Ferrari Find.

May I present to you, my op shop find of the year:

Diana Ferrari dress, found at Savers.

Price on the tag? $19.99

Tried it on. It fitted wonderfully. Why the hell was it in Savers though?

Oh.

A rip.

A big ass rip.

As in, a rip made from someone sitting down and their bum exploding the fabric (the poor woman!).

Point it out to the man at the cash register. He gives me a new price: $4.99. I like this man.

Yes, my ladies, a $4.99 Diana Ferrari. I did my best to keep my cool until leaving Savers and only squealed a little on the way out to the car with my bargain.

Take the dress to a seamstress. She mends it for about $20.

By jingo, I love it all!

The Way We Wear

I ventured out to The Way We Wear Fair today. And what an adventure it was! Over the Westgate Bridge and everything haha!

The Williamstown Town Hall

Many many treasures were shared inside this building. I kept gasping to myself at such beautiful precious dresses, smiling at adorable hats and goo-ing and gaa-ing over gorgeous jewelry. I'm afraid I don't have any pictures inside; I had figured photography wasn't allowed. Check out The Secret Lives of Op Shops for a picture of the Adelaide fair. The Melbourne one, I must say, seemed a little smaller, although I can identify a few of the same stallholders.

Photo source

Unfortunately, I missed the Titanic Fashion Parade as my parking was about to expire. What fashions they had on display were stunning, particularly the display of Dorothy Gibson (the white lace dress on the left with the rose sash).

Outside the fair, Williamstown is beautiful.

The city, the boats, the sea and the sky. Beautiful!

This is where I sat and had lunch.

Coffee scroll and brownie with caramel and rice bubble topping. I skipped on the rice bubble layer; everything else was delicious :) And $3.10 total.

As for what came home with me?

A couple of gorgeous postcards, once upon a time destined for Carlton and Fitzroy.

I loved all the different women's faces in 'Madge'. Click on the picture for a larger image and closer peek :)

And this stunning ring. It made my heart sing!

The fair continues tomorrow. Check the website for more info.

A vintage heads up

Hello lovelies! I promise I haven't forgotten you! I've been super busy trying to tutoring at a holiday program the past week. It was a long slog, but I've gotten some good money out of it and it's burning in my pocket!

Image source: Weheartit

Lucky for me, there is a vintage fair on this weekend in Melbourne. Not only will there be stalls with vintage dresses and antiques and goodies, there will also be a fashion parade showcasing the fashions of the Titanic. Count me in!

Vintage at the Willi

The Melbourne Vintage Fair

Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 July, 2011

Screaming Savers.

The sign that every op-shopper loves; Savers.

Yep, I went to the 50% off clothing sale yesterday. You know, because I'm running out of clothes and stuff -.- Truly, I nearly didn't go, but then I kept thinking about it and thinking about it. Like the croissant cravings, it was getting in the way of my study. So I went.

I controlled myself this time. I only looked for things I could pair with my million and one knitted jumpers and stayed well away from those aisles.

My finds:

This dress is a much nicer purple than the picture would suggest. And prettier.

The place was screaming with coat hanger screeching and babies crying. Ahh... the sounds of a Saver sale!

This dress is in a serious need for a clean. It may end up being a bit too overwhelming, but I could always have a go at adjusting it. Maybe. The winning factor? Long sleeves. And $3.50. Love.

Very proud of my self control, even if it did slip a little afterwards.

Yummm... Cannoli.

Snuggly time!

It's so cold! All I wanna do is crawl into bed and snooze the day away! Just like my lucky lil puppy here! Isn't she adorable?

Instead I'm trying to keep warm in all my winter woolies, most of them handmade items that I've collected from op shops. I seem to have a thing for pink and/or white woolen jumpers.

I've been wearing them with jeans and flats or casual shoes lately because my beloved knee-high boots are falling apart, meaning less dresses, tights and warm woolen knits. There goes my winter uniform! At least these are all super snuggly :)

Winter warmer

Oh Savers, how I love thee. Four woolen jumpers, all around $4.99 - $6.99 each. Beautiful!

Now, time to do some hand washing. It seems so many people hate hand washing, but you know, I really like it! Pretty lucky since most of my stuff requires a gentle hand wash haha

Brooches

I always admire people who can wear brooches, and wear them well. I'm going to give it a go this winter. They seem like the perfect thing to wear on a big warm jacket or on a scarf. I've been particularly inspired by All This Happiness, who is very much in love with her Mr. Seahorse and Mr. Fox brooches.

This is my current collection. The top two are from the market while the bottom two were op shop finds.

This glamourpuss I found today, at the op shop I volunteer at. I've had my eye out for something with some super sparkle and flower formed, mostly as a gift idea for a friend. But I may have accidently fallen in love with this one. It may also be a bit too ostentatious for the friend in mind. At least that's what I tell myself!

Meet Helga. I picked this one up when I first started volunteering at the local op shop. What fascinates me most about this brooch is that on the back the wonderful golden frame is continued and stamped with "Western Germany". I couldn't help myself. My sister has the sister brooch, which features a different face. I also have the matching necklace, which feels horribly plastic but that's also why I like it. It has a bit of kitsch charm about it.

I wish I could share a close up of Poison Girl brooch, but I'm having some internet difficulties. Let me assure you though, she is gorgeous :)

And this guy? This cute isn't a brooch. Yet. I have plans to transform him sometime soon. I picked him up at the Flower and Garden show. I believe he will look very cute resting on my woolen jumpers.

Orange.

Firstly, thank you for all your wonderful feedback and comments on my last blog post. They were all really warming :) I was feeling so warm and fuzzy from the comments and feeling like hot stuff in my outfit yesterday that I nearly nearly went for the outfit post. But chickened out. Sorry ladies.

Instead, here is some pictures of my dress. My new second hand dress. I picked it up from the local Salvos, going for half price.

$4.50 for this baby!

Here's a close up of the pattern. I can't wait to play with all the other colours in the dress.

And my very cute handbag that I got from the Flower Show last week:

I visited my supervisor yesterday and she was very impressed with my research progress! A wonderful confident booster :) And left me with the compliment that I was very good at doing pretty and girly :D

Chapel Street

The other day I was forced to go into uni for some small and insignificant, and truly quite annoying reason. So I tried to make the day a bit better and worthwhile by combining my uni trip with an adventure to Chapel Street and visit some op shops I always eye off when we go to the Astor.

I think I prefer my local op shops; there's a better mix of junk and great finds. These ones were both more expensive than usual, lacked anything of note and were such a mess it was bit of a turn off.

BUT! I did find this lovely portrait in a shop called "Fat Helens". Fantastic shop by the way!

The lady behind the counter commented that she looked like she was exactly my style. What a compliment! :) Not sure what the little triangle symbol means though - any ideas?

And then finally, as I was giving up all hope, I stumbled across this dress in the very last op shop, for a whopping $7!

I love the colours and the pattern. Someone else has obviously altered it or "saved" it. I think they've done a good job :) Normally I hate that kind of thing, but this time, I'll let it slide.

Op shop addict.

Ever since I got my license, I've been op shopping like a mad woman. Half because I was searching for costumes for the dress up party, half because I can. And I'm loving it!

I've had some really fantastic finds, like my cute Wedgewood-esque teapot. Apologies for the poor pictures, I promise when I have more time I'll properly photograph my goodies. For now though, some teasers:

Another dress and a spunky blue skirt

Three more dresses, because they were just too cute!

I've also found some pretty bric-a-brac, two snazzy belts and a musical teapot!

By the way, Savers is having a 50% off clothes on Monday 7 March. Check it out :)

Eucalyptus dress.

Country Road dress, $10

How I love a good op shop find! I found this Country Road mini-dress at a Brotherhood of St. Laurence op shop last year and I'm still head-over-heels in love with it. The fabric is sleek and shiny, with a wonderful gum leaf green tone. It doesn't fit quite right over my pear-shape frame, but I love it all none the less and think I look hot to trot in it :) Confidence is everything, right?

Wedgewood musings

I've been hunting around op shops lately with the mission of finding costumes to wear for a Blues Brother's themed birthday party for my dad tomorrow. Which means I've also been browsing the bric-a-brac, just coz.

I found this cute little Wedgewood-esque teapot at a Vinnies store. Wedgewood or not, I like the muses dancing about and it's baby teapot size was too cute to not add to my collection! I'll share some other great finds with you next week when everything calms down a little.

Have a great weekend!

Vest and tin.

Toured three op shops the other day. Nothing overly exciting to be found. Perhaps I'm a little put off because most of my market stall items were previous op shop finds. I couldn't help myself with this cute vest though, in a glamorous dark pink.

Pink woolen vest, $5

Another homemade, grandma-knitted garment for my collection. I love these pieces. Someone made them for someone with love. So darling :)

And as I was about to leave the same op shop, I spotted this Henry VIII tin in the glass cabinet. Price? One whole dollar. It was meant to be.

Henry VIII tin, $1

Sydney Road.

This time last week I was super excited about my planned op shop adventure down Brunswick Street. I was expecting to find some fantastic goodies at great prices and a wonderful time exploring on my lonesome.

I only happened to visit two of the seven op shops listed on the helpful opshop.org. Partly due to the horrid humidity and my getting lost. Nevertheless, I left quite happy with my finds:

Don Bosco Brunswick Youth Foundation Inc. Op Shop

Wonderful op shop, with fantastic prices and some great goodies to be had. A true true op shop. I happened across these two dresses.

White dress, $7

I've been on the hunt for a delightful white dress for quite a while. All the dresses in the shops are generally too short, have terrible shape or are too plain and boring. This one has a sweet pattern, falls just below the knee and with lovely pearly buttons.

'Newspaper Mama' dress, $7

I call this my 'Newspaper Mama' dress because it has an interesting print which includes what looks to be newspaper clippings (as you can see below). The dress has a cool, cinched in waistline. Apparently it is "very '80s!" haha

Brunswick Savers

Huge, hot and sticky. Huge variety of things, as expected in a Savers. The only goodie I walked away with was this gorgeous thing:

Cutest meringue cardi, $5

The Boy suggests this cardi looks like a meringue, and I'm inclined to agree. I absolutely love it. It reminds me of all the things my gran used to knit for me when I was younger. I hated them then. I love them now :) I automatically zoom in on anything that looks remotely handmade.

Too cute, right? :)

Glass goblet

I thought I'd share a few more Savers goodies with you all :) I love the trinket bric-a-brac section of any op shop. You can really find some fun treasures there.

This time I found a nice glass goblet for me to put all my little mementos I collect from trips out with the boy, like rocks, sea shells and such. The other piece is a cute porcelain shoe, the petals have snapped a bit, but I still think it has charm. And finally, the crochet doily.

Trash and Treasure Stall Tips

As mentioned earlier, the other day my sister and I held a stall at a trash and treasure market.. It was a first for both of us, and we learnt a lot along the way. Here are my tips:

1. Know the market and the market audience. I have a feeling we didn't sell much stuff because market stalls were dominated by garage goods and men interested in these garage gadgets.

2. Prepare for all kinds of weather (especially in Melbourne). It drizzled in the morning and the sun was sending serious cancer-bites by the end of the day. So pack umbrellas (great for sun and shade), sunscreen, hat and cardigan. Even better? A tarp or tent if you're planning on going long term.

3. Figuring out pricing is a b*tch. I've volunteered in an op shop for a while, and I priced them as we had priced items in the op shop. Walking around the trash and treasure stalls, most clothes were priced from $1 - $5. Combine your knowledge of the market, the market audience and your items on sale to come up with the appropriate price. Remember, your aim is to sell.

4. Create big signs for prices. I went through everything and stapled individual prices on the tags of each item. The amount of times I had to tell someone to check there nearly drove me bonkers. People don't want to hunt for tags at these places. So your best bet is to do some big groupings of clothes at certain prices. Either make a $2 pile, or make all dresses $4, shirts $3 etc. It'll make your life easier, and the customers.

5. Prepare for hagglers. Me? I'm not a haggler and I find it terribly rude. I hate that first block of super rude haggling early birds. Either mark your clothes at a higher price and prepare to drop it. Or stand your ground (which will lead to people walking away with nothing in their hand).

6. Placement and presentation can change everything. My sister convinced me that people at this market (which I hadn't been to) would be willing to search for bargains off the ground. Looking at other stalls, we would have had much more success with the stuff on top of a table or on racks. I wish we had rented a table or brought our own.

7. Bring (and drink) lots of water and plenty of food to see you out the day. The market we were at had a crummy food court. Other markets have plenty of stalls with yummy food on offer. If you're not certain about the food and drinks on offer at the market, bring plenty of supplies.

8. Keep a record of sales for yourself. Especially if you're sharing a stall.

9. Be prepared not to sell everything. We thought we'd be overrun with demand (coz our clothes are cool, damnit!). We weren't. And ended up a little disappointed, mostly because we had to cart so much back to the car :P Looking around though, this seemed to be the case for a lot of people, not just us.

10. Enjoy it. Make it fun. Make sure you have some company, if only to cover for you when you need a toilet break. Talk to the people that come to your stall, and those in the stalls around you. It is fun. Especially when you reward yourself with ice cream afterwards :)

Images: WeHeartIt

For information on the locations of Victorian trash and treasure markets (both as a buyer and seller) check out this website.

Good luck to future market stall holders! :)

Tea-stained rose trash and treasure

As I mentioned in the previous post, yesterday my sister and I held a stall at a trash and treasure market. We were selling a lot of old clothes and trinkets we had that were too nice to give away but unloved in our wardrobes for us to keep. Initially, it was exciting. Yet soon the reality of waiting in the car at 5am for a stall and three hours sleep began to set in. And once we were in the marketplace, the consistent damp drizzle and horribly rude early bird hagglers could not lift my spirits.

The market truly was majority trash and about 0.1% treasure. Those browsing consisted of men wandering about in the sun looking at garage junk. Not our target audience.

I did find these beautiful tea-stained-red coloured roses though. And we had Cold Rock ice cream afterwards (peanut butter and banana ice cream mixed together with Caramello Koala and cookie dough = win!). So the day wasn't too bad after all :)

Next time (if there is a next time) we shall try for Camberwell. I may soon write up some tips learnt from yesterday though for you lovelies out there :)