A Big vintage stock purchase and getting ready for vacation (maybe)

My hydrangeas are looking super pretty! The heads are blooming and getting bigger. I can't wait until the bushes are really big in a few years, and totally loaded with flowers. I love the different shading in the flowers.

Today I went through a great load of vintage. Thank goodness none of the dresses were my size, otherwise I'd have about 20 dresses getting ready to jump into my closet. They're my favorite type of dresses to buy for resale (and for myself) - pretty cotton print 1940-50s day dresses. This lot of dresses are plus sized - which is so hard to get. Going by the vintage sizes that I saw in some of the dresses, most are probably 42 to 48 inch bust. There are also a few rayon slips and nightgowns in the same sizes, a few are even unworn.
Below are some really quick, horrible photos of today's buy. XL dresses never look good just drooping on a hanger, but I wanted to show a sampling of the prints, and a few pieces of the lingerie.


There were also about 15 of those 1960s sleeveless Summer house-shift dresses, with either buttons or zippers down the front, also in XL sizes - they are in the wash right now.


One surprise was a Ceil Chapman dress - no, no, no, that one is not a plus size, sorry. Shown on the left here, it has a strappy beaded bodice with peach silk satin skirt.
In all, I got over 300 pieces (including 70 dresses which about 50 of those are XL sizes) The pieces include clothing, lingerie, hats, purses, aprons (yeah! I was getting low on those) some textiles, scarves and 30 little girl's dresses from the 1950s.
So, now you're wondering, 'what did she keep for herself?' I had to pry a few of those dresses out of my hands, convincing myself that there was no way I could cut them down to fit me. But below you will see my booty - first are two pieces of cotton fabrics (future dresses for me) and then a pretty white and gold straw purse with beads and flowers.



Next is a pale green taffeta curtain/valance with painted flowers. A set of two, perfect for the two windows in my bedroom! Next is a super cute older gauze curtain set with flocked green dots and flower pots. But, cute as they are, I'll probably never get any use out of them. They are too discolored to hang, and if I were to try to soak them, the green flocking would come right off. It's a tragedy.





So, I am planning to try to go on a 'vacation' next week. But luckily my 'vacation' spot is only 20 minutes away! I'll take a few hours here and there to run back home and check my emails, fill orders and ship out some packages during my alleged 'vacation'. I just cannot be totally away from my business for too many days. I worry and I'm conscientious about customer service and keeping things up to date. No one else can do it for me. Plus, my business is fun. The vacation is just nice to have time to myself, and to be in my favorite place. Here's where I'll be - a little seashore efficiency that started out as a little boathouse and was later converted to livingspace with a kitchen, sleep-in livingroom and bathroom. It has new siding and roofing, which make it look even more cottage-y. A friend said it looked like a little cottage in the woods that you would expect a fairy or pixie to live in. No, just me! I bought flower boxes which my Dad hung on the windows, and they look really cute, along with my hydrangeas and little garden below. I have one of those clear plastic birdfeeders hanging on the kitchen window, and I can see the little birds eating seeds while I'm eating my breakfast. There's a waiting line for the birds to get on that feeder!
There is so much planning and work to do to get ready to go on vacation. And now I've got a load of fresh vintage on my mind too! So back to my laundry and typing for the next website update, which will return on July 9th (after the vacation)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Where in the world did you score such a great lot?! My favorite kind of dresses, too! But they are usually too small to feel comfortable in~~which is the whole point of wearing a sweet, vintage cotton day dress!! Yay for you! I have learned so much from your website and just launched into the Blogosphere myself~~come visit when you have time! Have a wonderful vacation in that adorable little boathouse (so F. Scott Fitzgerald!!)
Michelle

Julie The Vintage Goddess said...

Wow!!!
Even on the hanger you can tell what great dresses those are, some really cool prints there.

Sigh...
We had a horrible freeze here and lost all the blueberry buds, tons of other stuff and my hydrangas are just foliage.
I am so sad, but yours are so pretty.

Dandelion Vintage said...

I'm really excited about this load of vintage, came out an Italian Gal's house, her name is in some of the dresses. The prints are just really fab. One of the dresses in the photo is a print of gloves, very cute. Of course they came two days before the start of my vacation, but I am taking some of the nightgowns with me to soak and hang in the fresh beach air to dry.

My hydrangeas are looking even pretty. Speaking of blueberries, we have a few wild bushes in our back yard. We have to fight the squirrels for them though!

miss vintage love said...

Great haul Carol!
Lucky girl.
Have a fun vacation!

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to see the Ceil listed.