Vintage Garage Chicago

May was quite an exciting month for me. Between Member's Night, the Windy Pretties meetup, and my mother's visit to Chicago, there wasn't a dull moment in sight, and I'm so pleased to share one of my favorite May adventures with you today: my day at Vintage Garage Chicago with some of the Windy Pretties!

While I'm obviously mad about vintage-inspired clothing, it's actually been ages since I did any vintage shopping. Once I moved to LA, I was discouraged by the high prices for True Vintage (i.e. the serious-business stuff from the 1950s-1960s), as well as the challenge of finding things from 60 years ago that go up to my size. I'd had high hopes to find some reasonable vintage once I'd moved to Chicago, but alas, all of the vintage shopping is concentrated in neighborhoods that are quite a ways from mine. (And I'm lazy).

But when I saw Vintage Garage on the itinerary for our Windy Pretties weekend, my head instantly filled with dreams of vintage day dresses and novelty prints. Vintage Garage (as I discovered) is a monthly event held in a parking structure that runs from May through November in Uptown, a neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago. Admission is $5, which gets you access to two levels of vendors with all manner of vintage goodies.

Venturing out to the North Side on a Sunday morning is a major decision, so I checked their website and saw that May's theme was midcentury modern. Yes, I thought, this is what I've been waiting for! I grabbed some cash and hopped on the L bright and early, excited to hunt for some one-of-a-kind finds!

I'm pleased to report that it was worth spending an hour on the L to get there. As soon as I'd paid my entry fee and walked in, my head started spinning -- there were so many booths with gorgeous dresses beckoning me over! The very first booth had some truly gorgeous clothing, and I ended up leaving with this lovely faux-fur cape. I'd been wanting one for ages, and this one was so unique and versatile!

That high-low hemline!

Right next door to that was a booth offering a two-for-$25 deal on all of their clothing. The eras ranged from 1950s to some (rather tasteful) 1980s numbers, including a neon-floral romper that I deeply regret passing on. They also had a good selection of unisex plaid/flannel shirts, and (crucially!) a dressing room. If, like me, you forget to bring a tape measure, you'll be stuck guessing on whether something will fit unless the booth you're perusing happens to have one handy, so a dressing room comes in handy!

I left that booth with a breezy little button-up shirt and a red dress, because obviously there's always room for one more red dress in your closet!

Alas, the zipper separated as I tried to do it up for blog photos. It's amazing how much of a difference one week makes when you're pregnant!

My next purchase was a lovely red gingham dress. As if the mere fact that it's gingham wasn't enough to sell me on this dress, it's twirly and has twee lace trim all over, as well as a modest-ish bustline! I couldn't believe how well it fit, too, and it even has a metal zipper!

A dress like this calls for milkmaid hair.

Aside from all the clothing, there were a number of booths with reasonably priced Pyrex, other homewares, vintage jewelry, and even some beautiful midcentury modern furniture. Since we've got a full furnished apartment with a fairly small kitchen and storage space is already tight, though, I pass on anything that's purely decorative. I did have to stop myself from buying more than one vintage suitcase, though.

As this was a Trashy Diva meetup, there were plenty of fabulous ladies running around! I got a real kick out of being #squadgoals for the second day in a row. The best part of a TD meetup is knowing that it's ok to geek out over the print/style someone you've never met is wearing. I met someone in Blue Hawaii (!!!) who just started a 9-month position at my job, and ran into another pregnant Diva wearing one of my favorite prints, Tropical Sangria!

Annabel has totally inspired me to winterize my Berry Chantilly dress with my green Dita cardigan!

After a bit more browsing, I spotted my favorite find of the day: this plaid vintage suitcase! The tartan on this case reminds me of the Scotch tape packaging they used to sell at holiday time, so obviously it had to come home with me. I'm a sucker for anything with nostalgia value, after all! I somehow resisted buying the matching train case, and even though this is probably because my arms were starting to get tired, I'm still counting it as a victory!

On my last sweep through the Garage, I found one more dress: a breezy, summery rainbow dress with a stretchy bodice. Aside from the gorgeous candy colors, I thought this would make a nice summer dress for my Summer of Pregnancy Doom and beyond, as well as a good workwear option for hot summer days.

In total, I spent $120 on a suitcase, a cape, three dresses, and a button-up shirt, which isn't too shabby! I'm already looking forward to June's Vintage Garage, and trying to set a little bit of money aside to go hog wild. For all the vintage fans out there: where do you do your thrifting?

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