NZ Visual Diary - entry 258

2 dollar clothes

Op shops (Kiwi-speak for opportunity or thrift shops) abound on K Road and its side streets. As I have noted in other posts focused on the history of K Road as a high-end fashion centre, the area has moved on since the 1960s.

The phrase ‘eclectic’ is an apt descriptor for the vibe K Road exudes. Yes, Tesla has its showroom on K Road. True, a high-end bridal shop, several fancy restaurants, a couple of elegant art galleries and a palatial music store call K Road home.

All this said, K Road has resisted the persistent itch of wholesale gentrification and the opulent homogeneity it often engenders, that unsettling tendency to transform mixed-use older neighbourhoods into glitzy edifices devoted to ostentatious consumerism.

Another blood type infuses K Road. Another yearning expresses its soul. Eccentricity is the spark for its vibrancy.