New Obsession - Vintage Bags

Lately I have diverted my attention from vintage dresses to vintage bags. Perhaps in my mind I thought I have enough of vintage dresses, from sheath dress to chiffon flare dress to lace collars dress, I should focus on other items, say vintage bags.

It all started early this year when I purchased my very first vintage bag at a flea market. It was a very good bargain - RM10. The design of the bag is very simple but there are metal fringes at the bottom of it, which makes it a unique bag.

Second bag was purchased from Thrifty Bunnie. It is a black sling bag with safety feature of combination lock. How cute is that? In a jumbo sale, I purchased another black sling leather bag at a very, very cheap price.

My favourite vintage bag is a tooled leather bag which I purchased from Vintage Packstocks. I recall the night of endless emails to the owner of VP to inquire about the bag. I even took few days to decide. Well, finally I decided to purchase it. I have always attracted to unique things. And it was hard to resist this one of kind vintage bag. At the same time, it was on sale. Now, I wonder were there any interesting stories behind the bag or the owner of the bag...hhmm...

With the so-called new obsession, I think I will be busy looking for one of a kind vintage bags. Next on my list is a brown, camel or tan colour sling leather vintage bag.

Notes:
Top right photo: from left to right: black sling vintage bag with combination lock, black leather vintage bag, maroon-ish vintage bag
Bottom right photo: tooled leather vintage bag

Vintage vs New Vintage

While some of us may have changed our fashion style preference from mass produced to one of a kind vintage, but how do you get more 'umph' from your existing vintage clothes? Or do you seemed like to have just raided your grandma or mother's wardrobe?

You need to restyle or revamp vintage clothes to give it a fresh or updated look. This is what I called 'New Vintage'. Two simple ways to add 'umph':-

Check the length of the dress and perhaps the sleeves too.
If you are fine with the length, then leave it. But if you are not, you may send it to a tailor to shorted the dress. The new length? If you want to be flirty, make sure the length of the dress is two inches above your knees. Otherwise on your knees would be fine too.

Mix modern, trendy accessories with vintage ones to complement the look.
Try vintage bag and belt with modern watch/earrings/necklace and trendy shoes.

There is no definite right or wrong here as long as you achieved the look you wanted. Play with your accessories and also your make-up or hairstyle. The main point is not to look like you have just traveled through time.

Fashion notes:
Mustard dress 1 - Graphic print scarf, vintage nude belt and vintage bag
Mustard dress 2 - plastic pink belt and vintage nude belt
Baby blue dress 1 - white bag and vintage nude belt
Baby blue dress 2 - white cotton BF blazer, vintage leather belt and vintage bag

Optional places to find vintage clothing

Tired of surfing the Net to find vintage clothing? Though there are great vintage blog shops in the cyberspace, however the feeling of real shopping - see, feel, touch and smell - is more fun than just sitting in front your laptop whilst sipping a cup of coffee in a cafe.

Recently I rediscovered the weekend flea market in Amcorp Mall. All this while, I know that you can find all sorts of stuff in Amcorp Mall, from antiques to cakes. Little that I know, there are few stall that sells pre-loved and vintage clothing at third floor. And the prices are pretty cheap too.

Another place you could check out is Second Charm in TTDI. I was briefly there couple weeks ago but you need to have all the time and it is advisable to wear something light (preferably a tank top and shorts) for your session of digging and looking for hidden treasures.Through my brief excavation, there were few 80's work suits and I managed to come across with Ann Taylor suit. (too bad it was in size 12). Not bad, right?

Jumbo sales organized by NGOs or community centres is another good source to find vintage stuff. People donates stuff which they no longer want or use. Most of these items are still in good and usable conditions. Last Sunday I went to jumbo sale in Atria Shopping and I couldn't believe what I've got - two pieces of vintage bags, three pieces of vintage belts and few pairs of vintage earrings. All these cost RM20!! So look out for any jumbo sales in your area.

The above are just few optional places where to find vintage clothing. It needs patience and a bit of luck to find great vintage pieces. Whether you manage to find anything to your liking, remember to enjoy the process of digging with your girlfriends.