improvements and a shop update.

I've been really frustrated with my shop lately, so this past week was dedicated to making improvements in my inventory (or lack of) and photo set-up. I posted an ad on craigslist last week stating that I was interested in buying vintage clothing from the 1920s-60s or earlier, not thinking I would get any responses, but the very next day I had an email from a lady who used to have a booth at a flea market in town. She sold vintage clothing there for years, but had to stop when she had a baby a couple years back so she had a bunch of inventory left over from her days of selling. She said she had a lot of vintage dresses from the 40s-60s, so we made an appointment for me to look through her stuff last Friday. She ended up being really nice and we shared many of the same interests, and I left with armloads of dresses, purses, hats, shoes and other odds and ends. I filled three huge boxes and two giant bags! I was so excited. (I'm sure many of the other finds will be popping up in my blog eventually, as I set aside many of the pieces for myself, oops.)

Saturday I made my mom accompany me to look at paint samples and new flooring for my photo area, and we ended up coming home with gray paint ("creamy mushroom") and samples of hardwood flooring to test out in the area. I didn't waste any time getting to work painting the wall so that it could dry overnight and I could take shop photos of some of my new inventory today, which I did. It's a subtle change, but I think it makes a big difference. The white paint was too reflective and made my old shop photos look washed out and shadowy, but I really love the way the gray photos turned out. I picked a brown theme for today's update, because I thought it would nicely bridge the gap between the end of Summer and the beginning of Fall (hurry up hurry up!). The lighter wicker basket bags reminded me of sunny bicycle rides and picnics and the rich, warm brown items made me think of hot chocolate and cozy fires. So it worked out nicely. (see the numbered links at the bottom to click through to the item listings!)

from top:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The woman I purchased from on Friday told me about some great upcoming markets in the area so I think this Fall (when it's not 100°) I'm going to set up a little booth and sell vintage for a weekend or two. I'm so excited at the possibility of setting up my own little booth and making it pretty and boutique-y and selling lovely olde dresses and wares and I already have so many ideas swimming around in my tired little brain that I can hardly wait.

more complaints about heat.

Last Friday I spent the day walking around St. Augustine with my mom, shopping and digging through antique dresses and eating chocolate truffles. Out of the things I left behind the previous time, I only ended up getting the black 1930s top. The museum shop wasn't as good as I remembered it being and the only thing I ended up still wanting was the pink 40s top but it had more pinholes and discoloration than I remembered and the lady wouldn't budge on the price. I ended up going back a second time just before we left though, because I decided I'd buy it anyway, but they had just closed. We also went to one of my favorite vintage shops, The way we were, and there were so many thing I wanted, but in the end I came away with a pretty antique harlequin print hat box, the prettiest burgundy lace 30s dress, and a yellow bow dress (that went right into my shop, because sadly I can't wear yellow). It was way too hot and I made the mistake of wearing patent flats (patent leather + hot weather = blistersss) so I was kind of miserable walking around in the heat with painful toes and heels, and it made me wish even more for Fall to come soon soon soon, because St. Augustine is so much nicer and prettier in the Fall (and because it's my favorite time of year).