What a racket!

So, I stopped by one of my favorite local haunts today, just for a "quick" walkthrough. Little did I know I would find an assortment of vintage gowns, sporting goods and jewelry all to bring to the Top Shelf Flea III this Sunday! I decided to send up a quick post to generate some buzz on two categories of items that have NOTHING whatsoever to do with each other, but, will both be in my area of the Flea this Sunday.

First, is this selection of fantastic vintage rackets! Great graphics and patina! Perfect for decorating your game room or manly abode! (or womanly abode as well, I'm just trying to reach out to some of the guys here...) Super fun selection and something for everyone! My fav is the 1960's Billie Jean King Jet!

At the opposite end of the spectrum (and, actually, the store) was this cache of beautiful vintage rosaries! They are in Ebony, Rosewood, glass, crystal, and amber. They hail from Italy, Ireland, Canada, France and more! One is confirmed as completely Sterling Silver. These are beauties and priced very reasonably and will all be with me Sunday...

Bags & Bananas at The Market

I finally received my new camera, but the week of the bi-annual Top Shelf Flea Market III was not exactly the best time to get a new gadget to figure out, as I'm up to my ear lobes tagging items & treasures to bring to Boston on Sunday. I read through about half of the online manual (I thought someone said this is a very simple camera to use?!) and snapped a few photos from my studio of what I've been working on. The jewelry photos were snapped prior to reading anything and the quality is terrible, so my apologies ahead of time.

I'll be debuting a very small portion of a trunk full of vintage Banana Bob jewelry. The company went out of business in the late 1990s, but in it's day made some lovely art deco & victorian inspired pieces with vintage and antique facets and findings. Swarvovski crystals were used in many of the pieces, and most were hand crafted and hand painted, with many limited editions. The assortment I'm bringing to Boston Sunday are on the more casual side, but I am hoping to create a Vintage Jewelry floor in The Red Velvet Shoe and offering this gorgeous jewelry, as it has become highly collected & coveted. If you are looking for a specific Banana Bob piece, please email me and I will gladly check my inventory for you.

(Here is a sample of some of the more glamorous Banana Bob line that I found online...I'm quite certain I have this set, or something very similar.)

Here is a collage of some of the purses I just packed up to bring along....I love the Etienne Aigner in the top left, it has such an equine look to it, and I won't be sad if it doesn't sell because, as you know, a girl can never have too many purses...The top right is a lovely paisley Margaret Smith / Gardiner Maine purse and the label, I believe, dates it to one of her earliest pieces from the 1940s.

You'll find that (and much, much more!) Sunday at The Top Shelf Flea Market in Somerville/Boston, MA ~~ doors open at high noon. See you there!

For the Guys...

It's really, Joe, Zach and Bobby from Boston who supply the best men's stuff at this event, but, I try to bring a fun selection each time too! Today I finished pricing some lightweight fedoras, vintage ties, madras shorts, Hawaiian shirts, sport coats and a few other choice items for the guys. It will all be merchandised out front for you on this rack too so you need not wade through jewelry and handbags to find it! See you in a week...

Top Shelf Bling!

With the Top Shelf Flea III just over a week away, here at Carmen and Ginger we have started to sort and price and pack up items for the big day!  Yesterday, we went through many of the fine jewels (Ok, fine costume jewels!) we plan to bring so I decided to snap some pics to get you in the mood to shop!  As always, we bring a lot of the fun, colorful enameled flowers and butterfly brooches as well as other cute figural brooches from past decades!  Above you can see the butterflies, owls, fish, doggies, strawberries, a Trifari apple and more!

We certainly bring more of the "fun" than the "fine" to this event, but, have selected some choice rhinestone beauties for you to drool over!  The fantastic bejeweled bird above is surrounded by some 1940's and 1950's demis in blue and pink, as well as a selection of clear stoned dazzlers!

We're still going through some of our recently found funky necklaces to get them packed up and ready to go!

Hope to see you there!