A couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon an advert for a Vintage Fair at the Year Fair (an exhibition and convention center in Utrecht, NL). Since both me and the boyfriend are avid lovers (or at least fairly eager enthusiasts) of old, dusty things, we decided that we should go there. We’d never been at a Vintage Fair before and were both quite curious. He was going to have a look for old cameras, I was going to look for old jewelry and potential belly dance gear.
Last saturday The Day had arrived. We decided to get up at a reasonable time in the morning. Even though it would sincerely intrude on our sleepy-saturday-rituals, we figured it was going to be worth it. So we went and took that chance with a couple of moans and puffs and soon we were on our way. After having driven for about an hour or so we made it into Utrecht. Parked the car and headed for the entrance amid thousands of other people, all out scavenging for the next addition to their cabinets of memories.
Inside we found 4 big halls stuffed with centuries of clothes, table silver, colonial finds, toys, music and even -cars-. It was massive and we spent the entire afternoon slowly wading our way through a huge, lovely and gorgeous variety of goods.
A quick snapshot overview of what it was like:
From left to right, top to bottom:
- Old Cameras! The boyfriend had serious issues keeping his wallet closed here.
- A puppet-show! Can you imagine the fun kids have had watching someone play with this?.. The thought alone brings a smile to my face.
- Old fashioned exotic dancers gear. Do you see that blue thing hanging on the right side of the doll? I tried to unfold it and see what it exactly was. Turned out it was quite an explicit leotard. Only blue strings of garment (elastic bands with sequins) that were drapped over the body with tiny, see-through ladies panties attached. Talking about hot, huh?
- This thing was too expensive for my wallet, but that’s another thing I would’ve loved to get. A vintage Afghan tribal belt. It was -stunning-.
- Dedicated to my sister and her husband, who’re genuinely addicted to anything related to the Japanese culture. And old fashioned Samurai armor. Not entirely sure if it’s ever been used or not, or if it’s just ornamental.
- A Jean Paul Gaultier skirt. It was gorgeous, half transparent and I’ve not very often seen colors this bright and luminescent on clothes. A wonderful find. It wasn’t my size, but I would’ve definitely thought about buying it if it had been!
- Travel gear! I showed this picture to my aunt and as I showed it her eyes lit up and she nodded in acknowledgement. That’s how it was, apparently!
After having spent 5 hours wandering about we went home again. Tired, but satisfied. If you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Utrecht and there so happens to be a Vintage Fair I completely recommend going there.. We had an awesome time.
SortaConvenient 