new things.

1940s brown suede beaded peeptoe platform heels

i've been wanting to do a post for so long about some of the new things i've been finding, but i've been putting it off. things have been so busy lately, which is good i guess, but there hasn't been much time to just stop and relax. i've been finding so many amazing things for my shop, and finding them quicker than i can wash/dry clean, mend (if needed), measure, photograph, and get them listed. so i've amassed quite a collection of lovely pieces. some have already hit the shop and some will be showing up very soon! i had planned to do a big shoot today, so that i could get almost everything listed tomorrow and tuesday, but the weather was so dreary and there was absolutely no light, so i'm glad i was able to sneak in a little photo session yesterday before the sun went down.

i'm finding, lately, that making connections can be extremely valuable for my (or any) vintage business, and i've made several wonderful connections in the past few weeks. it seems that once you tell someone that you sell vintage, they suddenly want to help you out; they have some things you might be interested in, they know someone who knows someone who has an attic full of vintage clothing, that sort of thing! one of the best connections i've made recently happened by accident. i had been looking for a reputable dry cleaner for some of my dry-clean only shop items for quite a while but hadn't had any luck finding a quality one with vintage clothing experience, so i posted on facebook asking if anyone had any recommendations. no one really seemed to have any, so i kind of put it out of my mind. then, a week or so later when i had almost given up searching, an acquaintance responded to my post with a glowing recommendation for a cleaner that she occasionally used to do alterations for, and it seemed promising.

so a few days later i gathered up several thing to take to the cleaners, which was located in one of my favorite areas around; a group of streets in the historical district lined with pretty brownstone buildings, old medicine shoppes, cute french bistros, and little antique stores, called canal street. it was decorated for the holidays, with little white lights everywhere and garland wrapped around the lampposts, and the weather was so nice and it really made me excited for the holidays. i was just planning on dropping off my items and then heading back to a few thrift stores close to my house, but i passed a little antique shop that i could not resist. it was probably the best antique shop i've ever been in; not one of the ones that are junky and fun where you can sometimes find amazing valuable things amidst the junk, but the kind where they had clearly already skimmed through all the junky antique stores and picked out all the amazing valuable things and then compiled a storeful of their amazing findings. everything was stunning, but way out of my budget. they did have a few clothing items though, and some of them weren't expensive like everything else, so i ended up buying a 1950s black cashmere sweater for myself because i've needed a plain black sweater forever, and you can't find a cashmere sweater, or even a plain cotton sweater, anywhere for $20 these days. i also left with a 1950s black cashmere sweater with a mink collar, and that went straight into the shop.

black cashmere 1950s sweater with mink collar

the ladies working there were so nice, and showed a lot of interest in what i do. when they asked me if i collect for myself or sell and i told them, i do both, but i sell vintage online, they got really excited about it and kept asking me questions and showing me things. they kept bringing me things to look at that were lovely but ridiculously expensive, like $200 turn-of-the-century quail feather hats, and then they told me about a little vintage shop a few towns away that i have no idea how i didn't know about until then. i got really excited and hurried out and went straight to the shop, which turned out to be the BEST shop ever. the lady was so nice and excited about the fact that someone younger was interested in vintage clothing, and i found so many amazing things. i found more in the hour or so i spent in there than i had over the past few months combined.

one of my findings, soon to be added to my shop.

the lady took my information and told me she would let me know as she got new things in, and i've since been back one other time and again left with a pile of amazing things, including a 1940s floor length frank starr original gown, a beaded 1950s dress, a 1960s novelty print dress with the best print ever, a silk 50s dress, a velvet 50s top, and a bunch of hats and bags from the 30s-50s. so i now have an amazing source that i never would have found had it not been for this series of random events!

1960s lion print dress! heading for the shop soon!

another good thing that came out if this turn of events, the lady who originally recommended the dry cleaners to me, who had mentioned she used to do alterations for them, is now doing alterations/mending for me! now i just need to find a good cobbler...

i'll have to go back to canal street and take pictures for a later update. i also have a christmas dress update but it's way too late so that will have to wait until tomorrow. night!