If you're a regular reader of my blog then you will know how obsessed I am with vintage shopping, there's something that is just so exciting about it, knowing that someone before you enjoyed the clothes and that they had a whole other life before you came along and bought them. The fact that most of the stuff I buy was made before I was born is a pretty weird thought too. So obviously, while here in California, I have done a ridiculous about of vintage shopping. The first shop on my long list is probably my favourite vintage shop I've ever been to, and trust me that is a very big statement considering the huge number that I've shopped at. The shop is called Hidden Treasures and is in Topanga which is a small village in the Santa Monica Mountains. The village has this amazing rustic vibe with markets and thrift stores and cute little hut-like houses. The shop was incredible, with an amazing range of vintage items, from faded t-shirts to suede fringed ponchos to frilly petticoats. Scattered on shelves and tables among all the clothes were loads of random antiques such as a child sized motorbike, china dolls and a stuffed chicken. Some of the clothes were kept on rails out the back in a very overgrown garden area and the whole effect was quirky and exciting.
After a few days spent on the beaches of California I went to Los Angeles and had a whole new vintage shopping experience. In LA there is a road called Melrose Avenue and it is literally lined with vintage shops. My favourite by far was one called Jet Rag which was on a road just off of Melrose. It was very different to hidden treasures, a bit less quirky and more like a regular vintage shop just about ten times the size of any normal store. The stock was amazing, rail upon rail of perfectly faded vintage t-shirts arranged in colour order, racks of dresses for every decade and too many checked shirts to count. I actually ended up buying two items from the boys section and only one from the girls while I was there because the boys selection was a bit better and, luckily for me, the androgynous look is in fashion right now.
