Second Hand Treasures

It has become somewhat of a tradition in my family to scout through estate sales. For those of you who have never experienced one, an estate sale is (generally) when someone dies and what is left of their possessions after the family takes what they want is sold to the general public. Quite different from a garage sale where people just toss out the junk they don't want to move to a new home.

Since I have been home visiting we have gone to several each week, except for the times I wasn't feeling well and stayed in bed when they went out on their adventures. The usual days are Thursday (on occasion), Friday (just my father and I) and Saturday. Of course Saturday is the day we have to wake up at an ungodly hour of the morning to be out the door in enough time to beat the funerals which tie up traffic all weekend.

Each of us have very specific things we look for at estate sales. My father looks for tools, kitchen supplies, CDs, books and whatever tchotchkes might catch his eye. My mother looks for fashion scarves, leather gloves, Japanese watercolors, interesting teapots, and picture frames. I go for clothes. Clothes, clothes, clothes, clothes, clothes. And sewing supplies.

Today we went to four estate sales and this is my haul. And my mother's cat who wouldn't get off of the clothes.

• Extra long houndstooth jacket
• Blue orange and white sweatshirt
• Black and purple striped sweater
• Black midi length slip dress
• Red plaid maxi length skirt
• Blue plaid midi length skirt
• White rabbit fur collar
• White and blue maxi dress
• Black and grey striped jeans
• Plaid midi dress
• Houndstooth midi dress

I also got my mother a scarf, but she's wearing that right now because she loves scarves. And I got one other thing, but I will talk about that a bit later in this post.

The first sale we went to was on it's last day and there wasn't much left, but I still managed to find the fur collar, the hat and the scarf I gave to my mother. I contemplated buying a wig, but the cut was more mature than I prefer. The second sale was overwhelming and amazing. All five rooms on the second floor were packed full of clothing. Each room had at least two closets which were so full of clothing that you couldn't actually look through the racks. Not to mention the boxes, suitcases, drawers and trunks filled with more clothes and tables and beds piled high with even more. And the best part? All of the clothing at this sale was only $1 unless marked otherwise. There wasn't much there to my taste but what I did find more than paid for itself. It is where I got everything else listed above. The third sale was absolutely nothing and the fourth sale was mostly nothing except for one thing which called my name.

This is my new friend George. Or possibly Gregory. Yes I am fully aware that this is a female deer skull, but that isn't nearly enough to make me want to change it's name. I was rather underwhelmed by this sale until I found George sitting on a desk in a corner and I immediately decided it was meant to be mine. Not to mention how fun it was unnerving everyone at the sale wandering around the house conversing under my breath with my new-found friend. "Hey George, what do you think of this jacket? ....yeah, you're right. It is rather unfortunate."

Relatively soon George will be turned into a hat. Why? Because its too large to turn into a necklace. And because Renee Masoomian inspires me in strange and wondrous ways.

TAKE ALL OF MY MONIES

In my self-imposed isolation with my family I have been taking a lot of time to read up on fashion and music history. Most recently I read "12 Days on the Road" by Noel Monk and Jimmy Guterman, about the Sex Pistols final tour. It was fascinating, but it made me lose what little respect I had for my vague acquaintances who idolize Sid Vicious. Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked here.

The point I'm trying to get here is just how much I love Vivienne Westwood and how much I really wish I could afford her clothing. There are pieces which some of my friends adore (such as her iconic heart jacket or anything with the DESTROY print) which just aren't to my taste, but there are a pieces few that I would gladly shank someone in order to obtain.

My current obsession?

Seditionaries muslin bondage shirts. With a print, without a print, I don't care, I want one desperately. The originals are a thing of beauty to me and vast majority of the knockoffs are wonderful quality. But, honestly, there is no way I can afford a real one and all but the bottom-of-the-barrel knockoffs are out of my price range at this moment. My plan? I'm going to make one myself. Although it means going out to find an appropriate fabric (since everything I currently have is spandex), I'm sure I could whip one together in an afternoon once I have the supplies. And I can always make my own print for it.

My other eternal obsession?

 

Orb lighters. Limited edition, no longer in production, weighted like a beast so you could do some serious damage if you decided to bash someone in the skull with it.... They're gorgeous. Plus it would stop people from stealing my lighters since it would always be around my neck. But, sadly, even second hand those lighters go for $3,000 and up. Not to mention that the knockoffs are all poor imitations. Sadly I believe that this love will always be nothing but a pipe dream.

Both images are from Rakuten because the Harajuku fashion kings and queens are all rather obsessed with Vivienne Westwood. Even the flamboyantly neon Takuya Angel has a pocket ashtray from Vivienne Westwood which looks like an oversized pocket watch.