What makes a person get up super early on a Saturday morning, drive for 35 minutes into the city and then stand outside in line the freezing cold for 2 hours?

An estate sale of epic proportions.

This was just one of the many rooms in this massive luxury mansion filled with new and vintage clothing collected over several lifetimes.

There were over 300 hats.

Many of them were included in an article written about the vintage hat collection which was featured in the National Post. I loved so many of them and held several in my hands…pondering if I should buy them.  They were so beautifully crafted…but I talked myself out of buying any and I’m still kind of kicking myself for that. They were only $10 each. I figured though that unlike the Queen of England, a hat for each outfit isn’t a requirement. It’s a crying shame!

See all the handbags? I was sad because when the doors opened we were back pretty far in the line …maybe 30 or so, and it was impossible to jockey for a position in front of those bags as 70% were grabbed up in the first 3 minutes of them opening the doors. I did score four beauties though!

  

If you are wondering where I got the photos from…it wasn’t in the melee that ensued when we were let in…it was bedlam in there! These were borrowed from the website of the estate sale company prior to the sale.

There was one entire room filled with boxes that were filled with ties. Literally there were thousands of ties there. Celine, Burberry, Versace, Missoni were some of the brands that my husband picked up…about 20 for $15. Holla!

We were a bit bummed though since we had gone after an Underwood typewriter for my office that looked pristine and once again we were too late…a guy just before Robert had snatched up the 3 typewriters they had for sale.

I’m still mourning the loss of this one.  Next time!

What else did we buy?

A long dark brown velvet 1960’s vintage coat made in Montreal, that I wore out last night…

A blue jean jacket, a blazer by Theory, 2 vintage gowns (one that I had turned into a maxi skirt), 1 vintage skirt made in Bologna Italy (LOVE) 1 totally rad 1960’s maxi and this crazy amazing cheongsam…

The dress, shoes and bag are all vintage purchased at estate sales. Although I’m wearing vintage head to toe I think this is a brilliant example of how to dress in vintage but still look contemporary.

I had to get this taken in quite a bit which was difficult because the zipper is on the side. In the end I put a few extra darts of my own in the back in addition to having it taken in and then one day later I think I gained 3 lbs because it was a bit snug. I curse you PMS!

Here I am doing my best Angelina Jolie imitation.

This dress looks like it was handmade by a skilled seamstress. It is in delicate condition. I’m going to have to hand stitch a fair amount of the inner lining as it has started falling apart and some of the trim is fraying. I couldn’t leave it behind though.

There are slits on either side…thank heavens because otherwise it would be hard to move.

This is the reason I love going to estate sales or shopping at thrift stores…you just never know what you’re going to come across.

Forrest Gump would say it is the “box of chocolates” way to shop, and you know I love me some chocolate!

What about you? Do like the thrill of discovering hidden gems via thrifting, consignment stores or estate sale hunting?

 

Interested in attending an estate sale?  Check out my article how to shop estate sales like a pro.

 

Linking up with the lovely Patti for Visible Monday