Before we get into today's post: If you're in the New Jersey/New York area, I'll be signing copies of Big Thrift Energy at Big Green Barn in Morristown/Harding on Saturday, July 11, 2–4 PM. If you've ever wanted to chat vintage, ask about one of your finds, or just say hello, I'd love to meet you!
Now, let’s get into the good stuff.
Even the most experienced vintage shoppers don’t know exactly what they’re looking for when they go thrifting, and that’s kind of the fun of it — you simply never know what might turn up.
You might set out looking for a coffee table, and then come home with an oversized abstract painting. The fun is in the rush of the discovery and the thrill of the hunt!
In fact, all of the best things I’ve ever found were items I stumbled across and never set out to buy in the first place: a Goyard trunk, a Fornasetti desk…
But even if I’m not on the hunt for a specific piece, I am always after three things: evidence of quality, craftsmanship, originality, and a point of view.
The older I get, the less I think thrifting is about searching for specific things and the more I think it’s about developing an eye. The more time you spend around furniture, art, textiles, ceramics, and decorative objects, you start to learn what you love, what’s valuable and well-made, and what’s worth the buy.
These are some of the best pieces that stopped me in my tracks, plus the stories behind them. (I’ll do more of these moving forward — and share some of my most incredible fashion finds, too!)
The $95 Goyard Trunk
The Goyard trunk was meant to be mine, of that I am convinced.
My grandmother (who raised me from the time I was six weeks old, so she was like my mom) and I had been out hitting estate sales one Friday morning and had really good luck (I had scored a 1960s Lanvin dress for $5!). In an effort to not press our luck, we headed home but as fate would have it, got stuck in traffic next to a tiny little mom-and-pop thrift advertising “old wicker.”
No harm in looking, we thought!
So we went in and while it was a cute shop, we saw nothing. But on our way out, the shopkeeper said, “Make sure you check out the shed out back.”
Sure enough, there was a shed behind the store with priced merchandise. And that’s where I saw it: a Goyard trunk. I gasped audibly because I could not believe it, my grandmother told me to be quiet and act normal, and I slowly approached it the way you would a wild animal while preparing myself for sticker shock.
Instead, I saw this on the price tag: “old trunk: $95.”
I opened it and it looked like the real deal: ribbons inside that say “Goyard,” compartments for jewelry, metal placards with the Paris address, etc.
I indeed bought the trunk, paid $100 to have it authenticated (it’s real!) and have lived with it ever since.
MORE ABOUT THE TRUNK HERE:
Keep reading for the story behind my Fornasetti desk find — plus other really incredible pieces I’ve found in the wild.
