We’ve searched high/low, traveled across the country, visited hundreds of pokey antique malls, dusty junk-tique shops, smelly thrifts, nearly impassible hoarders homes, more estate sales than I care to remember, stood in line in terrible weather, outflanked other pickers, waded through clothing piles stacked to the ceiling and closets jammed full. I've done mountains of hand washing, laundry, dry cleaning, ironing, steaming, have inspected miles of fabric, sewn on or repaired thousands of buttons, hooks, eyes, thread loops, snaps, seams, hems, occasionally fully restored garments. (All so you don’t have to.) We've missed many meals or far more often eaten questionable roadside food on the quest for vintage. I've done years of research to identify, tag and market price the finest, one of a kind vintage pieces for you. This is not hyperbole, it's a labor of love and respect for the well made things of the past.
Vintage clothing has traveled through time and they all have stories, some I know, but more often I don’t and they’ll likely have some sign of their decades of service. While I strive to provide like new or as nearly new in function and appearance as I can get it there will likely be something that shows age, even dead-stock tagged vintage can have issues though unworn. That being said, like patina on antique/vintage furniture tells its story, vintage clothing has its own patina or vintage charm.
If I’ve identified something amiss outside of my very high standards that I can’t rectify but still consider a piece worth marketing I'll mark the tag “As is”, disclosing the issue and the price will reflect the patina. I’m human and occasionally miss something or there may be dressing room/shop damage that I haven’t noticed yet so please bring these things to my attention for a return to “Santa’s workshop” or more rarely I’ll offer a small discount for the inconvenience of resewing a button, washing out dressing room makeup or deodorant marks or the like.
I love the novel one of a kind pieces, the history, unique styling, lost in time construction techniques, bygone colors, high end rarely seen fabrics, notions and detailing that's too expensive to use or replicate today in all but the most costly (couture) garments. This is not a thrift store experience but I do price below, sometimes well below aggregate marketplace averages (online dealers are generally my competition in like for like items without the added shipping costs) and I provide the luxury of being able to try before you buy. If you love vintage like I do you will be pleasantly surprised at what I have in store.
PS: I give bulk buyers an additional discount. Come see me next Sunday. Closed for Easter. Thanks for stopping by.
