I started the summer with too much stuff in my Etsy shop inventory, otherwise known as my spare bedroom. I have slightly more space for my own personal dresses, but that's also pretty much at capacity. I do regularly clear out my closet (which results in the festivities known as Ann-Me-Downs), and I am usually quite cutthroat out of necessity. Still, with the space problem in mind, I have made a vow to myself to only buy the best of the best this summer. The rule is that it has to "give me the feels" before I will buy it. I am terrible at following this rule.
I definitely have this feeling pretty often while treasure-hunting. It's a feeling which all of my fellow treasure-hunters understand without explaining. For those of you who don't know this feeling, it's the moment when you glimpse something and without needing to look too closely, you know it's amazing. This might mean something really beautiful, something valuable, something really unique, something really hard-to-find, or something that you personally have been searching for a long time. It's accompanied by a racing heart, flared nostrils, the tendency to gasp and ruin your poker-face, and for me, the inability to look directly at said item right away.
I had several of these moments last week in Dansville and Bath. This week I went to my favorite local thrift store and didn't really have a single one. And still, I walked away with a really healthy bag full of clothes, shoes, and jewelry. Bad at following my own rule.
Now, you all know that my standard operating procedure is always to head immediately to dresses. Because (as you might have heard) I WIN AT DRESSES. However, this Salvo tends to be less crowded and crazy than most on a Wednesday. I am usually alone in the dresses section, and at one point last year I saw a beautiful necklace that I passed in favor of the dresses, and it was gone by the time I returned. So I have revised my technique for this store and this store alone. Because while I win at dresses, I don't win at jewelry, and this one tends to have really good jewelry.
The above tray was full of so many good 80s earrings that I couldn't decide which, if any, @thesnugbungalow would want. So I just took a picture of the whole tray.
These seemed like something she might want, so I sent her those as well (she only wanted the blue one).. I loved them too, but they're too big for my wrists and I do not love the clanging sound bracelets make, a sound I'm told Sarah really likes. Yuck.
At first glance I wanted these for myself, but then I saw they were hearts. I love rainbows but I am not such a big fan of heart-shaped things. So these are Sarah's, and she's wearing them as I'm typing this!
Fabulous.
I was highly disappointed about this earring, since there was only one and it's gorgeous. I was proud of myself for identifying it for what it was - a type of iridescent earring made from butterfly wing. Horrifying but SO beautiful. I want a pair, but a single earring won't cut it.
This is what I did wind up with. A pair of shells for my beach-themed jewelry obsession, a blue bracelet that's not too huge for my wrist, a couple of colorful 80s earrings, and my favorite are the stars. Those are glow-in-the-dark, a fact which I excitedly announced when I found them. The lady at the counter looked at me skeptically and said "Are you sure?" and I just laughed. Oh, honey. You're talking to someone who for a couple of years in the late 90s had every single glow in the dark thing. Every. Single. Thing. I'd know glow-in-the-dark anywhere. And while I'm not a fan of hearts, I am crazy about stars. Pretty!
I did find a couple of clothing items for myself this trip that rated finding a place for them in my closet.
I don't know what I love the most about this dress! It's either the bird pattern on the fabric or the swiss dotted mesh at the neckline. So sweet and fun and summer!
This skirt is something I was looking specifically for. This is totally against my personal thrifting rules (you can read about them here), since everyone knows that if you're at a thrift store, you will find everything but the one thing you're actually looking for. But I bought a 70s halter top recently that really needed a white peasant-style skirt, so I'd been on the lookout. Mission accomplished!
While perusing the shoes, I found this pair of Clarks for only $2.50. I have a few pairs of thrifted Clarks and they're all my favorite shoes. I only know about them because my cousin Colleen has sung the praises of this brand to me, so when these weren't my size, I immediately texted her this picture. So Colleen is the proud new owner of a seemingly-unworn pair of super cheap Clarks!
This didn't get purchased for obvious reasons, but it needed to be shared. Because it's just so.... much.
Before you get the idea that all I bought was a pair of shoes for my cousin, some jewelry for me and for Sarah, and two items for myself, let me prove the contrary:
In there we also have a pair of Nine West pumps for concerts, (from left-to-right) a Laura Ashley 90s shirt dress, a fun 70s peach skirt, a 70s floral maxi, a Jessica McClintock satin sheath gown, and a 50s/60s full-skirted dress that I'm going to go ahead and guess is for Christmas. None of these strictly gave me the feels but they were all too great to leave behind! You'll see them in my Etsy shop in the very near future!
Speaking of my Etsy shop, all my summer finds are constantly being added. And, to help with the space problem, I've created a Clearance Section for items that will be priced at $20 & under! Check it out!
Check back soon for the next installment of our dueling estate-saling blog series, That's What She Said!
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