the estate sale

So I went to an estate sale this morning, because I thought there might be a chance of some vintage clothes.

And, well. You guys. There sure were.

What you’re looking at there are 98 vintage dresses from the 50s and 60s, in pristine condition, still in their dry-cleaner’s bags. For which I paid $1 apiece. One. Fucking. Dollar. Apiece.

Basically, all estate sales after this one are going to be a letdown. Holy CRAP, you guys.

baby clothes

Bought a trunk full of 1950s baby and toddler clothes from a guy off Craigslist. SO EXCITED to sort through it! I hope people at the store like them.

open for business!

We’re open! Spent all day Saturday setting up, and put the finishing touches on it Sunday morning. I am so, so happy with how everything looks.

my god, it’s full of vintage.

Went to the wholesale vintage warehouse in Baltimore this morning. Words are not really adequate to the task of conveying just how much vintage clothing was contained in this warehouse. I spent the better part of two hours going through a single giant cardboard bin of cotton dresses, bought about 70 of them, and didn’t even make it halfway through the bin. And that’s not even counting the skirts and blouses, or the fairly large pile of incredibly beautiful and delicate 1950s little girl’s dresses and slips I amassed.

So that was pretty good.

In case you’re wondering just how big my haul was, here is everything piled on the couch:

Lots of things now need to be sorted through, tagged, inventoried, soaked in Oxy Clean, have buttons sewn on them, and various other things, but I think I am going have enough stock for my opening on March 1.

what I found

Here’s the results of yesterday’s thrifting, now tagged and entered into inventory. There’s a sweater and a dress that need washing before I can photograph them, but this is the rest of it.

tagging

Hit four thrift stores this morning, including a little hole in the wall on University that I’d previously overlooked, and the Salvation Army on New Hampshire I never get around to visiting. Found a whole bunch of stuff, including a lovely navy blue ’50s silk wiggle dress and a totally crazy ’70s maxidress with a bright quilted skirt. Everything has been tagged and entered into inventory– I’m doing it as I buy things, so I don’t have a whole pile of stuff to sort out once the downstairs at Polly Sue’s is ready; I want everything to be good to move in as soon as possible.

I’m using plain pre-strung manila tags from Staples, but I bought a robin rubber stamp from Redlead Paper Works, and I’m stamping the backs of my tags with it. I think they look pretty good.

the dress rack

Just to establish my vintage credentials, here’s a look at my dress rack. That’s the dress rack I keep in my room, now that my closet, dresser, and nightstand are all filled with clothes. The dress rack which is mostly full of vintage day dresses.

That’s the summer version, of course, since I took that picture a while ago. I’ve since rotated most of those clothes to the back of my closet, and pulled the winter stuff out. I, uh, have a lot of clothes.

welcome to red robin vintage

Hello! I’m a fledgling vintage dealer, learning the business and about to open her own space for the first time. I’ll be using this blog to keep track of my best finds, talk about my love of vintage fashion, and document the process of setting up my store-within-a store. I’ve been apprenticing at the wonderful Polly Sue’s Vintage in Takoma Park, Maryland, for some time now, and I was recently offered the chance to take over the store’s basement to sell my own things. As I get ready to do so, I’ll blog the process (and share some of my own outfits while I’m at it). I hope you enjoy the ride– and if you’re local, be sure to stop by Polly Sue’s and pay me a visit!