Some people lament how impersonal the online selling of vintage goods can be, and how it's ruined the relationship between buyer and seller. That may be true in some cases, but I'd like to illustrate how an online transaction in my Etsy shop connected a lovely young woman from half a world away with yours truly, and helped find a loving home and new life for two "fascinators", or little hats, that had been saved for many years in an old trunk, just waiting to be discovered.
I came into the picture at one of my prime picking spots: April's Antiques and Home Furnishings on Kalamazoo Street in Lansing, Michigan. Owned by Jeff Morse, I visit April's regularly to find goods to re-sell:
On this day I hit a jackpot: a cache of "ladystuff" in trunks, including a picture of the original owners to give it all some provenance. From what I was told, these five sisters lived in the Lansing, Michigan area. A few of them never married and lived together until they died, carefully saving a lot of their hats, gloves, jewelry and clothes over the years. They took good care of things, believe me!
I had a field day picking out treasures from their carefully saved items. I purchased a huge tub of buttons, numerous hats, gloves, scarves, and dresses.
When I got home I divided up some of the hats so I could sell some on Etsy. I've discovered "fascinators" are especially good sellers, because "one size fits all", for the most part, unlike hats. The model below is wearing a hat (obviously), and a fascinator is on the right:
A lovely young lady named Nora purchased two fascinators from me. She's from Sydney, Australia, and was nice enough to send me a picture of herself wearing the fascinators after she received them. If anyone knows how to rock a fascinator, I'd say it's Nora!
This and all remaining images in this post belong to NoraFinds.
Nora is a molecular biologist by day and a fashion blogger by night. Visit her blog, NoraFinds, to see the awesomely fashionable life she's leading in her world so far away.
The second fascinator she purchased from me is shown below right:
Nora and her handsome fella, Justin Lee:
I've found Nora's blog to be so refreshing, because I typically read crafting/antique/decorating blogs. I love having a fashion blog bookmarked now, especially one that appreciates vintage fashion!
In the picture below, Nora and a group of Sydney ladies gather at a historical fifties house for a fashion event. As you can see, these ladies go for authenticity:
The event was held at the Rose Seidler House, an awesome mid-century modern abode:
If you would like some of Nora's expert advice on how to work vintage style into your wardrobe, read her post here. Personally, I think wearing vintage accessories is the way to go! Leave the "mall jewelry", hats and scarves to the kids and teenagers. Now that we're grownups, we can have more discriminating taste! I also enjoyed Nora's post about her purchase of a vintage Butterick pattern for a fifties blouse that she sewed on her new sewing machine. It turned out nicely, I have to say!
You can bet that I'll be on the lookout for more vintage accessories and fascinators with Nora in mind from now on. And if anyone wants to have a debate about the lack of buyer-seller interaction with online transactions, I have a great example to back up my side of the argument!
Mitzi
