Retro Dress - Blast from the 70s

My sister brought me this great long dress from one of her Prosperpine or Airlie Beach Opp Shops.

It is made from a soft stretchy fabric and has no changes.

So 702, the combination of white, chocolate brown and orange.

I have taken this shot showing one of my furs. A little Cornelius collar shrug.  So easy to wear with any coat.

Best Intentions: Shoot after I Shop (3)

This stuff, I found at our usual trawl of favourite op-shop.

Some nice "nana' Italian shoes.

I can't wait to wear the nifty 70s shirt at the front, great colours!

A couple of belted, shirtmaker dresses and a pair of flimsy, fine pleated harem-style pants, good for that dress-up party.

The old "New Idea" magazine to add to my collection.

Finally, a pile of old style tea towels with their NILE labels still attached. Love them!

MyClothing - Frocks from Two Decades (1)

This series is likely to be very long.

So, I have decided that I will have to think up some labels to identify clothes of different decades, eras, styles .. whatever reflects their unique features.

The dress on the left, I bought at Vinnies, Penrith, yesterday.

I wore it to an Underbelly party to reflect the 80s.

I love the silver detail, the back ruffle/peplum lowers to a point, the sleeves are ruffled, there are small covered buttons down the front and even the shoulder pads are quite fancy!

The plain, black number has a lace bodice and lined flowing mid-calf dress. Alas, size 8.

Best Intentions - Shoot after I Shop (2)

Even with best intentions, I have only taken two photos so far of purchases made.

The problem is I get home and start washing and placing them and then well ... I forget in all the excitement of another success.

This set of goodies has one or two rings-ins.

The two little patterned plates in the centre are Japanese and I now have a lot of these in similar patterns.

The nifty, orange ice-bucket was a real find in very good condition as was the old mixer jar. 

The clear plate at the front matches a set I have in various pastel shades. The varied brown glass plate has slotted nicely into my glass collection. It is quite heavy.

Powder Compacts - It's all Cosmetic

I have been collecting old cosmetics since my teens. 

I still have some of my own products from the 60s. Nothing too flash, some Rimmel eyeshadow.

I like looking for old Avon bottles too, some are very cute!

I have a nice group of fancy perfume spray bottles [pic to follow] and this picture show my compact collection.

I have found most of these at markets and one of my friends, an avid collector herself, looks out for them for me too.

As you can see, some of these items are truly beautiful.

Best Intentions: Shoot after I Shop

A while ago, while I was formulating this plan to set a blog, wiki, webpage or ... to talk about my collection-passion, I started to take a photo each time I bought something retro.

Needless to say, this plan did not last.

Now, I have some incentive and hope to be more disciplined.

Here is a shot of shoes and clothes.

I remember on this day of shopping at one of our favourite op-shops, they had all their clothing for $1.00.  I found some very nifty items.

Unpacking my FlashTrash after Moving House

Over the last week, I have been sorting all my "junk" into an area of our new shed that will enable me to better display my treasures.

Today, I rediscovered all my lustreware vases that I had not seen for years. [pic. to follow].

I also found a number of old kitchen canister sets from the 50s to 70s.

I have another 5 boxes of "stuff" to unpack, I think it is crockery - cup and saucer sets.

So far, I have found my:

• collection of old children's books
• leather cases
• collection of old cookbooks
• old fashion mags of the 50s/60s in good condition
• old bottle collection
• packed collection of glassware in orange and red

I am also pleased that my husband has finally displayed his old radio collection. [pic. to follow]

I want to bring some into the house.

Retrovintage in the Australian Blogosphere - Hunting for a Presence

Did a quick google search for suitable on-topic Australian blogs to include in a blogroll.

At this stage, key words are: retro, vintage, collectable, fashion

Here are my finds so far. The search goes on ...

Bowerbird Vintage

Circa Vintage Clothing

Vintagewear

On the international scene, this one has very readable, well-organised vintage clothing feature posts.

Vintage Fashion Guild

Queens of Vintage

If you visit here, add any Aussie blog on-topic you know of, please.

Glassware Galore - Colour the Key

I have always been interested in heavy glass pieces. 

Be they bulky ashtrays or interesting bowls, it hasn't mattered. 

This type of flash trash used to be available for just a couple of dollars or less. Now, prices are creeping up.

I have a lot of these pieces together now in a show from blue to orange.

I love the multi-coloured ones especially.

This picture has a combination of glass and crockery of various kinds.

I'll look more closely at individual pieces and groups over time.

Glassware Galore

Collecting glasses has been one of my favourite pastimes.

I have glasses in all colours, shapes and sizes.

My collections are mostly 50s and 60s coloured and patterned glass sets.  I love the multi-coloured, swirly and etched patterns.

I invest time into gathering sets of small liqueur glasses to use with my collection of 30 plus liqueurs.  I have some of these smaller sets in narrow display cabinets in my kitchen.

I have quite a lot of blue glassware.

I have cut back buying glasses now, space is a problem!

However, I have found very cheap Stuart and Waterford crystal glasses at markets and in op-shops, so I never stop looking ...

Glassware will be a regular feature on my new retrovintage blog.

All Old is New-My Retro 'n Vintage Collections

I have been collecting "old things" since I was a teenager.

I started with clothing and progressed to almost anything.

I call my collections "flash trash". I don't have any wonderful antiques, but I do have collectable items of clothing, crockery, utensils and furniture from the 50s to 80s.

It has taken me much thinking to set up this blog and I hope I can post weekly a short piece with a photo.

This picture shows me in the middle of about half of my clothing. 

These are just the clothes that I wear sometimes. The rest of my collection is in boxes.

The challenge for me is how to keep decades old items in good condition. This picture does not show my shoes either ...

Over the coming weeks, posts will include tales and pictures about my glass and other crockery collections.