Just Some Good Stuff!
Life and Thrifting is GOOD.
Oh HI! been a while…again. Anywho, Vinted is ranked as the third largest fashion retailer in the UK, following only Primark and Next. How insanely awesome is that? Second hand and Vintage is totally thriving and although there may be some issues with consumerism and forms of throw-away culture tied to Vinted, for the most part, it feels like those who have been screaming into the void about fast fashion for however many years may have formed some change. Either that or people just love a bargain! Anyway, it’s amazing and I wanted to acknowledge that win.
Life has been life-ing, in a good way! I’ve been headfirst into family life before my son starts school, which included another amazing trip to San Francisco/Bay Area. I’ve also been spending nearly all my free time scouring the charity shops for re-selling items and the thrift gods have truly been with me: I’ll never get over what people give away.
Welcome back and please enjoy this tiny toe-dip back into posting.
San Francisco
After such an awesome trip late last year to visit family in SF/Bay Area, we couldn’t get back quicker! We love it: the beautiful beaches, amazing forests, incredible food and it goes without saying, next level shopping/thrifting! My previous post on SF is largely similar to the shops we visited this time, alongside a few new places like Sensitive Vintage and the amazing Vacation. As well as these curated and amazingly stocked vintage shops I visited the massive Salvation Army on Geary which was recommended to me by a member of staff at their San Rafael branch (aka my favourite thrift in the world!) needless to say it absolutely delivered.
Away from shopping we also went to Yosemite, which was such an amazing experience. You cannot fathom the awe-inspiring beauty and sheer size of these monuments. I felt so lucky to be there with my family; getting to show my 4 year old something so special (even if he preferred to throw dirt like it was glitter instead of beholding the behemoth that is El Capitan) was an amazing feeling.
We were lucky enough to be there when the Alameda flea market was on, akin to the Rose bowl in LA, it is a ginormous flea market situated on an old military air strip every first Sunday of the month. I have never seen so many Vintage t-shirts in my life. There are such a variety of dealers selling homeware, clothing…basically anything you can think of! I was totally overwhelmed and with my 4 year old in tow, had to miss large chunks of the furniture section (I can’t fit furniture in my luggage anyway!) but you could spend an entire day here hunting and still have to miss stalls. It was incredible.
Another 10/10 trip making memories.
Miu Miu Shoes of Dreams.
Yup. I know. what the fuck. Maybe one of my best ever charity shop finds? These 1999 perfectly olive, square toe, Miu Miu beauties were £15 and half a size too small for me. I may never ever recover from the heart-break of having to part with them, but I hope they’ve gone to a home in which they are loved and worn to within an inch of their life.
I can’t really even say much more about finding them. It was a Saturday in one of the biggest charity shops in the South, they were sitting there in plain sight with people just walking past them. I initially spied the internal lining out of the corner of my eye thinking they looked nice. Low & behold. Basically unworn Vintage Miu Miu’s. As you can see from the picture…the thrifting high was unlike anything.
It is also absolute evidence that there is still so much good stuff to be found.