Saturday of freedom

Saturday was my free day to do as I pleased before skipping back to the 'Lou, and I know, surely everyone's on the edge of their seats wondering what I got up to!

To be completely honest, I didn't get up to as much as I thought I might, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and left plenty to do and see on some other, possibly slightly warmer Chicago wander someday. I had in my head the whole week that I'd like to get to an estate sale or two while in the Chicago area.  I love treasure hunting at estate sales, but more than that, what a fun way to get to see an unfamiliar city from a strangely intimate point of view.   So I checked online and found a couple that sounded like they might be interesting, and was headed in the direction of one of them.  

On the way, though, I stopped at New to You Upscale Resale.  The world "Upscale" in the name was a turnoff, but when I drove by it looked big, and not too much like a lunching-moms' designer castoffs kind of place, so I had hope it wouldn't be too pricey, and for the most part, it wasn't.  

First, a few of the things I left behind:

An adorably homespun sock-and-broomstick horse.

Cool mid-century table lamp - see closeup of the shades below.

The swirly shades are the best part.

Awesome mid century shadowbox mirror thingy.

I love the mirror piece - I imagine it came from the same home as the lamp, as they share the gold and the swirl and the era.  And look - there are my feet, all toasty and dry in my newly thrifted English sheepskin lined boots!

Now for some of what did come home with me (I picked up a few things not shown; this is all I have shots of so far):

Cute little black frame purse - needs dusting.

Pretty gold brocade clutch.  The little faux-pearl on the clasp has
lost some of it's finish, but the brocade is in great shape.

Sweet caramel-apricot satin lining.

Cool souvenir glass.  Love the colors, the font,
the illustration, and the childhood memories of a
family road trip that took me over that very bridge.

Yes, yet another gold clutch, but this one's lovely-
colored lining is actually plasticy, so it would
make a cutely glam makeup bag!

A pair of what I can only think to describe as lanyard-woven bottles from the 50s or 60s.

Cool 60s Hallmark bridge set.

After a pleasant time at that shop, I wandered a little further North and East to the Oak Park area, where I found no treasures, but had the voyeuristic pleasure of looking through a 11/2 story bungalow with tons of character - mostly original looking, except for the kitchen.  The neighborhood was beautiful under a blanket of snow:

Snow makes everything prettier, doesn't it?

Super cool street lights in this neighborhood, complete with icicles.

After wandering up and down a few streets I suddenly came across a vision of awesomeness in bright orange and turquoise stuck on the front of an old frame house!:

Parky's... I don't even know what to say!

Hot dogs and italian beef , and RC cola - didn't even know they still made that !

Every detail of the place was nifty!

I imagine this little wedge of sunshine in a box gets warm in the summer!

Stool/shadow/snow

Orange and red!

I'm sure it wasn't really true, but it seemed like no two red vinyl and chrome stools were alike; I love that acquired-over-time indication of the history of the place, not to mention that the whole thing seemed so DIY, from the hand-drawn combo-menu signs to the shelf-tables to the whole entire structure just tacked on to the front of a building.  It definitely had the feel of a local institution, so it made me smile to see some of the reviews online when I looked it up later.  Of course I had an Italian beef sandwich to go.  It was tasty!  It was no Adriana's, but then Adriana's is one of a kind.  

I wandered around some inner-suburb areas and a bit of the city for awhile after that, but between the snow and the cold and parking issues, I mostly just drove around looking and making mental notes for a future visit, then I decided to head to the even-more-outer-suburbs than I'd been to thus far, to visit IKEA.  I picked the Boollingbrook location, since it's close to interstate 55.  I thought I might find some organizational inspiration and/or cheap tools for the same.  Instead I found another Goodwill on the way there, where I picked up a few more treasures (pics another time), and at IKEA itself, I picked up some red drawer-pulls that I may or may not use as drawer-pulls, and one of those wire and clip contraptions that I think I will use to hang a couple of vintage aprons on to serve as a treatment for the back window in my kitchen.  I'll also admit to a relaxicating visit to the cafe there for a piece of Swedish apple cake.  After that I decided to hit the road for a bit so the drive home Sunday would be easier.  I ended up spending the night in Bloomington, Il, in a room with a very loud heater.  Pics of the magical world I visited on Sunday in my next installment!

The clothes! Or, dark alley adventures.

I'm sure I mentioned that what let loose the floodgates of my thrift-obsession was my intention to open a vintage clothing Etsy store, and yet, I realized, I have yet to post anything at all about the clothes!  So here are a couple of shots of some of my vintage finds:

Lovely peachy late-70s/early 80s gown.  

Not just for old teen horror movies!

Fabulous 60s! Long grey wool dress, matching 
belt with rhinestone buckle and white poly tie, 
and a red wool hat fit for a 60s Bond girl.

I fully admit that part of the reason that I haven't shown a lot of the clothes is also a large part of why the shop has yet to materialize (or... digitize, since it's clearly not a physical shop!).  I haven't shot most of it.  I don't really have a willing and available model most of the time, and I have a mannequin, of sorts, but...
Wait - have I told you about my mannequin?  I don't believe I have!

Make yourself comfy, I have a story to tell!

Once upon a time, I came to the realization that a mannequin would be a really helpful thing to have to photograph these clothes in order to sell them online.  So, where's a thrifty girl like me to turn but Craigslist, in hopes of finding a new plastic friend looking for a home?  And that's exactly what I did.  One night, I came home after a longer-than-usual day at work (I usually finish at 9:00 PM).  I got into my PJs and settled in with my laptop and checked, just on the off-chance.  And what to my wondering eyes should appear but a Curb Alert for various items including a Free Mannequin!  And it had only been posted 20 minutes before.  And it was only maybe 10 minutes from my house!  In an alley in Dogtown, at going-on-midnight!  So of course, I hopped up, threw a hoodie on over my PJs and grabbed my keys.  The ad had said it was in the alley behind the Hi-Pointe theater, so I headed that way, looking directly behind the building and saw... nothing.  Undaunted, I widened my search.  I went up a block or two and came down the alley behind the then still-closed Cheshire Inn, and I found the place!  All the items listed were still there, except... the mannequin.  So sad!  But I wasn't about to come away empty-handed.  There was a box of hangers there, which is a totally useful thing, so I hopped out of the car and started loading the over-sized box into my trunk, in the dark alley, when I hear a voice, going "Hey!  Hey kid!".

Now, if you know me, and even if you don't, you may have guessed by now that I'm not exactly a kid (except on the inside).  And while I am adventurous enough to wander alleys at night looking for free mannequins, I'd like to think I'm smart enough not to talk to strangers while doing it.  Unfortunately....

You see, the flap on the box was stuck and I couldn't get my trunk closed, and I dropped my keys, and I was, I admit, a little bit flustered.  And the voice said, "Kid, do you want to see something cool?".  At which point I thought three things:
A.  No, I really, really don't!
2. Well, yes, kinda.  What if there really is something cool?
C. Oh great.  So this is how it happens.  

So I gathered up my keys and finally got the trunk closed as he walked up, and I started inching around toward my car door.  And he said: "I'm not, like, a rapist or nothin'".  Which, as it turns out, isn't quite as reassuring as you might think.  But now that he's closer (and not approaching me from behind in the dark) I can see him, and while I'm still quietly freaking out, I'm a little bit less scared.  He appears to be, essentially, a drunken frat boy.  Now, I'm not saying that's such a relief because drunken frat boys are known for being such good citizens.  It's just... I thought there was an outside chance I could take him, if it came down to it.  Or at least confuse him until he got tired and needed to sit down.  And at about this point, he's close enough to see the look of alarm on my face, so he holds up his hands like it's a stick-up, and says: "No, seriously, it's so cool!  You gotta see it!  I hid it over there..." and he points to a strip of complete darkness in the relative darkness, in a narrow area between a shipping container and the back of the building.  He does that chin-nod that guys do and takes a step as if I'm supposed to follow him.  At which point I voiced a mild concern at his plan and mentioned how I really needed to get home.  But he barely noticed.  He was on a roll by then, rambling about how he was going to take it home himself and scare the crap out of his roomates, but he couldn't figure out how to carry it all by himself, and since I have a car maybe I should take it.  And it sinks in to me that yes, it really is something cool.  This guy knows where the mannequin is!

I should mention now that a good friend admonished me to never tell this story in its entirety again once I told it to him.  Apparently it induced some stress.  So let me stop right here and state that I was not abducted, robbed or otherwise harmed.  I must confess that the first glimpse of her headless/armless plastic corpse lying naked in the dark behind the shipping container was somewhat freaky,  but I did, in the end, procure the elusive mannequin, with the help of the drunken frat boy.  I even thanked him and shook his proffered hand.  But I washed mine as soon as I got home.

So here she is, and I'll call her Allie, in honor of her humble origins:

Allie the mannequin, in an Easter-

egg pastel 70s knit sundress.

Unfortunately, after all we went through to find each other, Allie here is not your ideal vintage-clothing-displaying mannequin.  For one thing, she has no arms.  You'd be surprised how difficult it is to accurately display clothing on a mannequin with no arms, and an insufficient amount of shoulder (which is why she's wearing a sleeveless dress above).  Also, if she had a head she would be easily 6'3" tall.  Even without a head, she's a good bit taller than me (the drunken frat boy really did come in handy getting her in my car).  And she's no Twiggy, either.  A lot of my lovely vintage clothing is entirely too small for her.  And finally, her posture is not ideal.  I'm not sure what, exactly, she was intended for, but it doesn't appear to be for the optimal display of clothing.  She's standing slightly twisted at the waist, which tends to cause bunching.

Still, she's pretty cool, and works for larger, or stretchy, sleeveless items, and lets face it - she's worth it for the adventure alone.  And what's more, at the bottom of the box of hangers, I found an old coin purse that was empty except for a surprise of 8.65 euros - mostly Spanish euros.  So I made an actual profit off of my adventure, although it has since depreciated considerably.

So good night all - I hope all your dark-alley adventures end as benignly as mine!