So this is my first vintage + thrifty finds post and I’m excited to bring you the finds for this week. As many of you know, I have a *huge* love of finding quirky, unique, vintage items at thrift stores, rummage sales, garage sales, and lots of other secret special thrifty places . There is always one amazing thing that I am able to dig up every time I’m on the hunt!

1. Japanese Ceramic Serving Dish – Front, 2. Japanese Ceramic Serving Dish – Back, 3. Bavarian Cross-stitch Teacups, 4. Bavarian Cross-stitch Teacups, 5. Bavarian Cross-stitch Teacups, 6. Japanese Ceramic Lion Figure, 7. Japanese Ceramic Lion Figure, 8. Japanese Ceramic Lion Figure, 9. Art Swirl Blazer, 10. Art Swirl Blazer – Detail, 11. Ballantyne Intarsia Sweater – Front, 12. Ballantyne Intarsia Sweater – Label, 13. Black Suede Shoes , 14. Black Suede Shoes – Jean-Paul Barriol, 15. Nine West Strappy Shoes

I am always curious about the origins of an item I pick up while thrifting. So when I spotted the Ballantyne intarsia label on the brown cashmere sweater I picked up I had to do some searching to find out about the Ballantyne label. The Ballantyne.it website revealed that: “Ballantyne Cashmere was established in 1921 in a small Scottish town called Innerleithen in the Borders region…A characteristic is the production technique employed to manufacture handmade intarsia, which has been in use since the 30s: the precious “hand made intarsia” lozenge patterns were commonly labelled as “the Ballantynes” and represent the brand’s identification symbol still now…Such exclusivity is underlined on every single label with the writing: “This is an original Ballantyne”.”

The sweater I purchased looks to be from the 1950s. The label has changed from the one sewn into my sweater to a more modern look.

Check out some of the wicked Ballantyne intarsia sweaters, including these two!

Apparently many famous people have worn Ballantyne knitwear ifrom Steve Mc Queen to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to Queen Elizabeth! They even have a Ballantyne Facebook page.

In any case, Ottawa is great for thrifty + vintage shopping + rummaging in the sense that it has an older population who are constantly getting rid of older things, and a smaller population so that things are not always picked over and therefore the prices for vintage items aren’t exorbitantly high. When I was living in London last year, one of the world’s fashion capitals, my attempts to shop vintage and thrift were not so hot: despite the many charity shops, things were ridiculously overpriced and picked over. After the first few attempts, I realized I needed to wait until I travelled back to small(er)-town Ottawa to score some finds!

Do you find the quality (and quantity) of vintage + rummaging items differ from city to city?