Since I started this blog, I've made it an annual tradition to visit a different area Salvation Army on every Wednesday during my summer vacation. At first this just meant the most immediate stores. At the time, there were 4 in Rochester and its closest suburbs (Greece, Irondequoit, Henrietta, and the "Hidden City Salvo" as I have dubbed it). Irondequoit closed down a few years ago, much to my disappointment, so now I only have 3 in the immediate Rochester area. I also visited the slightly-more-distant stores in Canandaigua, my hometown of Dansville, my mother-in-law's town of Auburn, and on vacation, Atlantic City.
This has snowballed in years since, and my visits have expanded to include other nearby cities. I now do all of the above (minus Irondequoit and substituting in whatever town we're visiting on vacation for Atlantic City), plus Seneca Falls, Geneva, Newark, Batavia, Bath, Buffalo (did not enjoy, will not be repeating), and one of my personal favorites, Syracuse.
Last year's Syracuse trip came right near the beginning of the summer when I still had lots of energy, and near the beginning of my Etsy shop, when I still had lots of space. That day remedied the latter, and it's a situation I haven't recovered from since. The problem is that there are 4 stores, and 2 out of the 4 (I have discovered after three years of visiting them) are killer.
This year I started at the 4th store, one I had never visited before. Just to see.
It seemed promising - all the dresses, skirts, purses, and shoes were in one little side room by themselves. Adorable!
But in the end, all I found was one thing.
Super cute, early 60s, and coming soon to my Etsy shop!
I moved on to the next nearest, one of the 2 that had done so well for me on both previous trips.
Immediately this started playing out better for me than the last one!
It's a darker black than it looks in the pic, and it's a 50s strapless dress with lace details and the neckline is DIVINE. I mean:
Look at it. LOOK. AT. IT. Are you dying? I'm dying. Oh, the feels!
If this dress fit me, there is no way I would give it up. Unfortunately, it's not even close, so this beauty will also be finding its way to my Etsy shop. It was slightly yellowed at first, so it's had a good soak and is bright and beautiful now!
Sweet eyelet bodice! So cute! And perfect for someone in a concert choir who doesn't have sleeve length requirements! Any music majors out there?
60s, wool, and the neckline! I'm a sucker for a good neckline.
I only found one thing for myself at this store, but it's such a good one thing.
I moved on to the third store, already feeling a little overwhelmed (because there were more purchases than the ones pictured), but knowing I would hate myself if I missed out on this store, which has also always done well for me. And I was right!
This one didn't fit, and I was pretty bummed. Such a fun print on this 70s maxi!
I have fallen madly in love with Hawaiian print dresses. This is Royal Creations, which apparently bought out Hilo Hattie, a brand whose dresses are favorites.
Couldn't resist the spring print on this 70s midi dress!
This shot doesn't do this dress justice, and I haven't gotten her up on the dress form yet. It's a 1940s dress that buttons all the way up and has lace cutouts. It's going to be amazing when she's all gussied up, you just wait.
I tried this one on, and it was too big. I love 70s day dresses so much... but I suppose someone else will get to love this one!
This dress was very exciting, because I'd just bought its almost-twin in Dansville a few weeks prior! Once I got it home and onto the dress form, I realized it wasn't an exact twin, but I'd definitely call them sisters!
Definitely relatives!
I found this modern dress for myself - it has pockets!
And look at that back! Yes!
I found these Christmas Tree earrings for Sarah, lover of all things Christmas.
And these Monet earrings are for me, lover of all things sparkly.
I also got quite a few slips, nightgowns, and other vintage intimates that I haven't photographed, but you can see peeks of them. Here's my vintage haul!
So many good things! I think I held myself back better than I did last year, but still a good sized haul! I think Syracuse Salvos and I are going to be good friends for many years to come!
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