Fleamarket Finds, Vol.6 - Basque Country edition

Oh my, LONG time no write! In my favour I can say a LOT has been going on and keeping me busy, but that also means I have so much to update that I better start writing! 

So back we go to last summer's holydays. As some of you might know, I am originally from an area called The Basque Country, which is currently divided between Spain and France, and since my family still leaves there I try to visit a few times every year. 

This summer, for the first time (!), we managed to visit an open air fleamarket/fair in the French side of The Basque Country, after having heard they are exceptionally good. We did a bit of online searching, and finally decided to visit one in a small town by the coast called Ziburu, and it happened to be exceptional indeed! Our main concern was that we had to fly back, so what we could buy was limited by that, but we still managed to make some very good finds. 

I came home with three pairs of vintage shoes and two vintage purses, and Lassi bought a set of copper pots. The purses were 1910's-1920's, of which one was crotchetted in silver with cut steel beads and the other one in dark brown with (mostly rusted, but still ok looking) cut steel beads. The brown purse specially caught my attention, since I had never seen any like it. It is built as a long tube with a hole in the middle and two rings on each end, and meant to hang from the belt. The rings can be moved passed the hole in order to access the areas in which items (probably small items such as coins etc) are stored, and replaced so that nothing comes out while that purse is worn. I love it! So ingenious. 

Upper picture: full hoard
Lower picture: 1910's-1920's purses

Of the three pairs of vintage shoes one was specially rare and beautiful, but only one of the pairs fit me and unfortunately enough it wasn't the rarepIr. The first one was a gorgeous pair of white and green leather 1930's shoes with cutout details, which (according to the seller) seem to have belonged to a French lady who was the first French woman to fly in an airplane. The other two pairs were both 1940's brown suede shoes, one of them with a really cute front drape detail (this is the pair that fits me) and the other one with cutout details (which has since found a new loving home). 

Looking forward to visiting the Basque fleamarkets again next summer!

Up: 1930's shoes
Middle and down: 1940's shoes

Fleamarket finds, Vol.1

A quick post to show you something that Lassi found for me last Thursday while I was at work! I will probably end up writing many posts about things both Lassi and me find in fleamarkets in the future, so I have decided to start numbering them accordingly.

This is a pair of black leather and suede oxfords found in Radio Kirppis in Tampere, which is one of the fleamarkets we often check. This is a bit of an interesting pair, as the model itself looks like it's from the 1930s-40s, but Lassi believes they were made in the 1950's (and I usually trust him since he's very good at dating). The leather is a bit wrinkly, but nothing that some good Peckard's and a pair of lasts can't fix, and even the laces are original.

lovely use of different materials

Also, since the heels are rather wide and very sturdy, these are just perfect for daily wear! I will probably take them to the cobbler's for half-soles, but otherwise it feels like these babies are going to stay with me for a looong time :-)

side view and sole