Vintage Victoria

Victoria, B.C., long known for high tea at the Empress Hotel, antiques in Oak Bay and roses at Butchart Gardens, is cultivating a new retro-culture du jour thanks to a wave of vintage fashionistas, chefs, hoteliers and cocktail-makers. Forget Palm Springs or South Beach—a nostalgic getaway is just across the Salish Sea.

stay: Hotel Zed combines the modernist glam of Palm Springs, the DIY ethos of Mount Pleasant and the funkadelic colours of a Deelite video. Located in mid-town Victoria, this rainbow-hued hotel comes complete with rotary phones and faux-Eames chairs. While the petite pool and hot tub are abuzz morning, noon and night, the lobby is Zed’s beating, blast-from-the-past heart. Type out a postcard on a vintage typewriter, play a record or hitch a ride downtown in the hotel’s bright-blue ’67 Volkswagen van. Hotel Zed, 3110 Douglas St., Victoria, 250-388-4345, www.hotelzed.com

shop: Beach babes love Paradise Boutique for pinup-worthy swimwear, including locally made retro bikinis in shagadelic colours. The in-house label, Ola Dubois, includes sweet, upcycled, midi-length dresses and pouffy lace skirts. Houseware hunting? Head to Easy Living, featuring all things mid-century—panther lamps, Danish teak and melamine dish sets for wannabe Megan and Don Drapers. Easy Living, 4-1046 Mason St., Victoria, 778-430-5679, www.easylivinstyle.ca

dine: After a day of vintage vulturing, head to Langley Street in downtown Vic for tiki-inspired bevvies and locavore bites at North 48. Start with the Death by Disco cocktail: a customer fave that mixes hibiscus flowers and ultra-dark rum. Share a plate of house-made cheese whiz with celery sticks and charred baguette and/or a helping of perfectly crunchy duck wings slathered in chef-made hot sauce. For more classic cocktails like El Mariachi and Birds of Madagascar visit Veneto Tapa Lounge for drinks that taste as interesting as they sound. Veneto Tapa Lounge, 1450 Douglas St., Victoria, 250-383-7310, www.venetodining.com

Your closet’s stocked, your tummy’s full and your afternoon’s boozy. As Austin Powers would say, “Groovy baby, groovy.” —Miranda Post