Saturday morning I woke up way before the sun was up and headed out to an estate sale. The way estate sales work around here is if you want to be one of the first ones in the door (which I always do…that’s how you get the good stuff) you have to camp outside hours before the sale opens. It’s kinda boring and time consuming, but the competition is fierce here so that’s how it is. I like to kill time by crocheting.
Crocheting a baby blanket for my new niece!
When I first started going to estate sales, back before I really understood how they worked, I would mosey in on the last day and I still managed to find vintage. These days there’s enough dealers out there that the good stuff gets scooped up within minutes of the sale starting. Here’s proof. This was my pile after 35 minutes of the sale starting:
My pile ‘o vintage at checkout!
I was number 8 in line and there were two other dealers ahead of me! Between the three of us we cleaned out the closets. I’m pretty ruthless when it comes to getting inventory for my shop. I’m typically a very reserved, polite person, so I have to scrape deep to bring the pit bull out of me during these sales. It’s uncomfortable for me, but when getting that amazing 1950s cocktail dress is the difference between walking or RUNNING to that closet, it’s worth it. Many apologies to the man I jumped over (hurdling style) that was crouching looking at jewelry (eep).
In total I walked away with 35 items. Most of them are 1950s dresses, with a few 1960s dresses, and sprinkle of baby boy clothing in there as well.
Above is a small sampling of the women’s dresses I found. I washed them all up and now they are just waiting to be pressed and photographed. If the sun makes its appearance this week I hope to get some good shots.
You know how you feel after a really stressful event? Like, maybe a really important presentation you have to give or a particularly demanding test? That’s how I feel after these sales. I commit hours to them and so if they don’t go my way it feels like a huge fail. So because of that I’m a bundle of nerves for the whole thing. Then as I’m driving home, I’m like AHHH. I did it! And I only had to hurdle one person. 
Hope you all had a great weekend. Next week I have a bundle of new inventory coming to the shop so keep an eye out! Spring is in the air! (at least I’m pretending it is. Never mind the snow on the ground right now.)
<3
Christy
