Some Recent Finds...
It's that time again, I go through some of my most recent secondhand finds - Buckle up!
The past few months have been particularly fruitful, I’ve found some of the rarest, collectable treasure alongside items with personal importance plus some fish plates.
Laura Ashley Late 1970s / Early 1980s Made in Wales Prairie Dresses
Well, you don’t expect to stumble across two gorgeous, super rare, Laura Ashley dresses on your standard Saturday morning charity shop trip. My face must have been an absolute picture when I found not one, but two of these beautifully classic prairie dresses.
The early iteration of the Laura Ashley, before it became the Fashion and homeware behemoth that it is today, was started in 1953 by Laura Ashley and focused on handicrafts mostly inspired by designs of the 19th century. Initially she started designing just headscarves, but soon moved her business and family to Wales where some of her most cherished and well loved designs came to fruition.
The dresses I found are both the epitome of these early Laura Ashley designs, the fabric is gorgeous; so heavy and dyed beautifully. The pink Heraldic pattern is one of the more collectable fabrics and the black floral mutton sleeve dress is the ultimate prairie style. Both have now been sold to UK based collectors.
I could go on to write a whole essay on the history of Laura Ashley and the reemergence of 19th century dress designs in the 70s/80s, but for now, I think you can agree, this might be one of the best finds I’ll ever experience.
Keswick Tourist Patch
Some finds would only personally resonate with you and this is one of them. Keswick, the loveliest town in the Lake district has a very special place in my heart as the place my Dad grew up and where we spent lots of time visiting my gran and grandpa. So, when I found this patch in a random pile of tourist pins and patches (mostly from Australia) I could not believe my eyes.
It’s absolutely precious, but probably only to me! The chances of me finding this little snippet of my favourite place in the world on a random Sunday at a car boot sale in Shoreham is a wonderful thing, and why I love thrifting so much.
Marni Trunk Bag
Not as sentimental as my previous find but still a corker: £30 Marni trunk bag from vinted! The front is quite scratched, but I’m not precious when it comes to damage, as long as it can still be worn, it just means that I won’t be worried about scratching it myself. And anyways, I’ve always preferred more worn in items, especially when it comes to leather goods, the leather is usually softer and easier to wear.
So, when a seller see’s some form of damage as a negative and sell’s a £700+ handbag for next to nothing - I’ll be there.
I also hear my friends and family screaming through the screen that I need another handbag like a hole in the head…
Giant Fish Plate (& Fish Salad Servers)
I love a fish plate/serving ware, which is why when I saw this GIANT (the picture doesn’t do it justice!) pink fish serving platter at the Steyning antique market I ran to the cash point. It now sits proudly alongside my other giant fish platter that you can see in the other image - I don’t know why I like them so much!? For the past few years I’ve cooked a half salmon for Christmas eve… so at least now I have a choice of platter.
Earlier that day I had also found the fish salad servers at the Shoreham car boot - such a successful morning!
Thanks so much for reading! I’d love to hear about your most recent thrifting finds.
k,byeeee
Did you ever see the Laura Ashley programme on I think BBC or ITV? It was part of their ‘Welsh Greats’ series and was such an amazing insight into her life / family and business