Stakeout: St Vincent de Paul Op Shop, Newport

This St Vinnies. located on Mason Street, Newport (right next to Newport train station) gets a bad rap. Largely from me. See, it’s in my hood, so I’ve been able to keep an eye on it over the years, and it always seems a little disappointing – the stock (especially the clothes) too sparse, the jewellery non-existent, the book section comprising fifty million volumes concerning microwave cookery and perhaps a Jeffrey Archer novel.

But then again,

Stakeout: The Posh Oppe Shoppe, Caulfield South

OK, now before anyone points this out to me, I’m well aware that I may have spelled the name of this shop incorrectly. Posh Opp Shoppe? Poshe Oppe Shop? I forget (unforgivable). In the end I went for the maximum allowable amount of Ye Olde Time spelling, a sensible decision in anyone’s book. It’s at the corner of Glenhuntly Road and Grange Road.

Now, where were we? Ah, yes. This is really the grand - daddy of op shops in its area. It leaves me flabbergasted every time. How is it that they are jam packed to the rafters with vintage gems, antiques and collectables, while other nearby ops haven’t got a hope? Where are they getting their stuff?

Party on Wayne…in Catland, That Is

When I was nary but a wee lass, way back in the 90s, there was one collection of books that set my heart racing like no other.

They were the ‘Party in Catland’ series by Alice Goyder.

Go See ‘Black in Fashion’ at the NGV – You Can Thank Me Later

Every time I make the effort to go to the NGV, I think ‘this is great – why don’t I do this more often?’ (I go through the exact same process every time I make soup or visit an aquarium).

And at the moment, vintage lovers in Melbourne should be particularly keen to make an excursion to our state gallery in order to see an exhibition entitled ‘Black in Fashion: From Mourning to Night’.

How to Identify Jet and Its (Many) Imitators

You’ve probably seen jet jewellery before. It’s black, it’s shiny, it’s reminiscent of the Victorian era, when Queen Victoria wore it during her long period of mourning after the death of Prince Albert in 1861 and accidentally caused a fashion sensation.

This fashion during the high Victorian period meant that jet (especially from Whitby in Yorkshire, England) became immensely popular as a material for mourning jewellery. Which means it became more expensive. Which, in turn, means that many cheaper alternatives to jet were employed to make less expensive jewellery that captured the sombre elegance of jet.

Unfortunately, the differences between jet and its imitations are sometimes very hard to distinguish; it’s not like comparing a rhinestone to a diamond. Jet isn’t actually a mineral, as it’s made when decaying wood is under extreme pressure (sort of like coal). Its what’s known as a mineraloid. Thus some traditional measures of the intrinsic material can’t be used in this instance.

Anyway, down to business…here’s a few pointers if you want to work out whether something is jet:

Noritake Porcelain: It Won’t Be Affordable Forever

Have you noticed that the level of snobbery towards porcelain produced in Japan is starting to dramatically fall?

In fact, Japanese porcelain from the middle of the 20th Century (stuff that would be called ‘retro’, I suppose) is becoming fairly collectable. And the more kitschy it is, the more people love it. Figurines produced in Japan, especially during the 1960s – long, lean cats, roly-poly puppies and birds with big eyes, all of them in wild primary colours – are selling at Chapel Street Bazaar et al for quite the pretty penny.

All of this brings me to a Somewhat Risky Observation – it appears that more conservative/useful/early Japanese porcelain is starting to increase in value as well.

Stakeout: Geelong Antiques Fair, 16 – 18 May 2008

It’s a good thing I’m like a dog with a bone once I’ve decided to do something, because it was mighty tempting to remain under the doona last Saturday morning as the rain poured down and the alarm I’d set to make sure I didn’t miss the best part of the Geelong Antiques Fair started blaring in my face (I’m not to be trusted with radio alarms – they’re way too easy to sleep through – so I have to go for the truly bogus EH-EH-EH-EH kind where you wake up thinking it’s the apocalypse).

Anyway…I braved the early morning cold/rain/sleet to hit the road at a respectable hour and schlep out to Geelong West Town Hall in Pakington Street.

Tips for Navigating the Camberwell Market

This was originally going to be a ‘stakeout’ post, as I was at the Camberwell market last weekend, but I think – given the central place this market holds as a source of vintage/retro gear, and how regularly people go to it - it’s worth giving some more general pointers and observations.

For the uninitiated, here’s the skinny on Cambo – it’s a Sunday market held in a large carpark in Station Street, Camberwell (behind the Burke Street shops). It’s hosted by the Rotary Club of Balwyn, and admission costs a gold coin donation which you give to someone in a vaguely ridiculous bib (vollies are posted at every entrance).

Now, this next bit is Extremely Important:

Stakeout: St Vincent De Paul Op Shop, Lilydale

That’s right, vintageers, you read the title correctly – your westies-loving detective hauled her ass out to Lilydale purely for the lurve of this blog (OK that is such a bogus lie, I was coincidentally out there and made the beau pull off a major highway to hit the only suburban op shop in the world open past 1pm on a Saturday).

Before I get started, it’s worth noting that there’s a matching Salvos about half a block down from this op. It was closed when I was there, but what the heck, if you’re in Lilydale anyway you may as well give it a burl. 

Sheesh, I feel like the mythbusters of op shopping this week.

Stakeout: Richmond Salvation Army Store

The word on the street is that when it comes to inner city Salvos stores, the cool stuff is sent straight to Abbotsford, while the more practical/contemporary stuff and the merch that is donated directly by clothing labels goes to Richmond Salvos (located in Victoria Street, you can’t miss it…if you hit Hunchbax, you’ve gone too far, go back before it’s too late etc).

The two stores only a few minutes walk (or tram ride, if you’re real lazy-like) apart, so if you’re checking out one it’s certainly worth having a rubber neck at the other. Especially because the aforementioned piece of Olde Oppe Shopping Lore doesn’t appear to be entirely true.