Thrift Store Finds

Like most crafty bloggers, I adore a good thrift store. Growing up, that’s the only shopping we ever did. Every back to school season meant trips to Value Village and St Vincent DePaul. I remember how mad I got once Nirvana became superstars and everyone in my Seattle suburb junior high decided to use their daddy’s gold cards on a thrift store flannel instead of going to The Bon. Dang bandwagon thrifters driving the prices up and ruining my sales. Grumble grumble.

Bear and I actually used to get in fights about my affinity for thrift stores back when we were first dating. His dad is a doctor, and at the time he was planning on being a doctor, and when I mentioned that no matter how much money I ever had at my disposal I just couldn’t see myself shopping at Nordstrom’s, he just flipped right out. For him it was a matter of pride. Only poor people shopped at thrift stores, ew. And no wife of his would ever be poor.

He’s still no fan of thrift stores, but nowadays he views it more like being dragged along on a trip to the craft store, and not an indictment of his providing skills. I managed to swing by a great vintage store when we stopped for lunch on PCH last weekend, and he actually got through it without a single complaint. He certainly wasn’t interested, but at least he was patient.

While I adore vintage stores even more than thrift stores (mainly because they have great stuff and you don’t have to comb through eight racks of nasty pilled sweaters before you find them), my one big problem is that I can never, NEVER find anything in my size. Women in the 40’s were smaller than we are today. Look at how tiny your grandma is, it’s a fact. Not to mention that even for today I am on the larger end of the curve. I’m 5’9” with a massive chest. There is no way I’m ever going to pour myself into that tiny beaded cocktail dress and get the zipper up without leaving a part of myself behind.

Despite that handicap though, I managed to find something wonderful I can actually use for its intended purpose:

Vintage coats are just so spectacular, and this one is a fun little casual number that has enough of a slickness to it that I could wear it as a raincoat, but since it’s not made of vinyl, I plan on wearing it on every occasion I can dream up.

I gave a quick little glance to the racks of skirts, knowing that I didn’t have a prayer of finding anything for me, and was totally struck by this fabric:

It’s just dynamite in person, all shimmery and fab. It’s probably a size two, but it is about four feet long. It just happens to exactly match the color I want to use in my studio, so I’m thinking this will be great to cover a window cornice, or maybe a memo board frame or something.

I’ve also been scouting Craigslist for stuff to fill my big beautiful empty new home, and since we don’t yet have possession and therefore anywhere to put stuff, I’ve just been sticking to small items. I big time scored with this one:

It’s an antique art deco mirror from the 50’s with original paperwork on the back, and I bought it from the sweetest girl who was redecorating her condo for a measly $35. Check out how cool!:

She just wanted it to go to a good home with someone who would appreciate it. She was the sweetest, and I think if we had met under more prolonged circumstances, we probably would have been fast friends. I get those instant friendship moments a lot, where I can immediately just tell, “You know what? I like you. Let’s be friends.” Unfortunately, I have no idea how to act on those moments and the one time I tried the bead store girl I was talking to thought I was hitting on her.