A Big, Fat, Vintage Haul!

For the second week in a row, we came upon signage that indicated it was for a yard sale, but was - in fact - and estate sale.  That never, ever happens.  Now, it has happened for two straight weekends in a row.  It might be one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, but - as long as I get to wear these clothes into the sweet by and by, it might have been worth it.  Also, you can consider the pictures of these clothes to be "teasers," as I plan on having a little vintagey photo shoot this weekend.  Some things are just worth showing off under good lighting and with proper, industrial-grade underpinnings.  Let's begin.  Get a gander at this sweet piece of delicious:

Look at the detail on the bodice and the pointy little pleated thingies.  I don't know if this is 1940s or 1950s, because it kind of has attributes of both, and it doesn't have a brand label, so I am inclined to say that this may have been handmade.  It's got a tiny little hole in the back, and the side zipper (all metal, that is) is pinned closed, so it clearly may need replacing.  I can slide the dress over my head and get it on that way, but it would be helpful if the zipper worked.  Considering that this dress cost me all of ONE DOLLAR, I may just go ahead and pay my awesome seamstress pal, Mariah, to replace it.  I'm still getting a screaming good deal on this ridiculously fabulous dress.  ONE DOLLAR.  Did I mention that it only cost me ONE DOLLAR?  I think this may be my Great Gatsby date-night dress.  Also, which you will later learn in the barter blog which I have yet to write, I am in receipt of this lustworthy vintage (probably Bakelite) dress clip:

 I was wondering what I would clip it to.  Now, I know.  Thanks, Charli!

As if that dress weren't enough to send someone over the edge of multiple vintagegasms, I came upon another sale (this second sale is actually the one that was really an estate sale), where I found racks upon racks of vintage clothes, but since that stuff is a bitch to sell if you don't have a proper dress form, I passed on the stuff that wasn't my size.  Here is what was:

 I love this top!  I think it has a very 1940s vibe to it, although I would probably guess it to actually be from the 1960s, just based on the feel of it and the style of the label.  I could be wrong.  It could be older than that, but I am really not a super-expert in being able to assign a date to a garment with one passing glance (now, ask me what year any song from the 1980s was released, and I will gobsmack you with my prowess of the 1980s musical timeline).  In any case, I just thought this was so cute, and it is very July 4th-y.  Oh, right...FIFTY CENTS.

Also from that yard sale came this:

 What is this?  Oh, it's only a sassy little wiggle dress from the 1960s.  Yes, I am ready to go work for a New York ad agency, thank you.  Fits perfectly, and I absolutely have the wiggle to pour into this dress.  Someone needs to have a cocktail party.  I'm just sayin'.  Because, again, FIFTY CENTS.

This next little juicy offering was almost missed in a random pile of detritus:

It's just cute and sweet and awesomely olive green.  I haven't decided if it's going on eBay or going in my closet.  Thoughts?

Since the hubby is my go-to awesome pinup photographer (no, seriously, he really is), sometimes you just can't help but snap up some props for the purpose of being cute and sassy and vintage in a picture.  I couldn't believe this little guy was only two bucks:

Again, pretty sure he's Bakelite.  Doesn't matter, though, since he's a super cute prop!

Okay, by the time we'd gathered all this merch, I was beginning to feel that perhaps we'd his that perfect balance when you know it's time to quit while you're ahead.  We decided to head home with the caveat, "unless we pass any estate sales."  We almost made it home before we saw another one!  We went in and things were pretty picked over, which makes me sad that I missed getting there earlier.  However, I did walk into the master bedroom and spy this next bit of wonder.  I immediately grabbed it as though I was caressing an Academy Award.  I even thanked the academy as I picked it up off the dresser.  We plugged it in and it worked (I'm a little gunshy about plugging old plugs in after the infamous giant Santa head debacle of 2010 - you'll have to download my soon-to-be-released thrift eBook for that one).  This sweet little bit of heaven was all of five bucks:

Yep, it's pretty much my leg lamp.  I love it.  It's awesome.

So, there's my haul!!  I'd love to hear about yours.

~Katie

Vintagey Goodness!!!!

We don't blog often enough, I will admit that.  Sometimes, you just don't feel like blogging about a new laundry basket that you scored at a yard sale.  This past weekend, however, is worthy of a little bloggy-blog.  Before I begin, you know how annoying it is when you follow signs that say "estate sale" and they lead you to  a pile of infant clothes in someone's driveway?  Yes, of course you do.  Well, last weekend something new and interesting happened - we followed signs that said "yard sale" to what was an estate sale.  Since there was an estate sale nearby, I think this sale may have been getting eclipsed by that one, as well.  It was awesome!

First, let's start with some vintage Beistle lovelies:

I can't figure out how to rotate the picture, but tilt your head...it's so worth it.  I paid 50 cents for a stack of vintage Halloween decorations, and these beauties were in there.  My beautiful year-round vintage Halloween living room was very excited at the new kitty friends.

But, also, there's this:

Ignore my cluttery kitchen and behold the loveliness of this little (I'm guessing) 1950s-ish touristy tote.  It actually matches perfectly a couple of vintage bathing suits I found earlier in the year at an estate sale, and when I find myself near water, the bag will be with me.  I just hope I get to find myself near water soon.

The last thing I got was something that I didn't actually get the first time around, and - as the day went on - I became consumed with not-buyer's remorse.  So, hours after the fact and after much texting with Charli, I decided to go back and run the risk of it not being there.  

It was 50 cents?  Why didn't I just get this sweater?  Ugh.  I'm glad it was still there.  I didn't get it initially because it was too small for all of my fellas, but then I thought, "Why can't I wear it?"  So, I snapped it up on the second go 'round.  The more I thought about it, I realized that it would look perfect over a blouse I thrifted that still had its original Steinfeld's tag in the collar.  For those that do not live around here, Steinfeld's was a huge department store in downtown Tucson, certainly during the 30s, 40s, and 50s, and the Steinfeld family was, of course, a very well-known and well-liked family.  Sadly, the Steinfeld's perished in the Pioneer Hotel fire in the early 70s, so - wrapped up in one plain, cream-colored blouse - are two things I love:  thrifting and creepy ghost stories (the Pioneer building is said to be just filled with fire-related ghosties).  I can't wait for it to cool off in seven months so that I can put on that blouse, this sweater, and a little bit of Bakelite and do a little vintage about-towning.

I'm sure the Steinfelds would want it that way.

~Katie