How to Get Out of Savers in Five Minutes Flat

I’m a fairly honest sort of a lady, so I’ll tell you straight up that the title is a lie - there’s no way known that yours truly is getting out of savers in five minutes. or ten. or…you get the idea. I’m a hopeless case. But here are my best strategies for getting in and out of a huge op shop/second hand emporium as quick as you can.

It will be especially useful if, like me, you can’t go past an op shop, even if you’re running late/your parking meter has run out/you have a house bursting with crap. Here we go:

Stakeout: Williamstown Antique Fair, 18-20 July 2008

I have a soft spot for this fair - partially because it’s in my hood (with da pimpz and da honeyzz etc etc) and partially because it was at this fair, once upon a time, that my interest in all things old and ridiculous passed from ‘moderate’ to ‘out of control’.

That said, this fair was pretty much what you’d expect if you’re a regular at these things. Same dealers, same grumbles (a tip for antiques fairs - go late in the day to hear whether the vendors are grumbling at each other over the amount of sales they’ve had. About an hour before closing time it’s like they forget there’s other people around and start pissing and moaning about how crowds are down due to the football &c. It’s what i call ‘the witching hour’. And it’s a great time to haggle).

Happiness is Next to Vintagey Detectiveness

Something really delightful happened last week – I was awarded a ‘Tree of Happiness’ by the lurvely livingisdetail from One Little Detail. This entails three things:

1. I graciously accept the award, thanking my many supporters and possibly jesus in an overlong and cheesy speech which I later regret (I am most likely wearing a hideous bubblegum pink ballgown at this time).

2. I list six things that make me happy on this here blog (so no vintagey love today…well, maybe a little bit)

3. I pass the love on to six other blogettes.

The Vintage Detective: Now Broadcasting From NZ

The title really says it all, but if you’re up for some serious wafflage TVD style, then read on.

Fashion on the Ration: The Way We Wear Fair This Weekend!

For those who haven’t heard about the ‘The Way We Wear’ fairs, they’re vintage clothing, textiles and accessories fairs that happen around Australia throughout the year (mostly in Melbourne and Sydney). And, well, they’re pretty awesome. There’s stall after stall bursting at the seams with all manner of glittery, tactile, glamorous and outrageous clothes and other finery, and much of it is very affordable.

Remebering the Legacy of Yves Saint Laurent

I’m sure you would have heard on the news that Yves Saint Laurent, a legend of the fashion world, has died aged 71 after a long illness.

Saint-Laurent was one of those truly great designers that don’t just concern themselves with aesthetics, but with the broader political and social implications that fashion can have.

His support of feminism and women’s lib is well known;

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.

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.

Jackie O Suddenly Looks More Like Jackie O

Whoa nelly, I know I’ve been posting about TV an awful lot lately, but this was such a remarkable and sudden transformation that I thought the reading public should be immediately informed.

What gives with the omnipresent Jackie O’s sudden 50s inspired makeover?

Outrage: Country Ladle Ad Insults Op Shoppers, Bakers and the Elderly

OK, the link between the latest ad for Country Ladle canned soup and the usual subject matter of this blog is tenuous at best. So this won’t be the most ‘useful’ post I’ve ever done. Nonetheless, it is an OUTRAGE, and as such should be addressed.

Now, for those of you who aren’t watching the Bargain Hunt/Antiques Roadshow Hour of Power and therefore may have missed this ad, here’s the lowdown. A woman (about 30) is on the phone to her mother. She says something like ‘Yes mum, I got your package. Thanks for the tea set, it’s getting a lot of use’ as the ad shows a bunch of small children playing with the tea set in the mud. She then says ‘oh, the scones are very popular’ as there’s a shot of some pigeons eating said scones. Then: ‘yes, thanks for the cardi, it’s a perfect fit’ as a shot of a hobo wearing a pink cardigan comes up. Blah blah blah…the point is that the only thing she actually likes is the country ladle soup, which she gleefully hoes into as the ad rolls on.

Innocuous enough, you might think. But what is the real message of this ad?