Antique French Market Basket / Rolling Cart - Marché Panier - via New Orleans

You are not going to believe this one! Look what we came across last weekend: an authentic French Rolling French Market Basket! This is a real gem!

We were lucky enough to find this at an estate sale here in New Orleans. Not sure of its exact history, but it clearly has seen many markets in its day - perhaps both here in New Orleans and in France? Given this city's French influence, it might have been brought here from France many, many years ago?  Hope so...



"Marché Panier"

So great for shopping at today's farmer's markets.  You can load it up and pull it behind you as you go.  Fantastic design!  The French always seem to know that they are doing and what is good.

 Here it is at our local Patisserie - looking so cute!

And check out the old time construction on this thing.  It has held up for many years - they don't make things like the used to.  Check out the cast iron wheel system - very sturdy.

You could also use this as a decorative piece in your home, shop, cafe or studio.  Would make a nice umbrella stand or vintage display piece... If I can part with it, that is. :)

 I can't get enough of this thing!  

Weekend Wanderings and Yard Sale Finds in New Orleans

Another fun weekend of exploring New Orleans! and hitting yard sales and estate sales.  Here are a few shots from The Bywater - where we started our day. We love those funky old cottages.  Such character!

Love these yellow trumpet flowers against that raspberry colored cottage!

And of course we found some cool vintage stuff.  Green depression era glass dishes, fabulous white linen napkins (sold just hours after posted!), cool old 1970 French wine bottle with New Orleans import labels, an antique Singer oil can, and a Gold Imari Japanese Vase!

Probably a relish dish back in the day, but great for displaying rock, shell, or sea glass collections

almost art deco-looking in style



Also found these vintage linens from a woman who told us they belonged to her grandmother here in New Orleans.  Imagine the scrumptious meals these have seen!  They sold in my Etsy Shop immediately - I will be on the hunt for more!

Love the Fleur de Lis Pattern - very New Orleans



Hours of fresh laundering and ironing these vintage beauties.  Love them! 

Admittedly, I got into the Rose to help pass the time while I ironed... and yes, it helped!  :)


And this was just too good to be true - look at this little poser!

Then - on to an architectural salvage shop down the road.  Mounds and mounds of antique treasures! 

Does that say 1870?  Oh my!

Too bad I'm not remodeling a house right now, but we did manage to find a few gems in the small boxes in the back...

And here's a little find - a Gold Imari Vase!  Beautiful!  All hand painted - from Japan.  Check out those beautiful jades!!

We finally made it home - to a wonderful brunch cooked by my loving husband.  Lucky me!!



Remembering the 1960's with vintage New Orleans Memorabilia

Love the 60's...  Uncovered these relics from a yard sale in the Lower Garden District...  May of 1967 is very significant to me, so I grabbed that issue and somehow the 1965 issue got tossed in the mix too.  

My goodness, was she ever pretty!




Love turning the pages and checking out the advertisements...

This look is still cool.  Love the sparkly dress with the pearls.

Smoking was "kool."  But they don't look very "cool!" 

And then I went around the corner and found this matching vintage shift dress at an estate sale - circa the same era:

 

More classic ads...



Seriously, they used a fireman for a tobacco ad?  Hilarious!

"Let's get to the bottom of this."  Love it. 

Then the bohemian/hippie look got started:


And this look is making a comeback!  I think I found the matching the dress for that last weekend too:

  

 Still cool, after all these years!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/NewOrleansEclectics

Vintage Dresses from The Garden District of New Orleans

As we were stumbling around New Orleans last weekend - exploring neighborhoods and popping in and out of estate sales, we fell upon a large house/mansion in the Garden District of New Orleans in which a few ladies had propped up a tent and were unloading cases of clothing to sell.  At first glance, it did not look that exciting to me... until a certain large, beautiful button caught my eye from the bottom of one of her clothing piles.  When I got closer, I realized that these were all vintage gems - racks and rack of them!  I'm talking real-deal vintage, mostly from the 1960's.  I was delighted to go through each and every article and admire its craftsmanship, fabric, and styling, but for the sake of my toe-tapping husband I just selected a few to resuscitate and recycle back into the world... Check these out:

An adorable 1960's nautical navy blue and white drop waist scooter dress with a pleated skirt:

Nautical 1960's Scooter Dress

A 1960's Jackie-O style shift dress in a beautiful pale sage w/ impeccable tailoring and construction.  Believe it or not, this one is sought after by a woman in Singapore!  It may be making its way to her home later this week!

Jackie O 1960's Shift Dress

My personal favorite - the 1960's full length blue-green floral gown with matching sheer full length jacket:

Full Length 1960's Blue-Green Floral Gown with Matching Full Length Sheer Jacket

Looks great without the jacket too!

A colorful cotton print handmade dress in vibrant late summer colors.  This fabric reminds me of something you'd see in Anthropologie - it is so awesome!  Belt it or leave it loose:

Vintage Handmade Cotton "Mock Anthropologie" Dress



And - are you ready for this?  How about a boho-chic casual wedding lace wedding dress?  Check this one out - a full length lace exterior with a long white slip dress underneath (with a pretty white lace overhang).  I'm loving this gypsy/bohemian look!  I'm guessing this is more 1970's...

Boho Chic Gypsy Lace Casual Wedding Gown

Or dress it down for casual bohemian fun

And finally... although it is vintage, here is a timeless classic: a navy blue and white strip shirt dress.  Probably from the 1970's.  Can't go wrong with this!

Vintage Navy Blue and White Shirtdress

Hope you enjoyed my trip to the past!  Check out more photos of these dresses and other vintage items in my shop: New Orleans Eclectics.