Thrifted Archives - Be Kind, Thrift and Rewind

I went back to Philly Aids Thrift, at 710 South 5^th Street in Philadelphia, this past weekend, and it was once again a lively, upbeat, rocking place to visit and go shopping. Every time I have been by there, which is at least four or five times now, there are people hanging out at the tables and chairs outside and it is the most fun thrift shop I have ever been to. They have the usual sections that thrift shops have but they also have a separate vintage section, a whole book shop section, a dollar room, and a large variety of items. It is all very well organized. The book section is super affordable and they have a large selection of books. The small collectible vintage items stay downstairs near the cashiers. If you are in the area I would definitely recommend checking it out. The store is a non-profit and most of its funds go to AIDS research and the remainder goes to various to HIV organizations.

Right on the same block is Nostalgia, at 704 South 5^th Street, a vintage shop that also sells contemporary women’s clothing designed by Earl Salko, which is made in the USA. They have jewelry, some houseware items, collectibles, men’s wear and some vintage women’s wear as well. They also repair and refurbish some items.

Philly Aids Thrift

Philly Aids Thrift Vintage Room

Philly Aids Thrift

Nostalgia

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Around the corner at 508 South Street is Retrospect, which has a variety of housewares, clothing, and costume jewelry and is a rather large shop with a fun assortment of items. I was there a few weeks ago and they have been having a summer sale for a while now. They are associated with Goodwill Industries, which I only just found out by reading a Yelp review. It is stocked and run as a vintage shop and I would say most of the vintage clothing ranges from the mid 60’s and 70’s to the early 90’s. In comparison with vintage shops in New York City for instance, the prices are great for clothing and accessories of that era.

However, as in New York, the shops that specialize in the older vintage from the 30’s to the 60’s are few and far between. Those items are generally more expensive, as is to be expected. I haven’t made it to all the vintage shops in Philadelphia yet so if I find more later on I will let you know.

Briar Vintage has a warehouse space now out at 4324 Tackawanna Street, which is in the Frankford section of Philadelphia. The warehouse space is open on Saturdays. The owner specializes in men’s wear from the 1800’s to the 1960’s. He has a large collection and prices vary depending on how much work he puts into the pieces. Apparently the business sells a lot to theatre companies. They had a downtown location in Bella Vista but now they have a small shop divided with Sazz Vintage at 618 South 6^th Street. I didn’t get a chance to see that location, which will be getting a name change due to the two businesses combining.

Retrospect

The Strange And Unusual Oddities Parlor

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What really blew my mind was finding Jinxed, a housewares shop on South 4th Street. They also had a collection of costume jewelry, a variety of small items, such as cameras, and a very small amount of clothing. The first location I went to, at 609 South 4^th Street (there are two locations right next door to each other), had this beautiful armoire for the screaming deal price of $178!! In New York a piece like that would run closer to $1,000. At a price like that it’d be worth driving to Philadelphia and back to buy vintage furniture. They have an online shop you can connect to via their website. Plus they have several locations within Philadelphia.

At 523 South 4^th Street is The Strange and Unusual Oddities Parlor, which carries taxidermy, novelties and antiques. They have the strangest collection of taxidermy I have ever seen. I lived out in Colorado for about 15 years so I have seen a lot. They had small mice with antlers mounted on frames. There was a fox suspended in a mid-air leap. Numerous religious novelty pieces in the jewelry cases and a variety of antique items fill up the shop. They had bison teeth with a small hole to make a pendant out of, deer teeth, all kinds of oddities.

If you like thrifting and vintage you also most likely like old architecture like I do. That will be for another post, as I took many photos the last few times I was in Philadelphia. Old City Philadelphia has a lot of really beautiful architecture. Several streets have houses that were built before 1800. I really had a great time walking around the city and exploring.

Well I hope you enjoyed this post and are having a fun summer! I will keep my eye out for some more fun vintage shops or antique items to share with you!

Jinxed

Philly Typewriter

Briar Vintage

Hawaain Print Thrifted Skirt With a Tutti Fruiti Necklace

May 29, 2016

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I found this Banana Split thrifted Hawaain rayon skirt in a vintage shop a couple of months ago. Its bright hibiscus flowers, green palm tress, and deep blue water scenes made me want it immediately. This is a perfect skirt for a casual night out, comfy as a pair of shorts, and so easy to combine with t-shirts or tank tops, dress up or down. I have always liked Hawaiian prints. They tend to be so lively and fun; perhaps it is partially the fact that the scenes on them evoke memories of vacations, or relaxation time.

I tend to like to wear this skirt with this Tutti Frutti necklace and bracelet I designed. In late June I will open my handmade Etsy shop and it will be carrying the necklace and perhaps bracelets too. The plastic fruit pieces I have currently are from the 80’s when I had a costume jewelry wholesaling business. They are so bright and cheerful! I hope the distributor is still carrying some beads like this since they are great and I’d like to restock them once I run out of my current stock.

Sorry the pictures didn’t come out so great this time. I have been so busy with the Etsy shop, getting it up and running, I haven’t gotten to focus as much on the blog. I need to get my head wrapped around it more and get better pictures!! Plus I am still working on getting the second Etsy shop running next month. It is a lot to do, at least initially since I have had to learn how to do it.

The floral pictures are from various gardens. Some are from St.Luke’s Garden in the West Village of NYC. Some are from the Jefferson Market Garden. The one with me near a rose bush is my own community garden, which is dry from the sun and not quite gorgeous and full of flowers just yet. The community garden near where I live is very small and we only have a few members. In general it is so lovely to walk around the city, or Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and see all the beautiful flowers that are in bloom. Some local businesses put out large containers of flowers and it really makes the block more lively.

Well I hope you are enjoying Memorial Day weekend and having fun in the sun. I am headed to Florida soon to see my family. My daughter Emily is coming here first, then we are going there together. I can’t wait to see my grandmother. She is 94!

thrifted hawaain print skirt

Banana Split thrifted skirt

St. Luke's Garden

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Tutti Frutti necklace

I’m Covered in Green Hearts!

April 30, 2016

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I found this early 1990’s vintage heart-print dress a couple of months ago. I liked the colorful green hearts immediately. The blue is a navy but out in the sunlight it casts off a bit of a periwinkle color. It is made of a soft and comfortable cotton. I wanted a short dress. So many of my dresses tend to be mid-calf since I like them that way. It is nice to mix it up though, particularly in the spring and summer months when it gets warm!

One of the great things I have noticed about not dwelling on trends much is that I really buy significantly less. I stick with the classics and occasionally I find something else that I like that I add to my wardrobe. It is a nice to feel that my closet is full enough. I also have more time to focus on my crafts and other pursuits since I am far less inclined to go out and shop to keep up with trends. When I see a trend I like I either figure out if I want to participate in it, or how I can make something similar myself, or find something similar either thrifted or vintage so it is further down the chain of production. I haven’t had time but I want to make myself a pair of slacks that have that Japanese loose but feminine look with the fullness that almost looks like a skirt or harem pants. I am in awe of the ideas for designs that the Far East has for slacks. They make the slacks in the United States look so standard, while theirs are avant-garde and unique.

I bought the dainty gold necklace at Accessorize. I really like some of the designs in their shop. They have a lovely collection and variety of designs. I liked how the necklace is so thin and delicate.

My stocking come from Trendy Legs. My sweetheart gave them to me as a gift. I also have a pair with hearts on them but I like these with the paisley pattern paired with the dress’s green heart pattern. They are really nice for us ladies who aren’t into tattoos, we can get kind of the same effect but without the tattoo.

I have been quite buried working on getting the Etsy shop up and running. Then after the first one is opened I am going to create another with handmade items. It is a learning curve and a big project but I have been reading a lot about it. Plus it is exciting, all the more so since I get to focus on pieces of myself that I haven’t had that much time to really let loose and watch evolve in many years. I have a real reason to bring the things I enjoy and the things I like creating forward. I get the opportunity to focus on my hobbies and interests but on a larger level so I can share them with others. In a certain way it makes me feel twenty-one again. At twenty-one my brain was as if it was on fire with creativity!

I hope you are enjoying the beginning of spring and hopefully it will get warm enough so that I can take some blog-post pictures outside again!!

Vintage 1990's dress

1990's green vintage dress

trendy legs tights

accessorize necklace 1990's dress

1940’s Green Floral Jacket with a Thrifted Sage Green Dress

April 9, 2016

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When I first saw this 1940’s floral jacket I didn’t buy it since it was in need of some rather serious repairs. I left the shop and thought about it for a few weeks though. When I came back in later it was still there and I decided to give it the TLC it deserved and to enjoy it. I like that it is colorful and lively with all its flowers. Plus I figured it’d go nicely with this sage green dress I thrifted last summer from St. Luke’s Thrift Shop in the West Village. It is a Three Dots dress and they usually go for about $90. I paid a fraction of that and to top it off got it when the thrift shop had a sale.

The bracelet I have on is a vintage bracelet I found at a garage sale years ago. I bought some new shoes recently, Born oxfords, and they go well with this outfit. They are super comfortable!

I am slowly working on opening an Etsy shop. I hope to have it ready to open in the next couple of weeks. It is quite an undertaking but having a blog has been good training for starting an Etsy shop. Plus I hope to open another one with my costume jewelry designs as well. Eventually I will add some other crafts.

I haven’t had time to finish my Dottie Angel dress but I will get to work on it before too long. I am eager to wear it this summer and spring! My daughter gave me some lovely fabric for Christmas that I am using for part of the dress.

Gardening season is upon us and I am juggling multiple things. I do hope to get into the garden soon and do some planting. Seeing the spring flowers as I am out walking is a beautiful sight.

Well I hope you are enjoying the coming of spring. I will keep you posted on new developments as they happen with my Etsy adventure!

1940's jacket