Summer Sundays in New Hope - Night Bird Vintage

Obviously I have a love of all things vintage, and you better believe that includes vintage cars.  Since I was a little girl I've always loved car shows or cruise nights, admiring cars from the past that have been kept or refurbished to look like new again.  My sweetheart is a big fan as well, and we have a summer tradition of attending the New Hope Auto Show that takes place every August in New Hope, PA.  We love to spend the day together perusing the show, and then walk around town, grab a bite to eat, and, of course, do a little shopping!

This year we had the absolute greatest time!  There were so many great cars - foreign and American, modern and vintage.  Everyone was in great spirits - we had so many pleasant conversations with owners who were happy to point out features of their cars and explain some history.  One owner was so generous - he invited us to sit in the driver's seat of his gorgeous 1960 Corvette!  I think the grin on my boyfriend's face perfectly portrays how excited we were.

My other favorite car of the day was this 1957 Chevy Nomad (can you tell I'm a Chevy girl?).  The color is called "Canyon Coral".  Talk about swoon!

My sweetie and I always talk about wanting to own a vintage car one day.  Who knows, maybe there will eventually be a Bargain Bettie post about a new ride!

If you've never been, New Hope is an adorable town that sits right on the Delaware River.  It's an eclectic, welcoming town with tons of great little restaurants and shops.  On Tuesdays and Saturdays nearby there is a Flea Market my friends and I have gone to since we were in high school.  Between that and the stores right in town you can easily spend an entire day shopping New Hope!

One store I always pop into is Night Bird Vintage.  The store is off of a side street, and you need to walk down an alleyway with steps to get in the door on the side of the building.  The shop is small in size, but packed wall to wall with vintage.  It's organized by clothing type (jackets, dresses, women's tops, men's tops, etc.), but that's about where the order stops, so get ready to dig!

I always enjoy perusing Night Bird because of the fun patterns.  Even though I'm more of a 1950's girl when it comes to cut and style, I'm a huge sucker for the bold, colorful 70's plaids and patterns.  Night Bird carries a good range of items from all decades 50's-90's, so there's bound to be something for everyone.

My find of the day was this fun dress, which I'm really excited to wear when it gets to fall and winter!  I'm loving that retro plaid is in for this fall, and this dress fits the bill.

Overall Night Bird is a worthwhile stop when visiting New Hope, but I will say that prices are a little higher than some of my other favorite stores.  Also, be prepared that there is only one dressing room.  For a store with minimal space it's not surprising, but on a busy Sunday there was a line of people waiting to try on while I was taking my turn.  I was interested in a bunch of items, but ended up not trying them on because I didn't want to take everyone's time, or didn't want to wait in line again.  Either be prepared to be in this position on a fair weathered weekend day, or try to hit up Night Bird on a weekday!

This shop is just the tip of the iceberg of all of the fun you can have in New Hope.  Definitely be on the lookout for a post on some of my other favorite spots in the area!

Until the next adventure!

xoxo, Bettie

Bargain Bettie Goes Back to the Burgh!

Summer is in full swing, and what's a summer without a girls' weekend away?  My two besties and I went out to Pittsburgh for the weekend in June, and of course, did some serious shopping.  I've done some Bargain Bettie adventuring in Pittsburgh before, and was excited to explore the vintage scene in a different neighborhood this time-the South Side.  The South Side has been my favorite neighborhood since I was a kid!  When my family would visit my mom would always take me there for some mother-daughter bonding time.  We would shop to our hearts content, since the South Side had so many cool stores that were nothing like back in New Jersey.

Three Rivers Vintage was on my list to visit last time I was in Pittsburgh, but we weren't able to make it across the river on that trip.  Having visited now, I wish I had come here years ago!

For starters, my first impression was two words: GOOD DISCO.  A Lover's Holiday by Change is one of my all-time favorites, and it was bouncing from the speakers when we walked in.  I felt right at home!  The store was perfectly organized by category: dresses, jackets shirts, bottoms, long dresses, etc. They even had a great selection of vintage swimwear and a HUGE men's section in the back (men's swim trunks included!). One thing I LOVED was that all of the dresses were organized by waist size.  This made shopping such a breeze.

I would describe Three Rivers Vintage not only as a vintage shop, but as a carefully curated vintage collection.  Every item is treated as a treasure from the past that needs to be handled with care and respect.  The signs with specific instructions not to grab items by their fabric made this clear to everyone.  Nothing but respect for teaching others to respect vintage!

On that note, the owner and staff of the store guard their prized possessions with their life - do not be intimidated by the chains on the dressing room doors or the signs demanding care and attention when trying on your items! Scott, the owner, and his staff were SO nice - when I mentioned the blog and asked to take pictures of the store, he volunteered to take the 'best picture of the store' for me.  He stood on a stool, and took this picture of us shopping!

How often do you have an owner of a store do something like that for you? Reading reviews on Facebook and elsewhere, it seems like Scott and his store have a following, and you can see why!

On to my finds!  I was ESTATIC about my purchases from Three Rivers Vintage.  The price points were amazing - $30 vintage dresses in amazing condition?  Heck yes!  Check out what I took home below:

$32 50's Dress

$32 70's dress

$15 80's Pitt Sweatshirt.  Hail to Pitt!

Three Rivers Vintage will be a must-visit every time I'm in Pittsburgh!  They also sell through their Instagram, which I'm sure will end up hurting my wallet. :)

Scott recommended another vintage shop on Carson Street, Highway Robbery Vintage, so we made a stop there as well.  Another awesome store with a great selection.  It was so interesting to see the differences in the vibe and target audience of the store!  The setup and atmosphere at Highway Robbery reminded me of Urban Outfitters, and the selection definitely catered to that type of crowd.  Lots of vintage crew necks, converted grandma jeans to daisy dukes, and the vintage dresses seemed to fit that aesthetic.

I didn't have much luck, but my friend came away with two super cute sweatshirts.  They were both $20 each, and in great condition.  You sure as heck aren't finding new replicas of that sweatshirt at that price!

My ladies and I had an amazing time shopping the South Side, and spending time in my dear old Pittsburgh.

Until the next adventure, darlings!

xoxo, Bettie

Weekend in the 'Burgh: Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix + Hey Betty!

Hi darlings!  I'm writing this update fresh off of my car ride returning from my second home, Pittsburgh PA.  My mom's a native to the city, and I went to college out there; I love everything about it, from the food to the shopping, from the Yinzer accent to the skyline!

 I mean, really, swoon!

 

My honey and I specifically took the trip out for the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, an International Car Show and vintage car race that takes place at the biggest park in the city.  People travel from all over the world to show their cars and/or be a spectator.  Literally every type of car, both vintage and modern, is represented.  I was beyond excited when I found out that my dream car, the Thunderbird, was the Spotlight Car this year!

One day.....(wearing my $5 top from Arden B. and $23.00 shorts from LOFT!)

The event is held for charity, and is entirely free! There was a $20 charge to park our car at the official event parking, but if you park elsewhere in the neighborhood, there is zero charge to be a spectator.  Talk about beyond a bargain!

We spent a full day at the Grand Prix, and then spent a second day visiting our favorite neighborhoods and trying some new places to eat.  Here are a few highlights from our trip!

How adorable was the Airbnb where we stayed?  It had a rooftop deck!  PLUS it was only $55 a night!  If you're new to Airbnb like I was, definitely check it out!

Ice Cream at our favorite place, Dave and Andy's!

View of Downtown from my morning run.

Enough about our vacation, let's get to the good stuff:  where I went shopping!  Because we had such a short time frame I planned out two stops ahead of time:  Hey Betty! Vintage Clothing in Shadyside and the Community Thrift Center in the West End.  

After a scrumptious brunch at Cafe Moulin in Shadyside on Sunday morning, we decided to walk the 15 minutes to visit Hey Betty! on Ellsworth Avenue.   Not going to lie, the name may have had an influence on me deciding to stop by!  However, as soon as I walked in I knew this was the right place to spend our precious time.

Hey Betty! has been open since 1988, and the owners have been buying and selling vintage since 1980.  The store is so well known in the area that celebrities have been known to stop by; vintage lovers Chloe Sevigny, Helen Mirren, and Jamie Lee Curtis have visited, just to name a few! You can see where the reputation comes from immediately when stepping inside.  The store is packed wall to wall with amazing vintage; literally anything you could possibly be looking for, from all different eras.   

One thing I noted right off the bat was the offering of men's clothing and accessories.  The immediate left side of the store is dedicated to shirts, jackets, coats, shoes, pants, hats, and even glasses for men.  So far on my travels many of the vintage shops I have visited have been curated by women and have mostly sold only women's items, so this was definitely a treat for my honey as well!  

On the woman's side, the first section seemed to be a mix of featured items on hangers, underneath a display of hats and other accessories.  Other sections seemed to be a bit more defined: there was a rack of sweaters, a rack for dresses, and one for skirts and pants.  Towards the back of the store tucked by the dressing room is a smaller closet-like area with vintage sleepwear and slippers (amazing!).  They have a separate back room for larger evening gowns and heavier jackets.  Intermixed throughout are handbags, gloves, hats, and even housewares!  A glass case front and center hosts jewelry, pillboxes, and cuff links.  

We spent some time taking everything in.  I absolutely LOVED these two jackets:

 

The light blue brocade jacket is still haunting me...it was slightly too small, but I can't stop thinking about it!  It was priced at $60, which I think is a GREAT price for such a beautiful jacket in mint condition.  Oh dear, writing about it is making me want to call and buy it over the phone!

I ended up purchasing this beautiful mosaic ring.  It caught my eye out of all of the items in the case!  Since we were on vacation I just wanted something small to remember our trip by, and this was totally perfect!

How cute are the matches from Hey Betty!?

Overall I LOVED Hey Betty!.  It's clear why it's a stop for celebrities and others passing through the Burgh!  It's definitely going to be a regular stop for me whenever I visit the Steel City.

I had planned a second stop at the Community Thrift Center in the West End, which I was also excited to check out for some great deals.  For some reason I thought the store closed at 5:00PM, so when we arrived at 3:50 I was surprised to hear they were closing in 10 minutes!  I was only able to skim over part of the selection; the store is large, and is comparable in feel and organization to a Goodwill or Salvation Army.  As they were ordering us to bring any final purchases to the registers I grabbed and bought this dress, without trying it on:

For $5.99, I think it was definitely worth it!

Have you done any thrift and vintage shopping in Pittsburgh?  Let me know where I should go next time I'm in town!

That's all for now darlings!  Until next time...

xoxo, Bettie

Across the Delaware: Malena’s Vintage Boutique 12th Anniversary Sale & WWII Weekend!

This past weekend has been a whirlwind with TONS of driving, but boy was it worth it!  I took a half day from work on Friday to check out the 12^th Anniversary Sale at Malena’s Vintage Boutique in West Chester, PA, and then on Sunday headed back to the area for WWII Weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum.   It was a weekend full of great people, great fun, and of course pretty much vintage everything!

I heard about the sale at Malena’s via Celeste Giuliano, an amazing pin-up photographer I’ve been following for years (check out her page, it’ll make you want to put your red lipstick on stat!).  Celeste is based in the Philly area, and this year she was contributing hundreds of items from her studio’s pin-up wardrobe to be a part of the Anniversary Sale.  Hearing that, and also the fact that there were going to be $10 clothes racks and $10 accessory tables PLUS an additional 20% off if you paid cash, I knew I wasn’t going to be missing this one.  

The sale started at 5:00PM on Friday night, and then continued the next day.  West Chester is a little over two hours from where I am in Jersey, not including rush hour traffic, so I made sure to leave extra early to be there around 5:00.  I actually ended up getting to West Chester an hour early;  having some time to kill I stopped into the boutique just to quickly scope it out, and ask for any recommendations on where to hang out for a bit . I was greeted by Malena herself, and she pointed me in the direction of a place right down the street to grab a yummy cucumber vodka cocktail while I waited.

I made my way back to the shop a little after the start time.  The main attraction of the sale was their show-room around the corner, which is normally not open to the public.  Walking in the first thing I could think of was HOLY VINTAGE:

The room was literally packed wall to wall with goodies from every decade.  As promised, there were four different $10 racks, and three tables full of accessories and jewelry priced the same.  There was literally a taste of everything; wedding dresses, matching separates, formal wear, jackets, nightgowns and slips, dresses, you name it.  The items from Celeste Giuliano’s closet were mixed in; some were in a $10 section, and others were on the price-as-marked racks.  I loaded up my arm with 10 or so different items; some from the $10 rack, and others from the non-discounted rack.  One of the items I grabbed was a 1980s Bill Blass sailor dress that Malena had posted on social media earlier in the day - I was so excited to see it was my size!

After taking some time to try on, I FELL IN LOVE with two pieces; the Bill Blass fit like it was made for me, and so did an amazing fit and flare blue polka dot romper that was perfect for WWII Weekend!  Both items were regular price, but that didn't matter - I knew I had to go home with them.  I mean really, just look at the Bill Blass, especially the back detail!:

And how fitting was the romper for WWII weekend?  A huge thanks to both Malena and Celeste, whose feedback definitely made me even more excited about my purchase!

I received 20% off for paying cash (the discount was 15% if you paid with a card), and with the discount my total came to $80, which I found so reasonable for how much I loved the two items.  Now keep in mind, this all happened in just the showroom - I hadn't even shopped the actual boutique yet, which was also all 20% off!  I was satisfied enough with my purchase to call it a day, but I of course needed to scope out the shop for my readers! I spent about 15 minutes or so just walking around the boutique looking at what else they had before heading back home to NJ.  I also got to meet Celeste in the shop, who *fingers crossed* I'll finally get to book a shoot with this summer!

Overall, the whole experience was more than well worth the two hour drive.  Malena clearly knows what she is doing in all aspects of her business; she and her staff are above and beyond friendly, every item for sale is of great quality and condition and there are so many unique pieces, and the store itself is clean, organized, inviting, and decorated perfectly:

I seriously wish I lived closer to West Chester so I could be more of a regular here. Malena does sell online through eBay and posts items on social media, so if you aren't super accessible, definitely look into that as an option!

 It looks like that's my report for now!  Did anyone else get to attend the sale?  If so, what did you find!?  I'd love to hear what you came home with!

xoxo, Bettie