunk leather masks, bazaar of bizarre montreal

Lauren and I stopped by Bazaar of the Bizarre, an “extravaganza of unusual arts/crafts and wearable goods” that takes place at the same as Kinetik Festival. Designers set up tables and sold handmade items, such as these leather masks with beaks and tentacles.

Montreal kinetik festival, goth clothes, shops

I heart the hard-shell spiky purses, masquerade masks, and haunting prints on book pages.

Montreal steampunk, gothic fashion stores

Steampunk, Goth, cyber and metal subcultures all come together at the Bazaar.

cafe chaos, bar passeport

After, we went on the Candyass & King Red Light Tour. As we walked through the historical district, our guides spoke about notable people and places, such as burlesque star Lili St-Cyr and punk Cafe Chaos.

cafe cleopatra, burlesque club

Many underground venues have shut down, but strip club Café Cléopâtre has stood its ground.

Montreal fashion blogger, canadian fashion blog

We learned about ongoing attempts to “cleanse” the Red Light district, from New France up to today. The duo tells us the struggle continues between artists and developers, preservation and progress.

panda bear art, drawing, cute

One of the many great things about Montreal: art is everywhere. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this panda painting.

dachshund un, united nations dogs

And how brilliant is this public art exhibit? “Dachshund UN” — a United Nations represented by sausage dogs!

un sausage dogs, quebec weird art

Artists Bennett Miller set up this canine conference at Quartier des Spectacles. Each wiener dog had a human handler underneath.

Montreal goth shop, gothic clothes

This racy store window’s caption made me laugh. “Unexpected turbulence.”

troll dolls, vintage toys

How about shopping? For retro and rockabilly fans, these shops are a must: Kitsch ‘n’ Swell and Rokokonut (3968-9 St Laurent Blvd).

Montreal vintage shop, Kitsch 'n' Swell

It’s vintage clothing paradise, from 1950s dresses to leopard print loungewear.

1970s makeup, magazine

The stores also carry books and home goods, such as this 1970s magazine.

Rokokonut, retro clothing

Can you spot my alien antenna in the mirror? There are quite a few cute boutiques around St Laurent Boulevard. We had fun strolling around and stopping for coffee.

creatures, diabolik, montreal goth shops

Quite a few readers recommended the Goth/Alternative fashion boutiques Creatures and Diabolik. Both are on Avenue Mont-Royal; we sadly didn’t have time to check them out, but hopefully you’ll get a chance to visit and let me know what you think.

Montreal outfit post, red light district

Did I miss any key Montreal alt shopping destinations? What do you think of the sausage dog United Nations?

More dark Montreal tips on Goth Me Out’s site and my Alternative Canada blog category. The video is next, featuring… bagelheads!

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28 Comments

  1. Valeree
    Posted August 20, 2013 at 3:44 am | Permalink

    Montreal had a tragic loss this year- “Cruella”, one of the iconic shops for the alt/Goth scene in the northeast had to close it’s doors. If you’re in Montreal for concerts, events, cons, or just plain there, be sure to support the small businesses and artists that La Carmina mentions in her articles, to keep them around for the future!

    Did you know that Velma Candyass’s (of Candyass & King Red Light Tour) burlesque show performed at theJust for Laughs comedy festival this year

  2. Valeree
    Posted August 20, 2013 at 3:44 am | Permalink

    PS- great article!

  3. Eric
    Posted August 20, 2013 at 3:45 am | Permalink

    Velma Candyass rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  4. Zane
    Posted August 20, 2013 at 3:45 am | Permalink

    thx I’ll check it out !

  5. Cindy
    Posted August 20, 2013 at 3:45 am | Permalink

    Looks pretty awesome

  6. Julia
    Posted August 20, 2013 at 3:46 am | Permalink

    ❤.❤

  7. Robert
    Posted August 20, 2013 at 2:27 pm | Permalink

    The Dachshund UN is great.

  8. Nazar
    Posted August 20, 2013 at 2:28 pm | Permalink

    There was a great boutique called Cruella, but, alas, it closed a few months ago. If you visited them during their closing sale, you could have even been able to buy a coffin, a giant gargoyle et al. Just saying. :P

  9. Angel
    Posted August 20, 2013 at 2:33 pm | Permalink

    happy day

  10. Marc
    Posted August 20, 2013 at 3:48 pm | Permalink

    Montreal i miss u guys,love oyur city!

  11. Adria Lynn Filion
    Posted August 20, 2013 at 3:53 pm | Permalink

    Beautiful photos, love the blog. Thanks for showing off my masks!
    If you want to link to me, I’m wasteland artisan on etsy at http://www.wastelandartisan.etsy.com or on FB at http://www.facebook.com/claycave

  12. Ursula
    Posted August 20, 2013 at 4:40 pm | Permalink

    I love this x’D

  13. Katie
    Posted August 21, 2013 at 6:23 am | Permalink

    Homg the dogs !

  14. Jules
    Posted August 21, 2013 at 6:23 am | Permalink

    I wanted to see montreal and this makes me more psyched than before

  15. Kala
    Posted August 21, 2013 at 3:46 pm | Permalink

    Love this la Carmina
    Thanks
    Kala

  16. Genevieve
    Posted August 21, 2013 at 5:04 pm | Permalink

    Thats awesome! you came to Montreal!! ^^
    Nice report !! ^^

  17. Michael
    Posted August 21, 2013 at 5:04 pm | Permalink

    La Carmina!! You are so close!! Come out to the East Coast!!
    Less than an hour (by air) from Montreal to Halifax!
    And Toxic Blossom is right on the waterfront!

  18. Elizabeth N.
    Posted August 21, 2013 at 5:56 pm | Permalink

    ^-^

  19. Gianna
    Posted August 22, 2013 at 12:15 am | Permalink

    Merci xx

  20. Jen
    Posted August 25, 2013 at 3:46 am | Permalink

    That’s so cool your tour guides mentioned Lili St. Cyr. The dachshund U.N. is adorable.

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