Stakeout: Braybrook Salvation Army Family Store

If you like to buy stuff from barn-sized, warehouse style stores where the signage is in primary colours and there’s probably a plushy mascot involved, then Braybrook is for you (then again, so are most main roads in the outer suburbs of Melbourne).

Thusly the Salvos Family Store in Braybrook, at 296 Ballarat Road, is a barn style place nestled among a bunch of other barns, giving the general impression that one is gadding about in the Land of the Giants.  

One thing that should be noted about these huge, suburban Salvos stores is that they are usually

The Impact of Christian Dior’s ‘New Look’

No one can doubt the importance of Christian Dior’s post-war ‘New Look’ in influencing the fashions that followed.

Big shoulders were out (and have been in again out again since – has anyone else seen Kate Moss gadding about recently in that jacket with grid-iron shoulder pads? Egads!), tight skirts were out – the emphasis was off legs and on busts and waists.

Part of this had to do with more fabric being available in the post-war period, but the New Look also signalled a shift in mood, to optimism, femininity (some might say at the expense of feminism – jobs and practical suits being replaced with impractical though gorgeous dresses, elaborate hairstyles etc) and – that buzzword of the 50s – glamour.

Vintage Treasures of Tomorrow: What Will Survive of the 1990s?

I touched on this issue in the questions put to me by the Bendigo Advertiser, and it’s something I think about a fair bit. What will survive of the 90s? What is currently out of fashion, available everywhere and cheap cheap cheap, that vintage lovers should be snarfling NOW before Vogue declares ‘The Return of Tencel’ or something equally earth-shattering?

Having been a child in the 90s, I don’t look back to that decade in the same way I do to the 70s, 80s etc. Things from the 90s look sombre, matte, dull and dated, rather than fun/hilarious/well made etc. Coles/Fosseys polar fleece, anyone?

In fact, as simplicity became such a catch-cry of the 90s (I’m thinking of all those ‘shift dresses’ and straight CK jeans, and anything with Tommy Hilfiger attached to it), it’s really tough to pick out what was distinctive, stylish and timeless, and what will be relegated to the duster bag of horrors permanently.

For example. I was uncool in the 90s (in much the same way as I’m uncool now), but even I managed to wear all of the following during the decade that stretch fabrics didn’t forget:

No More High Fidelity for Vintage Vinyl

Vinyl records, aka LPs, frisbees, 12-inchers – are they really worth the trouble?

I have an old record player (it belonged to the beau’s dad), and I enjoy using it. But I hardly ever do. Mostly it just sits there looking at me like ‘how can we be lovers if we can’t be friends?’ to which I reply – der, that song was made AFTER you became obsolete, salty sea-dog.

Unfortunately, the beau’s dad also made us the curators of his ‘record collection’, which largely consisted of ‘world music’ where people hit things and made noises akin to those of Xena, warrior princess (when she got mad and launched into battle). Its star attraction was the official ‘Star Trek’ record, which included the glorious single ‘Star Trekking’ (which was pretty much a guy with a voice like Frank Walker from National Tiles screeching THERE’S CLINGONS ON THE STARBOARD BOW, STARBOARD BOW, STARBOARD BOW for six and a half minutes…was possibly used at Gitmo). We have disposed of most of this collection.

Where was I?

Stakeout: The Gods of Brunswick Savers Have Been Kind

Turns out I’ve been writing off Brunswick Savers for far too long. My prior writings-off have been based on low-yielding visits of the past, which I put down to the fact that this store is picked over daily by the hordes of tragically-hip types who live in the area and the fashion students who cruise past on the tram as they make their way to the nearby RMIT tafe.

I was there on Saturday morning. Maybe it’s because the previous day had been a public holiday; maybe turnover is really high; maybe Brunswick gets the best stuff or I was just really lucky, but I’m going to have to eat my previous words; I had a rad day at Brunswick Savers.

I should also mention that I was there early (around 10am), and it didn’t get busy until around 11:30 am (yes I was in there that long), so this probably had something to do with it.

But check this out:

Easter Opening Hours for Major Op Shops

As a TVD bonus feature, I’ve called around the major op shops chains to find out their Easter opening hours. Isn’t it annoying to finally get a few days off work, and yet not be able to do ANY opping whatsoever?

I figured that most of the chains would be closed for the whole time, as they’re Christian organisations and thus Easter is obviously a Big Deal.  Nonetheless

The Vintage Detective – Now Famous in Bendigo. Sort of.

So Sarah (Hi Sarah) from the Bendigo Advertiser contacts me, and asks whether I’d be interested in answering some questions and being featured in a column of the newspaper. ‘Sure’, I say. Bear in mind that at this point I’m picturing some itty-bitty column at the side of the page.

What I was not picturing was this

Taking Vintage Hats Out of the Too Hard Basket

Great vintage hats aren’t hard to find. Most reliable op shops seem to get them on a regular basis, and they tend to hang around longer than shoes, scarves or jewellery. This, of course, is because hardly anyone wears hats these days unless they’re off to the races or a very traditional wedding.

One reason people don’t wear hats these days is because they no longer know how. Hats can look overdone and absurd if worn incorrectly – which they often are (on the odd occasions when they’re worn at all), because nowadays we don’t grow up with knowledge of hat styles, fit and proportion like we grow up with a knowledge of clothing and jewellery. So when we are faced with a hat-critical situation, we usually plonk any available bit of flotsam on our heads, without realising that selecting a hat that flatters is as difficult as selecting a pair of trousers (and lordy, do I hate shopping for trousers).

Up to now, I’ve put hats in the ‘too-hard’ basket. I always eventually feel self-conscious when I’ve got one. I convince myself I look like a potato-head before jamming the poor thing in my (inevitably oversized and full of junk) handbag. This is nonsensical for a vintage lover. Hats are plentiful, beautiful and inexpensive on the vintage market (and another thing to stick a brooch to, which is double points for me).  So I plan to change my hatty ways.

Here is the info I’ve gathered thus far about vintage hats…

Newsflash: Lea Stein’s First 2008 Design is Out!

I really wish there was some kind of official Lea Stein website or mailing list, so that I could be up to date with the new designs all the time. Then again, this lack of marketing and slickness is one of the most charming things about this designer – there’s no fanfare, no announcement, no hype – you’re just idling away one day on eBay, and then bam! You realise that a new design is on the market.

And I’m already a big fan of the latest addition to the Lea Stein stable. It features…

Sportsgirls Like…Rip Off Vintage Dresses, Apparently

So I’m wandering through Knifepoint yesterday in search of some air conditioned relief and perhaps a pleasant jaunt through Off Ya Tree!!!!! and/or whatever Timezone is being referred to as these days, when something through the door of Sportsgirl stops me in my tracks.

Sportsgirls Like…Vintage Originals

That’s right. ‘Sportsgirls’ (who are these mysterious girls?) apparently are not satisfied with the vintage knock-offs Sportsgirl and other chain stores have been producing for years. Now they’re bringing vintage clothes and accessories directly into the shop, and acting like it’s such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the yoof (who are, judging by the pictures, all horsey 24-hour-party-people aged 15 or under) that they should be eternally grateful. ‘We’ve done the hard work for you’, the labels say. ‘These items have travelled halfway across the world to belong to you’. Do they think we’re stupid?