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Queen of Vintage Honored at Vintage Fashion Event in Long Beach

by Sasha Milena

 Queen of Vintage: Kathleen Schaaf

The Queen of Vintage, Kathleen Schaaf, was joined by fashion lovers aboard the Queen Mary on Saturday, Feb 12th as part of the Inspiration 2011: vintage, fashion, art and culture event. 

 Vintage Clothing from Kathleen Schaaf's Retro Row 4th St. Shop, Meow

Owner of Meow and vintage fashion connoisseur, Kathleen Schaaf, was featured as the Queen of Vintage after the release of  the book Vol. 2 Queen of Vintage.  The book was produced by Rin Tanaka as a part of his book series, "My Freedamn" and features photographs of  vintage clothing, accessories, and unique finds.

     

Vintage Accessories from Meow

Schaaf feels honored to be dubbed the Queen of Vintage and said, "Rin would come to me to find items to shoot for his previous books and I always had something he was looking for."  The Queen has a broad and unique collection of vintage finds she has collected over the past 30 years.  She says she finds all of her items the "old-fashioned way" and buys directly from old closed department stores or factories.

Vintage Boots from Meow 

Schaaf specializes in finding dead-stock items and continues to find these type of items that have never been worn or used and many times still have the original tags.  She says, "The vintage market has changed in the last decade and I see more of an eclectic trend."  Although the market is changing she tries to cater to most people's eclectic needs whether it be military, surf, or punk.

 Vintage Swimwear from Love Spy Vintage

The event featured many dealers and artists from the U.S. and other countries all using vintage as their inspiration.  A very vintage couple from Colorado featured their quality items at this years show.  Love Spy Vintage is owned by Samantha Perala sells vintage clothing and superior quality dead-stock swimwear. Maxwell Shesto showed off his custom wallets that are sure to appeal to any vintage lover.

 

Handmade wallets by Maxwell Shesto

 

Vintage Clothing and Swimwear from Love Spy Vintage 

 Ryota Sakai from Japan keeps his Shopper's Map handy

Vendors came from all over and Ryota Sakai flew in all the way from Japan to present his vintage clothing and motorcycle gear.  He also featured a new line of vintage-inspired men's shirts.

  OC Style Japan by Ryota Sakai

 Artist, Jeff Decker standing next to his sculpture: "Flat Out At Bonneville"

Jeff Decker creates bronze sculptures of motorcycles, cars, or anything mechanical. The sculpture pictured above is a recreation of Rollie Free's record breaking ride in 1948 where he rode a Vincent HRD  for 7 1/2 miles accelerating up to the speed of 162 mph and 165 mph with his clothes off.   

 Sculpture by Jeff Decker

Decker is a registered and endorsed artist for Harley Davidson and the only guy around that can put a Harley Davidson logo on his work. Visit Jeff Decker's website: www.jeffdeckerstudio.com  to view more art or check out his Blog to view photos of his creative process.

 Troy Lee Designs

Southern California based Troy Lee Designs presented their Steve McQueen clothing line.  An amazing selection of custom helmets flew off the shelf along with bike inspired clothing made in the U.S. 

"On Any Sunday" helmet designed by Troy Lee

 Colorful and unique helmet designs by Troy Lee

Troy Lee Designs launched a new store last summer in Costa Mesa where many of their popular lines, including the Steve McQueen merchandise, can be found. 

 
Bernard from Cyclone Coaster

 
Vintage Bicycles outside the Queen Mary

Adams Avenue Antique Row in San Diego: Hezzy's Antiques, Retro & Rags

by Sasha Milena

 Hezzy's Antiques on Adams Avenue Antique Row

Adams Avenue Antique Row in San Diego is a unique district with a variety of antique and vintage  stores offering a range of items from antique custom furniture to pottery and collectables.

 

Vintage sign: Adams Avenue Normal Heights Business District

 

 The historical Normal Heights Business District or also known as Adams Avenue was founded in 1906 and is located between Interstates 805 and 15. 

 Antique Row Cafe on Adams Avenue

 Accessories from Hezzy's Antiques

Hezzy's Antiques, Retro & Rags is a fun store with very affordable prices.  Owner, Heather Schwartz describes her store as having everything from A to Z!  

 

Vintage "Ike and Nixon" Sign from Hezzy's Antiques

 

Visit Hezzy's Antiques, Retro and Rags  *  2831 Adams Avenue  *  San Diego, CA *  619.563.5490.  Find an affordable selection of vintage jewelry, antique furniture, vintage clothing, fine art, accessories, crystal and china.

Visit more stores on Adams Avenue:

Resurrected Furniture Consignment & Collectibles  *  2814 Adams Ave, San Diego *  619.283.3318 ,* Antiques, collectibles, eclectic furnishings, furniture, lighting, books, pottery, and decorator accessories. 

 

 

 
Reurrected Furniture Consignment and Collectibles

 
Zac's Attic Antiques

 Stuff in San Diego

 Stuff wins a local San Diego Award

 

Find these and many more San Diego stores on our San Diego County Shopper's Map

 

 

 

Collecting: Continuing a Tradition and The Ultimate Collectors

by Sasha Milena

 The Young Collector

I believe there is a collector in all of us.  To collect according to the Webster Dictionary is to "gather together, acquire as a hobby, or regain command of (oneself)".  As children we have a natural tendency to collect because certain things became valuable to us at a certain point and we realize the more we have the better.  I would collect Barbie dolls because the more dolls I had with matching Barbie mansions and Barbie cars meant that I could show off my dolls to the neighbor girls and hopefully impress them.  Other collections I had were more personal, like my coin collection. The idea was not to show everyone my collection but it was more about opening up my little white cardboard box, holding each foreign coin in my hand and envisioning the foreign land where this coin had come from.  As a child I really had no clue of the actual monetary value of the coins and I simply didn't care.  Having the coins was about personal gratification and the hunt.

 
Street Sign Collection via Neatorama.com

The Hunt

The hunt is when you go out to search for items to add to your collection.  As a child maybe you collected baseball cards and the hunt meant you gathered with other friends to compare collections and if someone had that hard-to-find card your goal was to get them to trade.  The hunt as an adult does not differ much and many people add items to their collections by going to stores, attending auctions or checking online if somebody has what they are looking for to add to their collection. 

 

Babe Ruth Baseball Card via http://baseballcardpriceguide.blogspot.com/

Current Trends

There is a very strong interest in antique and vintage collection. Not only interest but in recent years there has been incredible demand!  Certain pieces of furniture can sell for thousands, even millions and more rare items become more valuable over time. 

Collecting For Years To Come

The items we collect now may be very different from items we personally collected in our past and probably very different than items people collected in the past.   Although the type of items we collect have changed the desire to collect will always exist.

Notable Collectors

 
Books written by Thomas Jefferson 

Thomas Jefferson:

• Third President of the United States
• Book Collector
• In 1815 Congress purchased 6,487 books from Jefferson's 10,000 book collection after the British burned down the Capitol and the Library of Congress 

Michael Jackson:

• Pop Star of the 20th and 21st century
• Collected unique and bazaar antiques for his Neverland Ranch
• He loved to collect anything Disney
• Read the story about Michael purchasing  a Zoetrope from one of our stores in the early 1980's: http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00e54ed0407288330120a526e43a970c

Strange Collections

Check out this post on the 25 Strangest Collections from Neatorama.com Collections range from napkins, Soviet Calculators, sugar packets to street signs

 

Independently Owned Book Stores Make their Mark in Long Beach

by Sasha Milena

Nused Books in Long Beach

The book publishing and selling industry has changed quite a bit in the last twenty years.  There are huge corporations publishing blockbusters and sure-sellers and then giving big bulk discounts to stores like Barnes and Noble and Amazon.  This trend in the book industry has pushed a lot of smaller boutique book stores out of the market.  The big book sellers lure people in with their big discounts but what the public does not realized is that there are small stores out there that sell used books for even les than the big book sellers.  Stores like Nused Books, Once Read Books, and A Castle of Booksin Long Beach offer a great selection of gently used books for a fraction of the price.

Autographed copy of Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day now available at Nused Books

Nused Books in Long Beach is owned and run by Susan Simpson, a passionate reader and lover of books.  At Nused Books you can choose from over 30,000 pre-owned books ranging from classics, fiction, non-fiction, children's books and audio books.  Also, don't forget to check the sale rack with books for under a buck!

Susan Simpson from Nused Books

Although the book business is changing the fact is that people love a good story and they love books!  So, next time you are looking for a great read try your local independently owned bookstore and discover a new way to experience books.

Get the latest news from Nused Books by following theirTweets.  Be this first to find out about autographed books, deals of the day, and "new" arrivals!

Find Nused Books and more antique and retro shops on the Long Beach Shopper's Map

Hot Summer Deals

by Sasha Milena

Dazzles in Palm Springs

Hot temperatures means hot summer deals in Palm Springs.  With the heat index rising prices are coming down in the desert.  Palm Springs is a wonderful place to visit for fun hotels, swim clubs, and restaurants and bars.  When season residents are gone antique, retro, and design businesses slash prices so shoppers can find great bargains.

At Home Palm Springs Summer Sale

I was in At Home in Cathedral city and discovered their sizzling summer sale: 20%-50% their entire inventory! I found a beautiful 1960s teak buffet originally prices at $899 now priced at $500!  But that's not all!  Two Eames sidechairs that I swear I saw in a magazine were cut down in half to $300. 

1950's Rolling Leather Bar 

If you're a modern mid-century lover and you're on a budget this is a great place to find those pieces you've been missing in your collection. 

At Home Palm Springs 

Right down the street from At Home I saw Victoria's Attic Antiques and Collectables was having a great summer sale also!

Vintage kitchenware and pottery on sale

Their Storewide sale was 25% with some vendors slashing prices further to make way for new inventory. Vintage posters, antique chairs, and one of the cutest lion paintings I had ever seen were all incredibly priced.

Painting in Victoria's Attic 
Back in Palm Springs I cruised down Palm Canyon Drive where signs were displayed everywhere luring in potential clients with red hot deals. Dazzles had great deals on some fun items and Asylum was offering up to 50% off select items in their store. Sure it may get over 100 degrees out here but all the deals are totally worth it.

Find these stores and more on the Palm Springs Shopper's Map. 

The New Side of Coin and Collectables in Costa Mesa

by Sasha Milena

Mid-Century Chairs and Decor

I recently visited Coast Coin and Collectable in Costa Mesa and discovered that rare and collectable coins are only a part of this incredibly eclectic and colorful store. 

 
Coast Coin and Collectables recently expanded and have more than doubled in size. The new connected space next door is called The Other Side.

Mid-Century Finds

The Other Side carries Mid-Century furniture, lighting, and decor.  Walk towards the back and discover a variety of hardbound books and vintage oil paitings.

Books and Vintage Oil Paitings 
Vintage Oil Paintings

Art lovers will be pleased to find a cozy room in the back dedicated to vintage oil paintings.

There are fun surprises around every corner!

Folk Art Corner 

 Mid-Century Lighted Library Globe

Vintage Chairs and Decor

Vintage Pottery and Glassware

Vintage Lamp and Painting

Coast Coin & Collectable is the kind of store that truly has a little bit of everything for everyone.

Coast Coin & Collectable/The Other Side *  2584 Newport Blvd  *  Costa Mesa, CA 92627  *  949.642.9447 

Find them on the Orange County Shopper's Map
 

San Clemente: Surf, Eat, Shop for Antiques and Repeat.

by Sasha Milena

Downtown San Clemente

The longer days of summer in Southern California allow more time for summer fun like surfing, outdoor dining, and shopping for antiques. So, grab your board, sunscreen, and an Orange County Shopper's Map and discover San Clemente: a quaint Mediterranean-style beach town ideally located between Los Angeles and San Diego.

San Clemente Surf: Photo via City of San Clemente

After catching a few waves with the locals take a stroll up Avenida del Mar where you will find an abundance of restaurants, shops, and a laid-back beach attitude. 

San Clemente Antiques and Decor

• Antiques
• White Cottage
• Mid-Century
• Stereos-Vinyl
• Jewelry
• Vintage Clothing

Vintage Record Player and Speakers from San Clemente Antiques and Decor

Vintage Kitchenware and Accessories

Yellow retro telephone and mid-century table lamp

Stanford Court Antiques

20 + Select dealers in Antique & Decorative Arts

Stanford Court Antiques in San Clemente

Antique Table, Mirror, and Clock from Stanford Court Antiques

Re-Finds Consignment Shop

• Antique to Contemporary Furniture
• Lighting
• Fine Art
• Vintage Jewelry, Clothing, Accessories
• Collectible Vinyl/LPs
• Linens
• CA Pottery
• Home Decor

Vintage Coconut Fish from Re-Finds Consignment

Tiki Home Decor from Re-Finds Consignment 

Large Dalmation Statue

Find these shops and more with the Orange County Shopper's Map