Recently Acquired Shoes and Bags

 I am not in love with Lulu Guinness bags (or their prices) but I understand some people are fanatical about them. This cost me $3.99 at Goodwill. I'm not keeping it for myself, but at that price I couldn't very well leave it (the bags sell for hundreds of dollars).

I've had good luck lately with bags and shoes at the thrifts.

But first, let's pause for a photo of a butterfly because it is finally summer. Happy Summer, everyone! Well, in the Northern hemisphere anyway. Happy Winter to our friends in the south.

 OK, enough butterflies, here's a carpet bag I found yesterday. I'm not in love with the handles, so I plan to replace them with wooden dowels. Wooden dowels with gigantic wooden spheres at the ends. You thought I was going to say knobs, didn't you? I know you did.

 This Helga-Vinyltastic pale blue bag screamed at me (it did, but I can't repeat what it screamed) in Goodwill. $1.99 Who am I to argue with a screaming vinyl bag (and at that price)? What's funny is that I found it among the housewares, not with the other bags. My guess is someone picked it up, carried it around, and changed their mind before abandoning it between crock pots and tea trays. Their loss, eh?

This white, patent leather bag screamed as well, but more politely. It still has the original mirror tucked into an inner pocket. There was a hair grip and a gum wrapper inside as well, so now I know the previous owner was blonde, and liked sugarless gum.

 Now, let's pause for some Americana. I rarely see painted windows on stores these days, as there are now peel-and-stick items to do the job quicker (and cheaper). Still, nothing looks as good as a hand-painted window (to me anyway). This was at the Thriftway Grocery in Plattsmouth, NE. Independence Day is July 4th, which explains the patriotic themes (because nothing is more American than cooking meat over fire, or playing games where a hard, small ball is lobbed at your face at high speed).

 Probably not veggie burgers.

 I can hit a baseball okay, but catching one is another story.

I didn't go inside (the boys needed the toilets) but they tell me it has the largest selection of potato chips/crisps they've ever seen in one place. If that isn't a reason to visit a small town in Nebraska, I don't know what is. We were in Plattsmouth to check out the emergence of the 17 year cicadas. We heard plenty of them, but didn't see any as they've yet to finish mating and fall from the trees (quite a sight if you've never witnessed it).

 Back to the bags. This eel-skin bag is much nicer than the photo implies. I always wanted a bag like that in the 80's, but couldn't afford one. See? If you wait long enough, the thrift stores give you everything you ever wanted. To be fair, most of the time it won't take 35 years.

 This bag is a shiny, patent-like material that isn't photographing well. The colour is much deeper red in life.

 I did have a bag like this in Junior High. I wore it to pieces,and plan to do the same with this one. I rarely buy shoulder bags as they hurt the damaged disc in my neck, but if I don't overload it, I think this one will be manageable. Inside, I found the notes from a funeral service in 1977 for someone from a very small town here in Nebraska. He lived to a ripe old age of 97, and I'm guessing it was the last time this bag was used. Kind of casual for a funeral, to be honest, even in 1977 farm country.

 A gigantic vinyl bag with a super clasp. I like brown for Autumn, and I'm sure this will find plenty of use. No clues about the owner here, but I'm sure she wore only the finest polyester double knit pull-on trousers. I'll bet this bag saw plenty of, "Early Bird" dinner specials at the neighbourhood greasy spoon. An extra large bag is handy when you're stuffing packets of sugar and the contents of the bread basket inside whilst trying to avoid notice. Small towns you know, people talk.

This 60's (late 50's?) snakeskin bag was a bargain at an antique mall in Lincoln, NE. I don't ordinarily like snakeskin, but the bag was so well made, and inexpensive it would have been foolish to leave it. The scalloped edge is the opening, and it pops open on a sort of hidden hinge. 

 Nature break! Who do you suppose lives in there? My money is on a squirrel. Possibly a bird. I was leaning over a rail to photograph it when Danny suggested I not look down. I did of course, and though I'm not afraid of heights, I am afraid of losing my new camera down a chasm.

 We stopped by Fontenelle Forest to celebrate Father's Day with a short hike. Everything was in bloom, and it smelled heavenly when we stepped out of the car. We did meet up with a kestrel and the bird's handler, but it carried on so,  I had to assume it didn't like me, and we moved along. Fine with me-I don't like it either! I think birds/raptors can tell.

 Nothing says, "We love you" like making someone walk around in the heat, humidity, and mosquito-infested woods. Danny made his papa a lovely hand-illustrated book, and we bought him some pajamas (which aren't so easy to find for a 6'4 man).

 That wraps up handbags, but here's a velvet and satin hat. I found this at New Life Thrift-I think it was around $5.00 The netting is in decent shape, but the hat needs some re-shaping. I'm sure a couple wears will sort things out.

 Great as the handbags have been of late, the shoes have been even better. I feel like these deserve a drumroll so.....

 I will probably move these along to someone that will appreciate them more than I do. Again, for $1.99 I couldn't really leave them. Betsy Johnson never really spoke to me, and I don't know why. Something about her clothes always seems to be trying too hard to show how punk they are, or maybe they're slightly too fashionable for my tastes. Whatever it was, I can at least appreciate that these are well-made shoes, and someone will love them.

 But a great pair of Italian-made slingbacks don't just speak to me, they practically serenade me. In a gondola. With a scoop of gelato. Or spumoni. I'm not picky. Except when it comes to shoes, of course.

 I need brown boots, and these despite the heel are comfortable to walk in. They appeared to have been lightly worn, perhaps once.I like that there's tread on the bottom because at my age if I fall on the ice, I'm going to break a hip. I like this steampunk-y look, sort of Victorian, sort of 70's hooker.

Square toes go in and out of fashion, but I never really abandoned them. These are from the early 2000's, but I suspect they will work well with a vintage wardrobe. They're made by Areosoles, and are oh-so-comfortable. I don't know if your thrift stores are like this, but I seem to find all my winter gear in summer.

Finally, I'll leave you with a look at the, "Staging Area" beneath my piano. When new bags (and shoes) come in they are vacuumed out with a crevice attachment, and then wiped clean, polished, etc. I then seal them in plastic bags where they sit for a couple weeks to make sure nothing tries escaping. Touch wood, it hasn't happened, but it would be much easier to detect a problem here, than in the cupboard. Everything else gets washed immediately upon being brought home. As a bonus, my piano is at the foot of the stairs, so when the time comes to move this up, it is in a handy spot (and one I see all the time preventing me from forgetting to deal with it). I like having everything in one place (I am fanatical about clutter in my living space) where I can deal with it.

If you're interested (rather than bored with it) I might post several pieces of my handbag collection from time to time. I've been able to amass an interesting (I think) variety of bags for very little money. As vintage collecting goes, the shoes and bags are typically the bargains.

A swarm of butterflies around the car. I didn't open the windows for better photos because...well, obviously! I must have seen more Red Admiral butterflies today than I have in my entire life (no exaggeration). We drove extra-slow so that no butterflies would be harmed.



I hope your weekend was as nice as mine, and Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.