the kinds of things i love to find

i am sure that all of you have a particular style of thrift store shopping. personally, mine goes something like this...

• rush to the dress section, start flipping quickly through them (by the way why do i always feel rushed when thrifting? it's like i think someone else with a passion for vintage is breathing down my neck the whole time...)
• if i find a uniquely perfect one, i throw it over my arm and hardly look at it so as to not challenge my luck
• get distracted by some straw hats or ankle boots on top of the rack, sending me off to go check out these sections too





• see a cute calico cotton print sticking out of the blouses, rush to check it out, flip through hangers frantically
• move to bathing suits, strangely drawn to fleurescent 80s loud print one-pieces
• see white eyelet fabric somewhere, head toward it...
• find an odd-shaped dress that is obviously homemade and fall in love with it
• run my eyes over purses
• thumb through men's tee shirts looking for vintage fonts and graphics
• zipping around the store like this, i end up with a pile a mile high over my arm which starts aching

okay, you get the picture. i'm a chaotic shopper. the only constant really is that i look at dresses first. sometimes in a new place though i'm already distracted by other fabrics and colors along the way to the dresses. cause if there's one thing that is clear, it is that i am easily distracted.

now this batik beauty, emily found for me. she and i probably have an eye for very similar things and we go thrifting a lot together. it's a good arrangement because she graciously hands over to me anything that is not quite right for her, (being the smarter shopper, she goes home with four or five items, i go home with forty.)

i have realized that things that seem a little eccentric or crazy to other folks just seem alluring and wonderful to me. i especially love homemade clothes. i can just feel the time and energy and care put into these items, and it makes me feel connected to crafty old-fashioned women who take pleasure in creating something with their own hands.

i'll leave you with some photos of new items going up in my shop. this photo shoot happened the day after the epic day emily and i spent vintage shopping together.

we were on an eighties kick bigtime. i'm still thinking about those SEVENTEEN mags!

and this doesn't even touch the tip of the iceberg. i'm talking stretch pants and massive shoulder pads.

they're coming.