Where to Buy Vintage Fashion Accessories
If you want to add fashion fun and unique style to your wardrobe, wearing vintage fashion accessories can do the trick. So often petitewomen stick to the monochrome look, which is a good way to look tallerand slimmer but can rapidly become dull without some tweaking, so consider giving your wardrobe a retro style boost with vintage fashion accessories. It's fairly easy to find vintage fashion accessories if you know where to look. Here are eight places where you can buy vintage fashion accessories.
Local estate sales are good places to find vintage fashion accessories. Look for estate sales, usually on weekends, in your local area by searching the classified ads in your local newspaper, shopper, and craigslist. Whether the estate sale is run by a dealer, a sale specialist or an individual, bargaining is considered OK, so don't hesitate to ask for a deal.. Although there's no guarantee that you'll find interesting vintage fashion accessories at an estate sale on any given weekend, there's a good chance that if you attend several estate sales, you'll find something of interest.
Antique shops make good hunting grounds for vintage fashion accessories of all kinds, especially jewelry. You can shop more efficiently in an antique mall or collective where several dealers display their vintage wares, but individual shops can yield finds as well. Expect prices to be higher than you would find at an estate sale for equivalent items since merchandise sold in antique stores will be priced at retail levels. However, most antique dealers entertain offers. It will be more difficult to bargain for a better price in an antique mall because the individual dealers may not be there when you are, but frequently staff members are willing to contact the owner of the merchandise to inquire about lowering the price.
A source of continually changing items, thrift stores sometimes carry vintage fashion accessories. Some thrift stores keep "better" items in locked cases near the front of the store. This is the place to shop for vintage jewelry and vintage designer handbags. Most thrift stores also have regularly scheduled sales. Thift store prices run the gamut, and although common items in thrift stores usually are cheap, vintage fashion accessories may not be, so if an overpriced vintage piece catches your eye, it can pay to wait for the next sale.
Most communities have a local auction house; bigger cities usually have several. Auctions may contain either specialized or general merchandise, both old and new. The best types of auction to attend, if you're looking for vintage fashion accessories, is an antiques auction or a general auction. Check auction house sites online for dates of auctions and lists of merchandise to be sold. If you see vintage fashion accessories that interest you, attend the auction preview so that you can see the item in person. Local auctions are probably the most difficult way to acquire vintage fashion accessories because you may have to sit through boring hours, bid against antique dealers, and face temptation to bid too high.
The huge online auction site eBay lists thousands of "new" vintage fashion accessories every day. Fixed-price vintage fashion accessories are also available. If you're not familiar with eBay, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with eBay bidding. As is the case in any auction, items up for bid can sell at very low prices, reasonable prices, or very high prices. It all depends on bidder interest in any item. Always check to see if the seller allows returns. Although I've bought many nice vintage beaded evening bags on eBay, I've also purchased a couple of bags that were not in the condition advertised, but in both cases, I was able to return them for a refund.More »
Craftpeople and those who like to buy handmade items will already be familiar with Etsy, the huge online marketplace for handmade items. What you may not realize is that vintage items are sold on Etsy too. Unlike eBay, Etsy is not an auction, so items have fixed prices. There are thousands of sellers on Etsy, so check the individual shop policies before buying. Most sellers want their buyers to be happy, and most Etsy transactions seem to go smoothly. When looking for a vintage fashion accessory on Etsy, be sure to put the word "vintage" first in your search terms, and then read each description carefully to make sure the item really is older vintage and not something new with a vintage look.More »
TIAS, The Internet Antique Shop, functions like an antique mall, but it's online rather tban in a local brick-and-mortar store, and it's a good place to find vintage fashion accessories and vintage clothing. One plus to shopping at TIAS is that its specialty is vintage and antique items. As with other malls, each dealer lists her or his own merchandise, so if you bought ten different items, you could deal with ten different dealers. Review each shop's policies before buying.More »
Like TIAS, Ruby Lane is a conglomeration of many independent dealers selling antique and vintage items. There are lots of vintage fashion accessories available at Ruby Lane, which seems to feature a bit more upscale vintage items than TIAS. However, the thing about searching for fun vintage fashion accessories is that you never know where you might find the perfect piece, and you never know when it might be on sale or the dealer may lower the price if you ask, so don't hesitate to browse just because vintage items seems pricier than in other venues.More »
1. Vintage Fashion Accessories at Local Estate Sales
Local estate sales are good places to find vintage fashion accessories. Look for estate sales, usually on weekends, in your local area by searching the classified ads in your local newspaper, shopper, and craigslist. Whether the estate sale is run by a dealer, a sale specialist or an individual, bargaining is considered OK, so don't hesitate to ask for a deal.. Although there's no guarantee that you'll find interesting vintage fashion accessories at an estate sale on any given weekend, there's a good chance that if you attend several estate sales, you'll find something of interest.
2. Vintage Fashion Accessories at Antique Shops
Antique shops make good hunting grounds for vintage fashion accessories of all kinds, especially jewelry. You can shop more efficiently in an antique mall or collective where several dealers display their vintage wares, but individual shops can yield finds as well. Expect prices to be higher than you would find at an estate sale for equivalent items since merchandise sold in antique stores will be priced at retail levels. However, most antique dealers entertain offers. It will be more difficult to bargain for a better price in an antique mall because the individual dealers may not be there when you are, but frequently staff members are willing to contact the owner of the merchandise to inquire about lowering the price.
3. Vintage Fashion Accessories at Thrift Stores
A source of continually changing items, thrift stores sometimes carry vintage fashion accessories. Some thrift stores keep "better" items in locked cases near the front of the store. This is the place to shop for vintage jewelry and vintage designer handbags. Most thrift stores also have regularly scheduled sales. Thift store prices run the gamut, and although common items in thrift stores usually are cheap, vintage fashion accessories may not be, so if an overpriced vintage piece catches your eye, it can pay to wait for the next sale.
4. Vintage Fashion Accessories at Local Auctions
Most communities have a local auction house; bigger cities usually have several. Auctions may contain either specialized or general merchandise, both old and new. The best types of auction to attend, if you're looking for vintage fashion accessories, is an antiques auction or a general auction. Check auction house sites online for dates of auctions and lists of merchandise to be sold. If you see vintage fashion accessories that interest you, attend the auction preview so that you can see the item in person. Local auctions are probably the most difficult way to acquire vintage fashion accessories because you may have to sit through boring hours, bid against antique dealers, and face temptation to bid too high.
5. Vintage Fashion Accessories on eBay
The huge online auction site eBay lists thousands of "new" vintage fashion accessories every day. Fixed-price vintage fashion accessories are also available. If you're not familiar with eBay, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with eBay bidding. As is the case in any auction, items up for bid can sell at very low prices, reasonable prices, or very high prices. It all depends on bidder interest in any item. Always check to see if the seller allows returns. Although I've bought many nice vintage beaded evening bags on eBay, I've also purchased a couple of bags that were not in the condition advertised, but in both cases, I was able to return them for a refund.More »
6. Vintage Fashion Accessories on Etsy
Craftpeople and those who like to buy handmade items will already be familiar with Etsy, the huge online marketplace for handmade items. What you may not realize is that vintage items are sold on Etsy too. Unlike eBay, Etsy is not an auction, so items have fixed prices. There are thousands of sellers on Etsy, so check the individual shop policies before buying. Most sellers want their buyers to be happy, and most Etsy transactions seem to go smoothly. When looking for a vintage fashion accessory on Etsy, be sure to put the word "vintage" first in your search terms, and then read each description carefully to make sure the item really is older vintage and not something new with a vintage look.More »
7. Vintage Fashion Accessories at TIAS
TIAS, The Internet Antique Shop, functions like an antique mall, but it's online rather tban in a local brick-and-mortar store, and it's a good place to find vintage fashion accessories and vintage clothing. One plus to shopping at TIAS is that its specialty is vintage and antique items. As with other malls, each dealer lists her or his own merchandise, so if you bought ten different items, you could deal with ten different dealers. Review each shop's policies before buying.More »
8. Vintage Fashion Accessories at Ruby Lane
Like TIAS, Ruby Lane is a conglomeration of many independent dealers selling antique and vintage items. There are lots of vintage fashion accessories available at Ruby Lane, which seems to feature a bit more upscale vintage items than TIAS. However, the thing about searching for fun vintage fashion accessories is that you never know where you might find the perfect piece, and you never know when it might be on sale or the dealer may lower the price if you ask, so don't hesitate to browse just because vintage items seems pricier than in other venues.More »
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