Etsy Has Me All Sorts of Busy

After a long holiday weekend of photo taking and editing, my Etsy shop is finally up and running! Measuring, penning descriptions, and trying to speed up the process of listing my items has kept me busy all week. So busy, I think a measuring tape draped around my neck is my new, most-worn accessory.

I will be adding more dresses, tops, skirts, shoes and handbags over the weekend, and in the coming weeks, but these are a few of my favorites so far.

My next few updates will be themed- expect Fabulous Florals, Stripes and Dots, and Bold Prints.

Love me, bookmark me, whatever. All sales must be done through Etsy, but I will waive shipping costs for locals, just let me know what you love!

Print Picks

Just a little Etsy tease from the many, many beautiful things I photographed today.

Photo Progress At Last

I stumbled upon my dress form over a month ago now, and have since been struggling to take decent photos. The (lack of) lighting and oddly colored walls in our house are just really unsuitable for this task.

A super generous coworker let me borrow a couple back drops and professional lighting for the weekend, and it seems to be doing the trick. Here is our dining room turned photo studio, and one sweet floral and swiss dot dress that had its big photo op today.

Another Etsy Preview

There is one plus to being a clotheshorse with inadequate closet space- discovering forgotten treasures in dark closet corners.

I guess our basement has some dark corners too.

I noticed the bright green strap of this handbag poking out of a box while changing the furnace filter this morning. Although I thought I had found everything worth a damn during the recent task of going through my basement stash, here was another box of vintage ready for a new home.

The bright green Kelly Bag is a mint condition Mam'selle with the original mirror. The beaded bag with tiny embroidered flowers is made by Lumured. Both of these summer-friendly handbags will be included in my first batch up for sale.

Crossed the Line

Sorry fellow thrift shoppers of my fair city, I have crossed the line.

I have resisted purchasing items in the past with the express intent to resell, but lately my position on this has changed. For years, I felt it was only fair to give another lady the chance to prance around town in the fabulous vintage shoes or a dresses that I could only wish were in my size.

When the guy from a local vintage shop came to our yard sale a few years ago, I resisted him buying the clothes I had for sale. My husband talked some sense in me- 'um, we are having a yard sale to get rid of stuff, and wouldn't making $200 before 8:00 a.m. be nice?' Yes, it was, but I envisioned ladies who would do the wearing and enjoying themselves to score at my sale.

The less romantic reality is, there are plenty of folks in town scooping up vintage and turning it for profit online or in shops. Since I have lived in Indianapolis I have seen the previously mentioned reseller, arms loaded, dashing around a thrift store, oh, I don't know, probably a couple hundred times. Seriously.

This all really hit home after seeing a dress I had recently donated back to the Salvation Army for sale at the Savvy Bazaar, a yard sale type shindig set up in a parking lot a Broad Ripple salon. The day I stopped by there were vendors selling vintage or their own handmade wares with tasty grill smell and blaring reggae filling the air. I must say, this is a pretty sweet idea. But back to the dress- this was one I had not worn in years and donated back to both free up some space in my closet, and to give it the opportunity to be worn and enjoyed again. Here it was, for sale for $16.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have done some selling before. This was cleaning my closet of clothes no longer fit, that I brought home really hoping to fit, but did not, or that never made it to the alterations shop. These were shoes I swore I could squeeze into, but were too painfully tight to actually wear, or handbags I decided to part with as my collection grew. And a couple items that were just too beautiful and delicate not to possess that I later felt silly for coveting so.

Of course neither of these pairs of darling kicks fit my giant hooves, yet this time they came home with me. Vintage is what I love, what I am passionate about, and what I am good at. I have accepted that others profit from it, and now, I am ready to give it a shot too.

Dress Form Dress Up

This really is not as weird as it sounds. Here is my ticket to getting rid of the several boxes of clothes cluttering up our spare bedroom and basement. Everything '50s and older was sold last year to help fund vacations, but I still have a ton of great vintage to part ways with.

Of course, I will let you know when the sale is officially going, but for now, I have some lighting to figure out.