Review: The Rose Bowl Flea Market

This flea market, in Pasadena, CA, is billed as "the world's largest flea market" and boy, they aren't kidding.
This thing is enormous! Like, there's-no-possible-way-to-see-it-all enormous.

Two Sundays ago was the first time I'd been in 20 years...which is weird because I live relatively close by...
It won't be that long until my next visit! I had a great time and found a pretty decent pile of booty, despite hardly even trying to score deals.

Here are some great things I saw (and passed up):

travel theme needlepoint bag...way expensive!

souvenir pillowslips...including a "Lindberg" one! Very rare.

Drool-worthy furniture

this couch is repro, but isn't it fab?

tables to go with the green couch

bowls for the Airstream (I wish)

re-arranged Italian army bag...huge

Here's what I ended up getting:

like I could pass up leopard :-)

This one's to paint tikis or something on...

all silk, from the $1 table

glitter! Lucite!

This last handbag is one of those convertible styles! The cover comes off and reverses to shiny black patent leather. Without the cover, the bag is navy blue grosgrain-type fabric. Three bags in one! This one's going up in my Etsy shop, I think, once I get it cleaned up.


Here are some tips if you decide to visit:

~wear the most comfortable & supportive shoes you own. Seriously. This place is enormous and all on concrete...your dogs will be barking at the end of the day!

~bring a big 'ol pile of cash, with lots of small bills. Remarkably, many of the vendors still only take cash (dur...ever heard of Square? seriously, vendor-people...you're missing sales).

~wear layers....it starts off really cold in the morning, because it's sort of down in a canyon. Once the sun is shining it starts heating up pretty fast. When I first got there at about 8 am I was cozy in jeans, jacket, hoodie, t-shirt, hat, gloves and light scarf. By noon I was down to the jeans and t-shirt!

~those rolly cart things are awesome, but if you don't have one of those, at least bring a big, lightweight tote bag or something to haul your booty in.

~you might consider bringing drinks, water, snacks...they really gouge you for the drinks, and if you're vegan, like me, there are no food options. Next time I go I honestly think I'll bring a whole lunch for myself.

~pace yourself, take breaks, and strategize....focus on what you're really looking for. It's really easy to get overwhelmed and start walking around in a daze like a zombie. Don't become a Rose Bowl zombie!

Last, but not least, here's a link the the Rose Bowl Website

America's Most-Hated Color

 Or in other words, An Ode To Orange!

Crazy LA orange sky (I took this pic when the space shuttle was traveling through the streets of LA)

The arrival of Halloween always brings with it a blast of a certain color...
Do you like orange? Or hate it? Apparently orange is one of those colors that inspires strong feelings.
I remember reading, a few years back, that when Americans are polled about their most-liked and least-liked colors the color orange consistently comes in last place. Most liked? Blue, of course *****snoorrrrrre****
Nothing against blue, really, it's just so...predictable. Blue is the opposite of orange on the color wheel, so blue and orange really make each other pop!
Here are a few things I bet you didn't know about orange:

~It was Frank Sinatra's favorite color...he said it was the color of happiness.
~Orange is beloved in Holland, where it is the national color.
~Creative people are said to like orange.
~Vincent Van Gogh said that "without orange there is no blue"
~Orange is the color of the Sacral Chakra, and is linked to sexuality and fertility!
~The "black boxes" on airplanes are actually neon orange.
~Alexander the Great liked his hair to be bright orange, so he washed it in saffron, which at the time was more expensive than diamonds or gold!

 I happen to love orange, but I do admit it can be a strong presence! I find that oranges with a bit of "something else" in them are the most wearable...like spicy oranges with a bit of brown in them.

Here are some fab orange lovelies I found on Etsy this morning:

Fabulous juicy orange peacoat at MoMoDeluxeVintage

Chic orange 40's slides at Decadence Past

Adorable little box bag at Hillbillyfilly

Juicy Bakelite faceted bangle at The Bakelite Temptress

Gorgeous fitted cocktail dress at La Belle Vintage

Super-fun Mod sweater-coat at MoMoDeluxeVintage

So, do you like orange? Or hate it?

Viva Las Vegas, Part 2 ~ The People & The Stuff

So here are the other half of my pix from Viva...like I mentioned in the last post, we only went to the car show, but we had a great time and I met so many nice people, including Elvira, Mistress of the Dark!! AKA Cassandra Peterson. I was a huge "Movie Macabre" fan as a kid, so I was super-excited to meet her. She was very sweet and looks beautiful! (She was signing pictures under a red tent, so that's why she looks all red!)

Elvira in real life!

I also met this cute gal from Australia...wish I could remember her name. I complemented her on her adorable playsuit and she said it was made by a friend of hers, from vintage fabric, with vintage Bakelite buttons. I swear she gave me a business card, but I can't find it for the life of me. If anyone knows her let me know! 

this pic doesn't do it justice!

One of the things I enjoyed the most was seeing everyone dressed to the nines...I just love how so many people obviously put gobs of time and creativity (as well as cash) into their outfits. What fun!!!
This little guy was all of about 11 years old and he was dressed in full zoot suit:

There were pin-up girls in full regalia everywhere you looked, including the ones from Pin Up Girl Clothing, who were posing in their fancy booth:

Just the most amazing get-ups, everywhere my eyes fell. This guy and his cool shirt were in front of me while I was watching the Hot Rod Trio. He was a little hard to see around, but I appreciate his style :-)

I also saw so many fun things I wanted to buy! All I actually bought was a Viva tank top, which I love so much...it has a Tiki on it (yay! I love Tikis!) and a Bettie Page looking girl in a leopard dress. I'm sure I'll wear it to pieces.
I wish I had bought this flask, I just think it's funny!

I also admired this original painting:

Sailor's Regret by Gustavo Rimada

Isn't that amazing? The artist's name is Gustavo Rimada. He had tons of other wonderful artwork...a very talented fellow. Here's a link to his website.

Such a fun day, such eye candy...it'll keep me inspired for a long while. I can't wait to go back next year!

Happy Girls in Vintage Land

I wish I was here:

from Jan. 1950 California Stylist magazine

I want to be the brunette girl right now...on that fabulous sailboat, in that glittering sea, wearing that adorable dress.
Instead of me...in my cramped and cluttered office, wearing old flannel PJ bottoms with stars and planets that long ago lost their ability to glow in the dark, and a mismatched Jeep t-shirt.

*sigh*

Some days you have it, some days you don't ;-)

Happy (almost) St. Patrick's Day!

Green is my favorite color, so it's never any effort for me to wear it on St. Patrick's Day...I wear it half the time, anyway!

In honor of the coming day here are some fun green Etsy picks. Enjoy!  

Cute Four-Leaf Clover cardi at MoMoDeluxeVintage

                                          Awesome plaid cape at Animal Head Vintage

                                         Killer Springolators at Planetclairevintage

                                           Adorable dress at TheArborVitae

                                              Hand-painted vintage bag at MoMosMadness

 Did you like my picks? I hope so...I'm off  to make a (vegan) Shamrock Shake!
                                                         

Estate Sale Haul and Behind The Scenes

This past Saturday morning, like many Saturday mornings, I went to an estate sale.

Many of you may wonder where people who sell vintage clothes get their stock, and one source that I use a great deal are estate sales...in case you aren't familiar, an estate sale is a sale held by a private, professional company  of the entire contents of a person's home, including their furniture, clothing, housewares, and everything else down to the cleaning products under the sink (not kidding) and the potted plants in the backyard. Most of the time, this person has passed away, and the estate sale company is hired by the family to help. Sometimes families attempt to do this themselves. Sometimes the person has not passed away, but has just moved to another home such as a relative's or residential care facility (this is technically called a "living" estate sale). Many people get estate sales confused with  regular old garage or yard sales and boy oh boy, they are definitely not the same!!

These sales get started very early in the morning and, here in L.A., there is usually a huge line (sometimes 100 people or more) by 8:00am. The first person in the door gets the best stuff so many people (myself included) get there at the crack of dawn to stake out a spot in line. I sometimes wait for 2 hours or more, in the cold, sitting on someone's porch or driveway. It can actually be kind of fun to talk to the other people in line...frequently they are other dealers like me, and every dealer has their specialty. There's the record dude, the sterling silver guy, the old musical instrument man, the young guy who looks for vintage toys...I love it when there are mostly men 'cause then I know I'll have the ladies clothes to myself! This rarely happens, though...usually there are a handful of other gals and we all stand around sizing each other up :-)

Things sometimes get rough! A lot of people make their living this way so they are dead serious. Dead serious enough that at a recent sale there was a big fight and someone threatened to get a gun, and the police were called! Crazy, huh? Thankfully I skipped that one:-)

Well, it's a rather cutthroat bit of business, and getting up in the dark at 4:30 a.m. is never fun, but the early bird truly does get the worm. Check out some of my "worms"! Hehe!

just part of my "haul" including some gorgeous bags

 Look for some of these finds to show up in my Etsy shop very soon!

A Fun Outing: The L.A. Vintage Fashion Expo

Last weekend I spent one fabulous day at the LA Vintage Fashion Expo. This is a show they have here in L.A. about three times a year (they also have it up in San Francisco) and I go pretty much every time!
It's held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The entire place is packed with wall-to-wall vintage of every type. There are vendors who specialize (Edwardian/Victorian, high-end designer, rockabilly) and those who sell a little bit of everything. It's a vintage lover's dream! It costs 8 bucks to get in, but sometimes you can get a 2$ off coupon at their website:
 http://www.vintageexpo.com/
A lot of the same vendors show up every time (with new stuff), but there are also a scattering of new ones to keep it interesting.

Some of the vendors are really snooty!  I've learned to avoid those and go right to the nice people...it's so much nicer to shop when the seller is nice too, don't you think?
The owner of this booth was super-friendly...he's from a suburb of Dallas and had a ton of amazing dresses. His prices were reasonable (unlike some of the vendors) and best of all his tags list the measurements of the garments which is so helpful! This show does have dressing rooms, but it's really a time-saver if you know your measurements. That way you know if you're even in the ballpark :-)
I really liked this 50's green sundress...alas, too small for me.

The next-door booth belonged to his mom, who had this ah-maze-ing circle skirt with an image of the Grand Canyon on it..LOVE!

She pointed out a great tip: if the waist on a skirt like this is too small for you, a tailor can easily take the waistband off, extend it, drop it down, and voila! Larger waist!

I usually don't have much money to spend, but I always find a couple of things. Here's what I bought this time:
I love novelty bags and this one is so unique..I've never seen one just like it. With the butterfly and flowers against the crisp white, it's too cute...I can't wait to use it when the weather warms up a bit!

Another thing I love is Aloha wear, and I scored this cutie:
This type of sleeveless women's shirt, with it's Mandarin collar, close fit through the torso, and side slits at the hem is called a Tea Timer. They frequently were sold with matching cropped pants. They are a bit hard to find, and the earlier ones from the 40's can be very pricey.

I'll be going to the Vintage Fashion Expo again, later in the year, so I'll do another post later with more pix and tips!