I’m back up and running on Etsy! Finally!  Etsy items will be items I simply don’t feel comfortable putting in my antique space.  These are expensive items (usually $70 and up), extremely fragile items, or extremely small items of clothing.  Women love to see if they can squeeze into a small this or that, and often this results in items becoming damaged.  So if you’re a teeny tiny girl, come see what I have in store!

Also, tonight is Alex Sandra’s Tiki Fashion show at Tony Starlight’s! Not sure if it’s sold out or not.  Give ‘em a call! I can’t wait!

Today was the Division and Clinton Street Fair in the southeastern part of PDX.  Included were a wide variety of artisan crafts for sale, along with delicious delights and a few vintage shops.  Via Facebook, I head that the lovely Liz at Xtabay was having a sale.  $1, $5, and $10 items! Just up my alley!  I walked away with a lovely pink Alexander Lipton dress for only $8.00!

I just adore Liz’s shop.  If I ever have the opportunity to have my own shop I would hope to have it as nice as her shop is.  She’s open for another few hours (until 8pm!) so get a chance and head over there at 2514 SE Clinton and see what she has!

Another PDX vintage heads up! AlexSandra is hosting her Tiki Maddness vintage fashion show and sale this Tuesday night over at Tony Starlight’s.  I have my reservation, do you?

One of the great things about Portland in the sense of community.  During summer, this becomes pretty prominent.  Between Flicks on the Bricks, Rose Festival, and concerts in the park, it’s hard not to feel like there is a great bond between Portlanders and their city.  Last night, Patrick, Angelina and I went to see Portland’s very own Vagabond Opera in Wallace Park.

So here is where I introduce part of the non-retro Janey.  Yes, it is true, I dig things that don’t relate to the 1950s and 60s! Vagabond Opera among them.  They are an eccentric array of people dressed in near cartoonish (and I mean this in a good way) attire of turn of the century fashion.  Their music is that of gypsies and cabarets and entertaining from start to finish.

As for the park atmosphere for concerts, you must get there early if you want a decent view, for the further you sit back, not only the less you see, the less you hear. This is not due to bad acoustics but mainly because the people in the back aren’t there for the band itself, but rather for the idea of lounging in the park with a live band playing and chatting it up.

Tomorrow I’m off to Liz’s sale over at Xtabay. $1, $5 and $10 items, plus 20% off everything in the store!  So come check it out over at 2415 SE Clinton!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Have you ever been out shopping and wondered if an item you were looking at was vintage or is there something in your closet that has you curious?  Well, here are a few useful tips and tricks to help you out next time or to help you with that mystery item hanging up!

Sizing

Over the past few decades ladies’ fashion has been flooded what is called “vanity sizing”.  This is the process to make women feel slimmer and that has created the double zero and the negative sizes that now exist.  However, when shopping for vintage, don’t be shocked when a size 10 or 14 fits you! How is that possible…take these two case studies:

Please notice, that both of these dresses have a 28 inch (14 x 2) waist as you can see with the tape measure.  The dress on the left is a new dress, with a size 4 tag, however the vintage dress on the right is a size 10.

Zippers

Today, most zippers, except for the pull tab, are made of plastic and the teeth are very small.  Additionally, the pulls are often eye-shaped or extremely thin.  This is not the case with vintage.

On the new dress up top, the zipper is made of plastic (often the plastic is the same color as the dress) and the teeth are small.  On the vintage dress, it is a full metal zipper, with a flat, larger pull and larger teeth.  Additionally, the zipper has been painted to match the color of the dress.  You will notice paint chips on vintage clothing from the piece being worn.

Fabric

Fabric is also very important.  Most 1940s and 50s items are made or cotton, wool or linen.  It wasn’t until the 1960s and 70s that polyester became common.  Additionally, if a dress has a lot of spring in the fabric it is in all likelihood that it is new.  Spandex was not invented until 1959 and was not commonly used until the 1970s when the disco and hot pants craze hit.  Additionally, elastic was not often used in waists.  You’ll find a handful of 1960s and 70s dresses with elastic, but usually elastic waists means it is from the 80s or later.

Labels & Where It Was Made

Most vintage labels are stitched, and not screen printed.  Additionally, size labels are often paper.  Although, you will notice that expensive brands today still use stitched labels.  Most of America’s clothing in the mid-20th century was made right here, in America.  So a “Made in the U.S.A.” label is wonderful to have.  Additionally, a “Made in China/Philippines/Mexico/etc.” label is usually a dead giveaway that the item is new.  However, there are some vintage items made in China, however these items did not read “China” but instead “Hong Kong” or “The British Republic of Hong Kong”.  Even better to help in dating an item is an International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union label.  If you have a piece with such a label, check out this useful guide by an eBay’er.

I hope this was of use!

What a weekend. First off, Saturday my dad and I attended the summer Palmer-Wirf antique show at the Expo center.  As always, there was so much to look at!  And at the summer show, the upper parking lot is also filled with wonderful vintage delights and we walked away with some swag…here are the highlights:

I got four wonderful vintage patters, a dollar each! I can’t wait until I get the hang of the sewing machine so I can make these swell lookin’ dresses. I also bought some fur earrings…may have to save these for winter.  I also picked up this fun circus-esque skirt.  But hands down the best find of the day was this 1940s cast iron funeral sign.  The dealer we purchased it from said he bought it from a defunct funeral parlor in Kentucky that was selling its goods. What I wouldn’t have done to have been there!

Then on Sunday it was off to the races!  For at least the past ten years, my dad and I have been attending the Baxter Historic Races out at Portland International Raceway, heck we were going when it was put on by Zupan’s!  It’s loads of fun for a great price.  You get to see an amazing amount of old cars and you get to see them out on a track doing what they were meant to do.

I just adore Mini Coopers, and it was wonderful to see a Mini win a race!  I also got a kick out of watching the other Mini on three wheels, as seen in the picture.  You can tell these drivers really love what they do and love these cars.  My dad and I will be back at PIR Sunday, the 18th for the NASCAR event.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Well, these past couple of days have been filled with scorching temperatures for us Oregonians.  It’s currently 93F outside, and we’re suppose continue with 80s.  75 is hot for us!  So, needless to say, am I super thankful to be living in an apartment with air conditioning and a pool! The apartment Patrick and I lived in the past two years did not have air conditioning, nor did the dorms, so we’re thrilled to be able to relax in frozen comfort.  The pool has proved to be quite popular, though it hasn’t resulted in much tenant bonding as I would expect.  Quite an odd array of characters live here…lots of older people, while also quite a few 20-somethings and a handful of families.

Currently, it’s antique fever here in Portland.  Check out this list of events!

Mid-Century Modern League’s Purge-O-Rama yard sale
Saturday Only
10:00 to 5:00
10333 NE Russel Ct.

Antique Alley (where I have my space) Flea Market
Sunday Only
11:00 to 3:00
2000 NE 42nd Ave.

Palmer-Wirf’s Summer Antique Expo
Saturday: 9:00 to 6:00
Sunday: 10:00 to 5:00
Admission: $7.00
Parking: $6.00-$7.00 at Expo, $5.00 at Portland Meadows, or MAX Yellow Line
Portland’s Expo buildings are located off I-5 exit 306B.

Then in addition to all of this is the Portland Historic Races at Portland International Raceway, right next to the Expo buildings.  This event also runs all weekend.  Please look at the website for details.  I highly recommend this event if you love old cars and racing.

As for myself, I will only be attending the Palmer-Wirf show and the Historics.  The racing event has been a tradition with my dad for the past ten years.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and HAPPY HUNTING!

Back in 1971, my mom graduated from college, and her parents got her a sewing machine.  And get this, she is still using that same sewing machine today.  On my graduation day my mom gave me a talking Star Wars card that blasted the Star Wars theme at me, followed by Obi Wan telling me I had “learned well”.  Also inside was a print out of a sewing machine that she had picked out for me online.  When she came over the weekend, she brought it.

I’m thrilled to say the least.  I’ve been quite envious of my friends with their sewing machines, and the loads of vintage patterns I’ve seen over the course of my antiquing.  Now, it can all me mine!  However, I’m quite intimidated.  I’ve built bicycles and worked on engines, but a sewing machine baffles me!   This isn’t to say I know nothing about sewing!  I’ve made out quite well with my hand sewing skills.  But that doesn’t always cut it, so I’m going to put my nose to the grindstone this week, and am going to get this puppy figured out!

With arms full of vintage clothing and 1950s dishes, not to mention Patrick loaded down with fixtures, we shuffled into Antique Alley to load into my antique space. After building a shelf and doing some final pricing at the shop, I was able to proudly present my space, The Atomic Hideaway, to the antique world!  I’m thrilled to have a space of my own.  Selling on Etsy just wasn’t working for me.  I’ve never been a big fan of buying online, let alone jumping through the hoops to sell online.  I sincerely respect the people who have the patience to buy and sell online.  For someone with little patience, like myself, it just didn’t jive.  I’ve been getting lots of help from my parents, who were pioneers in the antique world in Eugene.  And they seem proud of me that I’m moving along quite quickly for being in Portland for only two weeks.

So, if you’re in the Portland area, come visit me at Antique Alley, located in the heart of the Hollywood District, at 2000 NE 42nd Ave.  There are loads of fabulous booths to check out, along with other antique malls just next door and across the street!

Friday morning the crew that is the Jalopy Jockeys set out on I-5 toward Chehalis, Washington for Billetproof.  In my dad’s ‘29 Ford Model A roadster, the 200 mile journey was windy to say the least.  I felt like a flag on a flag pole.  I started out with a scarf, wanting to look stylish, but it didn’t turn out so well, and I resorted to my standby: a baseball cap. *sigh* Oh well.  We arrived at our motel and checked in.  I quickly discovered that wifi was only available in one of the motel’s two buildings, we were staying in the one without, of course.  So I decided to just wait and blog once I got back to PDX.

I’d never been to Centralia or Chehalis before.  Centralia is a quaint little town with a nice, old fashioned downtown and quite a few antique shops (more on that later).  Friday night we at at the Mcmenamins’ Olympic Club, and we opted out of the roller derby instead to see what we could see in the small town.

Saturday was a car filled fiesta.  With live bands and hot rod merch to buy and of course loads beautiful cars to take a look at, it was fun for all.  I bought some fabulous pinstriped heels for only $25.00!  I also happened to bump into fellow vintage blogger Twila Jean!

My dad and I bailed out a bit early to check out some of the antique shops and we walked away with some loot, including two Starburst pieces.  Most of the shops were full of “real” antiques.  Meaning they had many pieces that were at least 100 years old.  There was also a lovely resale shop, The Shady Lady, that also had some vintage, where I bought some jewelry.  There were also some thrift stores to check out.  So if you are in the Centralia area, be sure to check it all out!  By late afternoon , as my dad and I were walking around the shops, we began to notice that people were heading into downtown Centralia for the cruise.  It was wonderful to see all of these old cars being driven.  However, some people may have had a few too many Pabsts, since a couple of people were wooping for burnouts, some did, some tried, and one car ended up breaking its rear end.

Sunday was a lot slower, and boasted a swapmeet, which wasn’t much of one, since I counted only four dealers.  Because three members of our group got notices on Saturday of being trophy winners, we stuck around for the awards ceremony at 2:30.  My brother was voted “Real Mill” (translation: Best Engine) by the car club The Bishops.

Around 3:00 we broke and hit the road headed back home.  My brother opted out of heading back along I-5, like the rest of the group, and we took the highway heading toward 99 to take it the rest of the way home, which proved both scenic and treacherous.  We ended up with a flat tire (sorry, no pics, it was serious business!) but the rest of the trip was beautiful and I snapped a few Americana shots.

We tossed around the idea of going to Speed Week at Bonneville. Which would be really fun.  For that, I’ll remember the sunscreen and parasol.