Friday 26 September 2014

For Sale/Trade: NYC Twin Towers WTC Memorabilia (vase)



I definitely did not start this blog with the intention of it being a commercial venture. In fact, I doubt I'll be selling anything else via this blog again. But when you find something as cool and collectible as this, well, it's hard to resist temptation.

I found this New York City World Trade Center (WTO) pineapple-shaped bud vase at Brockiland today. It shows the twin towers painted proudly on the front.



I actually picked it up because I love this colour combination of Delft-blue and turquoise. (If it doesn't sell, it can hang out forever in my kitchen because it matches my colour scheme perfectly!).

I remember that awful day like it was yesterday. Urgh. 9/11 - A day that should not be forgotten! This vase is a pretty stark reminder of what was... and it's pretty, too. If you're interested, read on and comment below (leave an email address I can reach you at. I won't publish your comment, but I will read it!).

The details:
  • It's not in perfect condition. There are three locations where it is chipped, two of which have been repaired (more or less). Two are on the top edge, and one on the bottom. There's also a tiny flaw in the porcelain (not a chip, but I think it was there at manufacture), just above the "W" in New.
  • There's no maker's mark on the bottom, or anywhere that I can see. To be perfectly honest, I think it was cheaply made in the first place - this is really more about affordable memorabilia than resale to a serious collector, FYI. :) There's a couple of glazing flaws and stuff like that - again, it would be for your own collection, and probably not all that suitable for professional resale.
  • It's approximately 12cm tall, and a little over 5cm at it's widest point. (4.72" tall, about 2" across at the widest part).
  • I don't see anything else like it on Etsy, so please make me a reasonable offer, and it's yours (shipping by mail or courier isn't cheap from Switzerland, but as long as I'm not losing money on this, I'm content! We'll work it out!). Otherwise, I'm quite happy to hang onto it. It's adorable. :) Please don't be high-maintenance, or mistake me for some sort of business/professional antiques dealer. I'm really not, and I'll take no B.S. at all from anyone. It's 'garage sale' rules - buyer beware, no refund, no exchange, no griping. Honest dealing or none at all. :)
  • Trades strongly considered! :D Heck, it's easier than currency exchange! I like all sorts of stuff: vintage linens, ladies clothing, accessories, costume jewelry... let's see if we can swap. :) I'm also in the market for a few yards of red gingham (with which to make a full, old-style long skirt, prairie-style... actually, it's for a dirndl, if you know what that looks like). :)




(Click on any photo to enlarge it).
 
Okay, now that that's out of the way, here are the other things I scored from Brockiland today:

It's for mein Mann. Our friend snagged one on our last trip there, and he was envious. Now he has his own laundry-folder! I wonder if it will ever be used....? :)
Finding large enough pillowcases for our monstrous pillows has been hard. I found one orange one (now I just need a coordinating pillowcase to go with it!). I also took a bit of a risk on this 80s/90s metallic-thread detail bat-wing sweater. It was in such good condition (and it fit well), it was too hard to put back. Let's see if I have the guts to wear it, though! And another stylized beer mass, so that we have a pair. One of those things you probably should never buy new (at about 80 Euros apiece!!! Why?! Bet those are made in China, too - our vintage ones come from West Germany. Authentic!).

The other addiction I have is vintage tea towels. Some of the designs and colour-schemes are so different from what you can find today - I find it hard to say no to them! Practical and adorable - hard to argue with that!

Seeing as we eat 90% of our meals on the coffee table (oops - still living like students!), I find these make great substitutes for tablecloths or placemats! Easy to wash, too!
This is by far the strangest and most wonderful tea towel I've ever seen! :)
This one looks as if it was inspired by an acid trip. It's stretchy, too, which is utterly bizarre!

Anyway, that's the haul for today! Let me know if you're interested in buying or trading for my NYC WTC bud vase! Otherwise, I'm going to permanently adopt it. Super cute - loving the colours and shape!

And a head's up - a tentative Thrifting Field Trip is on Saturday, October 18th! If you're interested, come join a small group of us as we raid the local Brocki's for secondhand fashion and other goodies! Comment below if so (RSVP required) - will not be published if it contains your contact info (i.e. email). :)

All the best, Thrifty Hearts!
TiZ

Saturday 20 September 2014

Uh-Oh.... Competition!

A special note for reader Keah: Keah, I sent you an email. If you didn't get it, can you resend your email? I went by memory and may have gotten it wrong! :)

I have a particular Swiss friend who has caught the Thrifting Bug from me. It has warmed my heart to shop with her, and to hear of a great success at the Heils-Armee's Winter Kleider Markt in Luzern, where she snagged some mint-condition boots for 36 CHF that turned out to be retailing for 200 Euros (so she paid 85% less, and the Heils-Armee got a donation of 36! Everyone wins!).

She also found an identical replacement for a sentimental item her parents had had for 30-some-odd years that had recently kicked the bucket. Turned out that her mom was considering buying the same item on eBay for 80 Euros, while my friend found one at Brockiland and took it home for just 5 CHF. (That's a savings of 95%... Ninety-five!!!). It was a thrifting-miracle!

I started this blog for two main reasons:
  1. I couldn't find a good and consistent English-language information source (or indeed any recent and relevant info source at all) re: the thrifting scene here in Zürich, and
  2. I wanted to promote thrifting here, because I can't get over just how fruitful the pickings are! And it seemed as if none of the (young) locals appreciated it, which I found tragic.
There was a third reason, and that was online-bragging of my purchased goodies. :) I must admit that this was probably the bigger motivating factor! :D

I saw this article in Blick am Abend on the 15th:

I want that cheetah poster!!! And, take it from me, it's a TERRIBLE idea to decorate your floors with tennis balls (for many reasons, esthetics coming a distant 2nd!).

Maybe it's vanity, but I rather wonder if the author looked at my blog and put Brockiland Fahrweid at the top of the list for furniture. :) Then again, they missed out on Arche Brockenhaus, my other big recommendation for cheap furnishings. Possibly they just went to the Brockiland website and saw their advertisement about the Fahrweid location having the bigger selection of home-furnishings. This is more likely, I suppose. ;)

I have NOT been to the Emmaus in Dübendorf, yet. Hmmm... maybe my next review?! :)

Regardless, I do wonder if 'thrifting' has started to become socially acceptable with the younger Swiss crowd. They seem to have caught the Hipster-disease fairly badly (a wide-spread phenomenon, which I find hilarious since I'm pretty sure the Hipster scene started in my home city of Vancouver... or possibly Portland, but there's a lot of cross-traffic between the two cities so it would be hard to tell!). :)

But how the Hipster-itis did not lead to the common secondary symptom of thrifting, I could never figure out. A too-affluent city, maybe? I do notice that 'brand names' are much more important to the Swiss (perhaps Europeans in general) than they are to the average Canadian. It even says as much in the article, advising people to not focus on brands but rather the item itself.... does that even need to be said?! Are people such slaves to labels that they can't judge a product by its own merits?! :S

Typical of Switzerland, if you want to buy into this el-cheapo 'fad' of thrifting, you can buy a book on the subject for 27.90 CHF.

I'd like to point out that my last TWO binges at Brockiland totalled 28 CHF. (13 + 15 Fr.).

So for the price of two 'loads' from a Brocki, you could buy a brand new book on the subject. ;) Isn't that a little ironic and rather against the whole point of thrifting?! :D

Anyway, I don't know if 'competition' will suddenly increase (I'll bet it will, but whether or not it has an appreciable effect will be hard to say). Frau Gerold's Garten on Geroldstrasse (Hardbrücke) is over-flowing with Hipsters, and is now utterly surrounded by vintage furniture stores (Walter, Bogen 33, etc.). 

The thing about "Hipsters", as far as I can see, is that they are mostly composed of the sort of insecure people who are desperately trying to fit-in, and to do this they all conform to a wide-spread trend that they (stupidly) see as non-conformist. Ah, the irony.

But the thing about this mentality is that it means that these sorts of individuals, desperate for the esteem of other individuals they see as 'cool', will slavishly follow the 'coolest' course. Which probably (hopefully) means preferential shopping at the Hipster vintage stores with the flashy price tags, where they can be seen by other posers and score Hipster points with them. :) (Is that too judgmental on my part?! Apologies if so. I have a strong repulsion to try-hard-itis in many forms. Too many fake people in my life, I guess). ;)

So I feel reasonably reassured that the thrifting scene here in Zürich might get a healthy injection of interest and cash-flow, while still remaining a true-thrifter's paradise. Still, more competition in your general demographic can be a negative, so GO OFTEN and GO EARLY to counter-act any potential negative effects. :)

Wishing you the best thrifting luck, friends!

TiZ

Thursday 11 September 2014

Abe Books Online, and More Praise for Brockiland Fahrweid

(I am toying with the idea of starting a tribute song to Brockiland to the tune of Elton John's "Rocketman". Thoughts?) ;)
I went back to Brockiland today, to see if something we saw there on Saturday was still around (a foolish mission, I know). Turns out it doesn't take too long to get there, and there are three buses that go from the Dietikon Bahnhof to the nearest bus stop (Limmatbrücke) - the 301, the 302 and the 304.
 
For 15 CHF, I got..... 1. The fabric the receipt is laying upon,.....


The Weihnachtsturm (pyramide) was still there, but on closer examination was missing several key pieces (all the candle holders and all the fan blades... rather useless in its current condition, and not nice enough to try to salvage).
 
.... 2. This decanter (I love these cut glass things!),....


Not only was the Weihnachtsturm there, but so was half of the Dietikon area. I arrived around 15:30, not realising it was only open until 17:00. But no matter - it was so crawling with people (many of which were exceedingly annoying), and I didn't want to stay long. Worse, a bus load of special needs adults were there on a field trip. This would have been no problem at all, except one was especially overwhelmed and had to take a seat right in the middle of the high-traffic, narrow aisle that abuts the kitchen, glassware, toy, and tool aisles. It was, in short, a gong show. :)
 
....3. Yet another plain, white hand towel (3 Fr. each - great deal),..... 4. Some 'flower arrangement candles', which I though would make lighting the grill easier (and more elegant!).... and 5. The square table cloth (ivory-coloured)...


I didn't stay long - but I did get a few things (more black tableware, to go with my collection). And the usual lady was on the till, and she was just as generous to me as she was on Saturday.

..... 6. This curved, art-glass dish....

So maybe that day that I accused her of not being the cheapest option was a particularly rough one. Or she was under pressure from the powers that be to bring in more cash.  

 
... and 7. This large black glass charger, which still had the maker's label (sticker) on the front. Crazy! All for 15 CHF!


So I'd like to make a redaction on that earlier post where I accused her of not giving the best prices. She's been more than fair to me recently. :) Maybe she recognizes me, I don't know. Not many native English speakers around, it seems!

Again, while the downtown Brockiland is great and is much bigger, it's also twice as annoying, and I'm beginning to think that my competition (the sort of people who look for the same sorts of things I look for) is mostly downtown and has scoured that place nearly clean.

I know from my stats that virtually no one reads this blog (awww, shame!), but if you ever do, take it from me that it's worth a trip out to the Dietikon area for a snoop around Brockiland Fahrweid. And if Bülach is closer for you, the big brocki there is also worth the trip (not as cheap, but still worthwhile!). 

Now, for my special mention of Abe Books, online:

By far and wide, Abe is one of the cheapest online sources for second-hand books (The Book Depository is another good one). I wanted a copy of The Silmarillion, and so I thought about buying the e-book....



First of all, there is no e-book available (apart from some very sketchy torrents that may or may not have an epub... I decided that if it couldn't be bought, it probably didn't legitimately exist on a torrent, either!).

I did find a format that didn't work for my e-reader, and a price - around 10 USD.

Guess how much I bought my used book for from Abe Books? 1.60 CHF. With shipping, it cost roughly 6 CHF! It's not in great condition (it's a paperback that is older than I am!), but it's certainly functional.

I think it's ANNOYING that you can't buy a digital version of a book for less than a real, in-the-flesh copy. So that's my hint to you - save your money, rescue an unloved book from a bookseller somewhere in the English-speaking world through Abe Books (or The Book Depository). Don't forget to price compare (shipping included). ;)

And a further tip - if you have a computer, you can read epub books right on your screen. There are thousands upon thousands of classic books (and probably some newer ones, too) available for FREE (totally free!) on Project Gutenberg. I donated some money to them in thanks - I've enjoyed many books from them in the past, and I didn't spend a dime. So I gave them what I thought was a generous donation, but which was probably still considerably less than what I would have paid for used books (let alone new ones)! 

Now you can have something to read on the train and bus out to Brockiland Dietikon-Fahrweid! ;)

'Til next time!

TiZ

Winter Kleider Markt Haul - Heils-Armee Geroldstrasse

This past Saturday was the Winter Kleider 'market' at the Heils-Armee. I had planned to go with a friend, which I did, but this became a few friends and we were waylaid.... via a trip to the quieter, less crazy Brockiland in Fahrweid (near Dietikon).


Did you miss it? The Winter Kleider markets at the other Heils-Armee Brocki's are:
  • Affoltern am Albis & Kriens (Luzern) - Saturday Sept. 13th
  • Olten - Saturday Sept. 20th
  • Biel & Woeschnau - Saturday Sept. 27th

Consequently, we arrived at the Heils-Armee 10 minutes prior to closing (we were notified at the door). We all split up, and I made a mad dash to the clothing section upstairs. My friend spied a pair of boots and insisted I try them (couldn't find a size tag) - and good thing, too. They fit perfectly, so I scored them for 10 Fr.

I got the other items on a subsequent trip - read on!

We were very rudely pushed out by a young, tall, blond volunteer (he's new, as far as I can tell) who told us we had 5 minutes, and then less than 30 seconds later, ordered us to go to the kasse. Bit of an ass, I must say (when I returned on Wednesday morning, he was playing beach-ball basketball in the backroom with a friend, then flirting with a girl he must've known - not exactly a professional, that one. Ah well). A beer at Frau Gerold's Garten patio soothed our ruffled feathers (Frau Gerold's is not cheap, but it is a pleasant spot - and they have a toilet, which I think you might be able to get away with a free visit to! Another tip, if you don't feel like making the long walk to Im Viadukt!).

So I had to return to the Heils-Armee at my earliest convenience. I knew from the Spring Kleider Markt that the pickings were infinitely better on the first day. So I didn't expect to find much on the Wednesday morning following the Saturday opening.

A plaster brain for 1-2 Fr. from Brockiland Fahrweid! I bought the plant pot, too. The usual lady was in a very good mood...!
She gave me this decanter for 5 Fr., too! Quite generous that Saturday afternoon!



(Above - my score from Brockiland Fahrweid last weekend, excluding a plain white hand towel (a good deal at 3 Fr.) which is already in the wash. Altogether, 13 Fr.! The usual cashier was most generous to us that day! LOVE the SBB train scarf!)

I did extraordinarily well at the Heils-Armee despite coming late! I missed all of Saturday, but the Brocki was closed Sunday and Monday, meaning I missed just Saturday and Tuesday's opportunities to shop. 

I showed up at 09:58, and was amused by the crazies (mostly elderly) that jostled for position and almost took career-ending spills as they ran (or did something resembling running, which could only be described as frantic lurching) up the stairs and inside. Of course, I simply must comment on the fact that these silly old goats wandered around aimlessly as I was methodically dissecting the racks, and I didn't see any of them actually make a purchase, so much as toss stuff around. What was so worth risking a broken hip for? I'm guessing I've already put more thought into this than they did. ;)

No, as a younger-generation thrifter, the only people you have to 'worry' about are the unscrupulous basket-pilferers (in my experience, it's been two elderly women who have reached into my basket!), and the direct competition, which is someone roughly your age (and size & shape, in the case of clothes). But even then there's personal taste to take into account.

So the moral of my little story here is don't be a pushy douchebag - it rarely pays off (maybe 5% of the time), but you have to be an ass 100% of the time. Not worth it. ;)

I can give an example of the 'direct competition' - a hipster chick came in maybe 30 minutes after me and I caught her watching me try on a rabbit-fur vest (not exactly animal-friendly, but 2nd hand in my mind means you can get around 'supporting' the parent industry). I had grabbed it and put it in my basket, along with a lovely real-leather Zara jacket, on first sight, knowing they wouldn't last. I tried them on after I had swept all the racks - I had quite a full basket, and I tried on the sweaters that would fit over my thrifting uniform in front of the mirror - a nice trick to avoid the change-room item-limits: you can pare down the contents of your basket, re-hang the things you don't want, and take the rest in to try on in private.

Well, no sooner than I had put the vest back on the reject rack, she materialized (without charging or pushing or anything unseemly) and added it to her own basket. When I left the store, I saw that the vest remained un-purchased. The leather jacket, which was *just* too small (shame!) was snapped up by someone else, I think, which is nice (glad it worked for someone - a great bargain and an adorable jacket!).

So again - get there EARLY, at opening (if you can stand the demented crowd - it's a little trying! I bring my iPod to help me cope!), and you'll have first dibs and won't have to pounce on recently re-hung items (this is less fun, in my opinion. I don't like having to hover!).

Anyway, here's the haul - it's a little monochromatic (I didn't find the red and black plaid shirt I was coveting, sadly!), and though they had some great jackets there, none of them were exactly right for me.

Everything except the platter, which I got for 1/2 price at arslonga (check out their basement!)
An 'echte' Swiss Army wool blanket (which needed only a little bit of mending) from 1941 for 10 Fr.!!!
Yes, I bought a poncho! It was on my list for Fall 2014, after all!
This fine wool coat wasn't comparatively cheap at 32 Fr. - but it was ONLY 32 Fr. for a like-new, quality tailored garment! There are two ways of looking at this - cheap by thrifting standards, or cheap by real-life standards! ;) The scarves were also very high quality - they are so soft! And the belt was a lovely ox-blood red for 6 Fr.

I also went to the CARITAS im Viadukt afterwards, but surprisingly, and perhaps for only the first or second time, I found nothing I wanted. It must have been quite picked-over - the kid's section had grown, as had the men's. The women's was small and had a lot of things I recognized. Bad timing, I suppose.

Then again, it's hard to compete during the "Spezialmaerkte" season!

If you missed the Winter Markt at Geroldstrasse, I would still encourage you to swing by immediately (pickings are still better than usual). And, perhaps even more importantly, program the date of the Spring 2015 market into your calendar now! :) Get there early - I'll see you at opening! ;) 

One other thing to mention, if you've been following my blog (and specifically, the Heils-Armee posts): I have new information regarding the "no price-tag, no sale" policy. People MUST be removing the price-tags hoping for a better deal at the cashier, or a better second price when the item is re-introduced.

On ALL of my purchases (clothing, that is), there is a price written in INK (ballpoint pen) on a label somewhere inside the garment that corresponded to the price on the tag.

So my assumption is that the "no price-tag, no sale" has less to do with people swiping other shopper's personal belongings and making off with them, and everything to do with people removing or substituting other tags onto the pricier items.

If you do this, you are no longer welcome on my blog! >:( Seriously, what sort of a'hole rips off a CHARITY ORGANIZATION dedicated to helping the poor and addicted?!
It's sad, isn't it? :( Please give generously to the Heils-Armee / Salvation Army. They do great work! :)

Another reminder to ALWAYS check the website! 50% off all fashion?! If I lived near any of these stores, I'd have wanted advance warning! :D

(Dates for the Spring Clothing Market have not been posted yet - but don't forget to check the website periodically! There was a 50% off clothing sale at the other Brocki's in August! It's good to know about these things ahead of time!). ;)

Next special market at the Geroldstrasse location is the Christmas market, on the 8th of November! Not sure I need anything, but I might swing by all the same. :)


Stay Thrifty, friends!

TiZ