Hello, my fellow Vintageers! Welcome to my very first Blog I have tentatively titled "Vintage in my Veins".
I wanted to start with why? Why, like so many of you am I drawn to this world that embraces and celebrates bygone areas?
Well, let's start at the beginning.............
We moved a lot growing up so I found my offbeat style very early and was always adorning myself in some concoction of vintage pieces. I loved to mix eras. I was able to know myself and what I liked and didn't like from a very young age. It was one of the few constants in my life. Reflectively a blessing.
I grew up, for the most part in Auckland. For me, as a young teen, it was always only a short stroll down K'Road from Auckland Girls Grammar to a divine selection of op shops. Not to mention the infamous Hunters and Collectors, although it was a lot different in the mid-'90s then it is today.....it used to be a sanctuary of leather and dirty grunge.
My parents Jeff and Anna were second-hand and antique dealers in Auckland for a period of time. This lead me to being exposed to the very political world of antique, vintage, and retro markets, estate sales, and the cut-throat business of the 'Sunday Garage Sales'.
It's about this time that I acquired my very first vintage piece of furniture. A blue antique steamer truck (pic on left). I love this old thing. I have had it since I was 14 and have lugged it around with me from pillar to post. It currently houses my Bellydance costume.
My appreciation of antique furniture I inherited from my father. He is a builder and a lover of strange and unusual pieces of furniture and their history. The smell of native timbers always reminds me of home. I have fond memories growing up of watching him sand and oil oak dressers and rimu dining suites, setting table tops alight to evaporate watermarks and if you ever need to know how to get rid of bora...I'm your gal!
My vintage love is clothing. I love fashion and it's ability to communicate parts of yourself to the world without speaking one word. I have an undying love for vintage clothing from times when it was not fast fashion, a time when clothing was full of such local craftsmanship, an art, a joy to wear, was intended to be treasured and looked after as people tended to own only a few outfits.
So I end this blog with a request........If you can when choosing your own vintage pieces take some time to know about its designer, the manufacturer, it's history. Feel the threads, all the tailoring, and the hard work and attention that has gone into creating it.
It has history and now is a part of your future.
Vintage love to you all my little vintageer darlings!
x Lyza
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