Adventures in Thrifting

Today, my fiancee and I went to the MCC (Mennonite Community Centre, I think?) Thrift Store. It was a grand ole adventure. MCC is nice, because it's way out of the way, you're more likely to find curious things for less money, and the variety is amazing. Not to mention the fact that money from the thrift store goes to  projects and people in third world countries. To give a preliminary sense of what wondrous things we found, my fiancee found a pith helmet. A pith helmet. You know, the cool hats people wear in safaris. How cool is that! I found a few cool things. And a lot of great books.

Here we have a vintage girl guide belt (it's so wonderfully worn! Not to mention the beautiful buckle made of heavy metal), a medical corset (second one I've found in a thrift store! It doesn't have any  lacing, but it actually fits me, and it's really cool. Though I kid of just want to hang my corsets on a wall. They're so pretty), and a piece of vintage art. It's a miniature portrait of a woman with a dog, set into dark velvet and a heavy ceramic frame. It's lovely.

Here we have the inside label from a vintage Navy uniform jacket (it fits me perfectly- and of course I had to snatch it. I just have this weird thing with vintage uniform pieces, and they always end up being my favourite clothing items. And the history! It's wool, with worn cuffs and this great label, and patches on the arms). I also found several books. A few of these are ones that my fiancee found. I found the following books:

-The Annotated Alice- This is exactly what the title says. It is Alice in Wonderland, but it has annotations. I didn't even know that such a thing existed, but it's fascinating! It has references that what may have inspired the illustrations, references in poems, et cetera, et cetera.
-The Zombie Autopsies- Found by my fiancee. It is a book about zombies. It got a lot of good reviews from zombie writers and people who are considered creators of the genre, such as Max Brooks and George Romero. 

-The Irish Fairy Book- Also found by my fiancee. It is a collection of Irish fairy tales and fables. It looks absolutely lovely, and I'm interested to see what the Irish tell their children!
-The Twilight Hour- A collection of really weird stories. It was published in the 1960s, so it has weird illustrations with terrible colours, but it looks fantastic. I skimmed through a few of the stories. They are strange and Aesops Fables-Grimm-like.

-Questions Children Ask- A book from the 1940s, full of answers to children's curiosities. Y'know, answers of the universe, how things work, and so on. My favourite part so far are the "Do's and Don't's of Electrical Storms". I kid you not.

-Dolls- I can't recall the actual title, but I think it was self-published. It's a manual and instruction book on making dolls. It looks really neat, and I think it will make a great reference. Both for doll making and comics drawing. 

-Lady Gaga- This is a photography book by Terry Richardson. Now, this is a book that I got from the dollar store. That being said, it is absolutely brand new, but it was dirt cheap. The cover price was $50. I got it for $3. I bought a copy for my friend as well, as he is even more fond of Lady Gaga than I am. Very likely the best dollar store find I've ever discovered. Dollarama book section- Check it out.

Finally, I found a neat vintage dress. It's kind of pretty in a weird way, but it was $3, and I mostly bought it because of the woven tapestry-esque piece that makes up the majority of the front bodice. I do enjoy quaint images of 18th century folk. 

It was kind of too bad, though. We went to the thrift store and the dollar store to look for things to make decorations for our wedding. Nothing was found. However, I think we might have enough frames now (I did find a cool one for $2. It's oval and ornate, but without glass or backing. Nonetheless, it was begging to be bought and be painted). So far I have 3 vases, and I need to get paint for those as well. Going pretty well, though. Still, though we didn't find many things for our wedding, we found so much cool stuff! My fiancee... HE FOUND A PITH HELMET! A day with a pith helmet is a good day.