Here's a very tiny shop update before the large one I have planned over the next week or so. I've just listed the pumpkin-coloured cloche mentioned in a recent post and a really pretty circle skirt with deep patch pockets. There'll be more coming soon!
After sharing my WestCoastwanderings, I've got some posts planned on vintage-exploring in different places. They'll mostly be quite close to home but I thought I'd continue with the American theme for my first one. I've travelled to New York a few times for work and personal trips and these particular photographs were taken a couple of years ago with some disposable cameras.
Here are some of my favourite vintage shops from my visits:
1. David Owens - The pale silk 50s dress I'm wearing in the first picture was purchased here.The man in the shop was very kind and really funny too. I had short hair at the time and he thought I looked a bit like Shirley Temple. 'But you know what happened to Shirley?', he asked, 'Shirley kissed!'. Ominous pause: 'And her career was never the same again!'. They have really nice pieces and a good selection for men too.
2. Beacon's Closet - I visited both Brooklyn branches of Beacon's Closet. The one in Williamsburg is a bit overwhelming but also where I found the best pickings (it just took determination!).
3. Fabulous Fanny's - I've saved the best 'til last. Fabulous Fanny's is just brilliant. The people running the shop were really friendly and very knowledgeable about the history of clothing. The women's clothing was fantastic but the room filled with glasses was the most fascinating, more like a museum of optical instruments than a shop. After trying on nearly every pair (with some funny and not always successful results!), I chose some little round, foldable sunglasses in green. They're similar in style to 30s celluloid glasses but from a later period. Perhaps not the most understated glasses but they're pretty great!
After a few days away visiting friends, I'm back home suffering from a very bad bug (hopefully the last one of winter!). I haven't moved much from my bed over the past few days but I did manage to watch an interesting programme on the pioneer wildlife filmmaker, Percy Smith. I thought I'd share a few of his beautiful, strange and charming films. The documentary explained how Smith made the films in his house, devising brilliantly inventive filming techniques, without electric lighting. As well as screening before feature films as instructive, educational documentaries, Smith's films were also shown at avant-garde events, alongside works like Battleship Potemkin. Looking at the timelapse and animation sequences in these two very early Smith films, it's easy to see why:
The Birth of a Flower (1910)
To Demonstrate how Spiders Fly (1909)
There's also two very nice ones from the 1930s - this rather beautiful film about the growth of pea shoots and an amusing one called 'Romance in a Pond' - which I can't seem to embed into the post! Hope you enjoy them!
From today through until the end of Monday, I'll be taking part in a special sale organised by the Vintage Team on Etsy. There are 24 shops taking part and I'm excited to be involved.
During the sale, I'm offering 20% off ALL items in the shop, even pieces in the sale section. So, if there's something you've had your eye on at EllyMaggyVintage, now is a very good time to buy! Enter VINTAGETEAM24 at the checkout and your order will be automatically discounted.
On Saturday I decided to try my luck at a local vintage fair. I'd never visited this particular event before so I wasn't sure what to expect but there were some very good stalls and it ended up being a lot of fun. I came home with this '60s handbag, bought from a really friendly seller who specialises in vintage bags. It's in such nice condition that I think it's hardly been used. I've been trying to make out a maker's mark on the interior of the bag but, after much squinting, I still can't figure it out! After the fair, I also took a little look around the nearby shops and found this pumpkin-coloured 1960s velvet cloche: a good companion to the hat in my previous post!
It'll be making its way into the shop soon... This month is going to be fairly busy so I think the next shop update should be in a few weeks' time, probably around Easter. As well as thrifting over the weekend, I also washed and prepared lots of new items so it should be a pretty large, good update when it comes! In the meantime, this coming weekend I will be running my first shop-wide sale as part of the Vintage Team sale on Etsy. I'll post more details on this later in the week.
Here's a very mini shop update to finish off the weekend: three great pieces from the 1960s. I'm particularly excited by the hat - I was so happy when I found it!
