The Vintage Bazaar Giant Jumble Sale

The Vintage Bazaar Giant Jumble Sale

I hadn’t intended on writing a post about my trip to the Vintage Bazaar Giant Jumble Sale in Frome yesterday, mainly because I didn’t take any photos whilst I was there as I was too engrossed in everyone’s wares. However, once I got home and realised just how much stuff I’d bought I couldn’t resisting showing it all to you.

You may remember my post, The Vintage Bazaar Textile and Costume Fair, I did a while back about visiting one of their fairs for the first time and how much I loved it. Well, when I heard they were doing a giant jumble sale I was intrigued and instantly added it to my diary. I became even more excited about it when, last weekend, I visited the Shepton Mallet Antiques Fair and talked to several stall holders who said they were going to be there. Every one of them said they were taking a lot of stuff they wanted to get rid of and were going to be offering it at knock down prices. Bring on the bargains!

Vintage Gal and Crinoline Robot

I then found out that the lovely Mim, from the fab blog Crinoline Robot, was going too. There was no way I was missing this one. We arranged over Twitter (got to love Twitter!) to meet up whilst we were there and after scanning the room a few hundred times I spotted her. It was so good to finally meet up with someone who I’ve been chatting to online for quite some time now. And look, we’re the redheaded twins! A big thanks to Mim’s husband Pete who took this lovely photo.

The jumble sale itself definitely lived up to my expectations. There was so much stuff crammed on to tables, hanging off rails and covering the floor underneath and in front of the trestles and everything was amazingly priced. It was funny because a lot of the stall holders kept apologising for what they’d bought, and how it was displayed, saying things like ‘this isn’t my best stuff I’m afraid’ and ‘sorry, I hope you realise this is a jumble sale.’ Bless em, I loved it!

Vintage Haberdashery

There was a lot of things for us seamstresses who hunt high and low for that elusive set of buttons or the perfect vintage belt buckle, as well as hundreds of scraps of fabric. I’m currently on the hunt for about 4 metres of a green floral cotton but, unfortunately, didn’t find anything here. I did pick up this little lot, though, for a total of £4! The dark navy blue thread is perfect for my current project, which will be revealed once it’s completed, but everything else was an impulse buy. I vaguely have an idea of how I’d use them but I thought they were so lovely and at 50p or £1 each, who could complain?

1930s magazine

I also couldn’t resist this 1930s magazine for £3 and these 1950s fashion prints for 50p for the two. The magazine is absolutely stunning and is basically an advertising magazine for Bestway patterns. There’s loads of illustrations inside of daywear, afternoon dresses, leisure wear and evening gowns all with a smaller illustration next to them of what the construction of the dress would look like. This is so helpful for me as I really want to design and create my own 1930s style dress.

1950s Sweetheart Photograph

This beautiful 1950s photograph caught my eye as the sitter is just so darling (as they used to say!). However, what made me buy it, apart from the 50p price tag, was the fact that she’d written ‘To my only love, Trefor’ on it. It made me so sad to think she’d had this done especially for her sweetheart and now it was just sat in a pile of other stuff in a jumble sale. I really hope she and Trefor got to marry and had a long and happy life together.

Vintage Kid Leather Gloves

I have a real obsession with gloves and cannot resist trying them on whenever I spot them at vintage fairs. I have a whole drawer full of them and really must start wearing them more. These beauties cost me just £3! They are genuine kid leather gloves and clearly have been worn but they are really good condition, especially for such a light colour. There’s the odd marking on them but I’ve already started to clean them and most of it is coming off.

1950s Handmade Cardigan

This fantastically bright red cardigan fits me perfectly and only cost £4. It’s handmade and is clearly either original or from a 1950s pattern as the neckline is really high compared to modern styles. There’s a few loose threads and a couple of places where the stitching has come apart on the seams but I have some red wool that I can use to bring it back to its former glory. I can see me wearing this a lot.

1950s Chinese satin dress

This beautiful 1950s Chinese satin dress was hanging up so high that I think a lot of people missed it. When I saw it, though, I just fell in love with and then when I saw the price sign above it I just knew I had to try it on. £10!! That’s right, just £10, and, apparently, the lady whose stall it was couldn’t sell it at it’s full price of £55, so decided to bring it along.

Trying it on was a challenge as they had two screens in the corner of the room with a full length mirror to see yourself in. However, the screens, as all screens have, had gaps between the sections. And yes, everyone, including all the men visiting the fair, could see everything! Perhaps they can cover these screens with lengths of fabric next time to cover the gaps.

Anyway (rant over), the dress itself is beautifully handmade. Unfortunately, the angle of the photo doesn’t show the lovely swathe of pleated fabric down the left hand side very well, but this just makes it all the more special. It’ll do perfectly for Christmas dos this year and even if I wear it just once, I think that’s money well spent!

Well, I am so glad I went. It truly was an amazing fair and I cannot wait for them to do it again. And if you wanted to be kept up to date with The Vintage Bazaar events just follow their blog. They have fairs in three different venues in the south of England, Frome in Somerset, Devizes in Wiltshire and Hartley Wintney in Hampshire.

Cate

Just a vintage gal suffering from the Golden Age syndrome. A lover of all things old, especially the 1930s, seamstress, crocheter, maker of hats and enjoys rummaging at flea markets.

6 Comments

  1. Wow, you had some real wins there! I think it was a great event for people who sew; if I could sew I’d have been snapping stuff up left, right and centre. You were very restrained.

    It was ace meeting you and your mum, and talking about cats.

    • I’m always afraid at fairs to spend money in case I find something I want more at the next stall. I then forget to go back once I’ve been all the way around to find the thing I didn’t buy in the first place!
      It was really fab to meet you and Pete in the flesh! xx

  2. I was getting ready to comment on that beautiful dress you wore to the fair, and then wham, you end your post with a photo of the most stunning and bargainous chinese style dress! Wow, I am impressed with that, it looks super on you and I think it would indeed make a fab Christmas dress. Love seeing your other purchases too, and it’s so nice you got to meet Mim. We met earlier this year and it was a lot of fun x

    • Aw, thank you! Yes, that Chinese dress was destined to be mine. It fits so well and I’m not going to have to make any adjustments to it. Got to love a bargain too!

  3. It sounds like a marvellous event! You got some amazing bargains, I can’t believe that dress was only £10! I really like the photo, what a beautiful one. I hope Trefor made her happy.

    • I couldn’t believe the price of that dress either. It’s in near perfect condition with a tiny bit of fraying at the top of the zip being the only issue I can find. It was destined to be mine!

Comments are closed.