History in the Finding

I shop at thrift stores a lot.  Really, a lot.  Clothes, books, decor items, cookware, raw materials for my shop; most of the goods I buy come from second hand shops.  This is partly because I am cheap and refuse to pay full price for new when perfectly serviceable things are available used.  Mostly, however, I shop at thrift stores because they can offer some hidden gems found nowhere else.

Sometimes these gems are beautiful and unique vintage clothing, or really high quality kitchenware for a bargain, and sometimes the value of a find is in it's history:

This snazzy old polyester tie is from a Clothing shop less than 2 miles from my house.

I don't know who anyone in this wedding party is, but I love this sort of old record of style.  From their clothes to the very frame, the style and taste of the era is readily apparent.

I know nothing about this book or it's author, but like the wedding photo above, I love what the styling of the cover says about the time it was written in.  .

Vintage Craft Book Feature: Around The World in 80 Sweaters (1988)

Another of my many needlework hobbies is the collection of vintage craft books.  Found in dusty corners of second hand shops, in pride of place in used book stores, these old tomes often contain beautiful nuggets of crafting wisdom, and a heaping helping of vintage charm.  Reviving the techniques, tips and retro projects is just one more way for us to bring back the wonders of the handmade.

Around The World in 80 Sweaters - 1988

As the name suggests, this book is filled with designs inspired by cultural art and fashion from many different parts of the globe.  The designs are grouped by region, and each section begins with a two page spread describing the following designs and their inspiration.  Bordering the write up is a wonderful collage of vintage photos, swatches, fashion drawings and other objects that give a clear idea of the designer's creative process.  

More fashion drawings accompany each set of patterns, showing off possible variations of every sweater.  The artist clearly had a type she was designing for, as every drawing in the book features the same square faced, block shouldered blonde.  At the back of the book is a really helpful collection of diagrams showing all the measurements and pieces of each sweater.  These are wonderful to have when making sweaters like these to help ensure a good fit.

Overall, even though some of the designs are quite dated, I found a lot to like in this book.  Some of the colorwork and construction techniques were very neat and could easily be adapted to more modern designs.  My only real complaint was that in many of the photos the models were posed in ways that hid most of the sweater they should have been showing off.