Dongdaemun vintage shop free 2-hour parking, jacket & jeans haul: Viva

I'm a designer who loves vintage. I'd had Viva Trade saved on my wishlist forever, and finally made it there — here's my review! (Wish I'd gone sooner…)

Location and hours of Viva Trade Dundaun Dongdaemun Branch

Viva Trade is on the 5th floor of Dundaun Dongdaemun, 264 Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul! It's near Exits 11 and 12 of Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station. Open daily from 10:30 am to 9 pm!

Dundaun Dongdaemun also has a 500-pyeong Daiso, plus Olive Young, Uniqlo and Ashley all in the same building, so it seemed like a great spot to visit for shopping in general.

200-pyeong warehouse store, about 100 new items daily

Viva Trade Dundaun is the biggest warehouse-style vintage shop in Seoul, clocking in at 200 pyeong! The space is huge, so it was great for going through pieces one by one — it really felt different from your typical small vintage shop.

And apparently 100 new items come in every single day.. the fact that the treasures get refreshed by 100 pieces daily is honestly exciting. This doesn't feel like a one-and-done kind of place — it seems like you benefit more from stopping by often, like an ongoing treasure hunt. And treasure hunting is first come, first served!!!

The current discount promotion

Viva Trade is running up to 50% off storewide from August 21 to September 30!!!

Spend ₩150,000 or more and you get a free scarf, and if you spend ₩150,000 or more there's also an extra 5% off plus a Viva Bear keyring as a gift!

Domestic vintage items are 20% off tag price right now,

and international global brand items are 30% off.

Vintage accessories and small items are also 20% off!

What brands do they carry?

It's described as a vintage store visited by celebrities and influencers including NewJeans and Beenzino, so I was extra curious about what kind of brands I'd find. Looking around, the brand range was really wide.

• High-end: Gucci, Prada, Céline, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Balenciaga
• Familiar brands: Polo Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Tommy Hilfiger, Levi's, Nike, Adidas, Patagonia
• Designer brands: Maison Margiela, Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Vivienne Westwood, Comme des Garçons

Rather than going in looking for one specific brand, it was more fun to slowly dig through the racks and stumble on brands you didn't expect to find!

Vintage knick-knacks, accessories and even digital cameras

There are vintage cups, plates, dolls, and knitted items too.

The accessories are cheap and there are a lot of unusual pieces

Bangles are trending again these days and they were pretty here too

There are also vintage digital cameras and camcorders!!!

The scarves were pretty too, I spent ages looking! Honestly, browsing the vintage accessories was just as fun as the clothes for me. Even if you're not planning to buy a big clothing item, it's easy to pick out one small accessory without any pressure, so browsing them is fun on its own!

Browsing dresses, buying a jacket and jeans

I like layering dresses, so I mostly looked at dresses

A Custom Mellow jacket caught my eye so I tried it on! The lining even had a pattern, so pretty. (I bought this one)

This spot is both a mirror and a fitting room. There are 4 fitting rooms total!

I liked a pair of Decade jeans so I tried them on too (bought these as well)

Ya-ha!

Hope fall comes soon so I can wear what I bought today

Verdict — free 2-hour parking is a huge plus

The store is huge with a lot of good-quality clothes and items, so it takes quite a while to look through everything one by one! Something that visitors coming by car will especially appreciate is that free parking is available for 2 hours!! 2 hours is enough time to shop slowly without feeling rushed. A lot of vintage shops have tricky parking situations, so being able to just drive there is a huge advantage!!!

The staff were also so kind, and I loved being able to browse good-quality vintage at a cool, spacious store, cheaply, and without feeling rushed!