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It's a good thing there's an ATM a few doors up from Empire Vintage because you might be needing extra funds when you enter this collectibles store at 63 Cardigan Place, Albert Park.
There's new and old at the 14-year-old store, but mainly old, and it attracts customers from all walks: stylists, interior designers, young girls after quirky, handmade jewellery, home decorators. On the morning Living Creatively visits, an artist of some repute comes in to collect a mirror, and a Toorak housewife travels across town to buy an item for her beach house.
The store is literally stuffed with furniture, homewares, jewellery, clothing, stationery, bits and bobs – all highly covetable. There's a bucket of wooden rolling pins that have rolled a lot of pastry; sewing patterns from days gone by; embroidered evening bags fit for a night at the opera; a beautiful black leather armchair [sold]; and sheer 1950s floral scarves that bring Ava Gardner to mind. There's 1920s dress mannequins; handmade brooches and cards by clever designers who vie to get their wares into the store; and an old electric light declaring the word 'FROCKS', supplied by a guy who pulled up in a van and said "I think you're going to love this" to Empire Vintage owner Lyn Gardener.
Lyn is a long-time [as in her whole life] vintage lover. As a child, she went to weekend markets with her mother and always focused on the old pieces.
"I’ve always collected since I was a very young girl," says Lyn. "At home my mother was ultra-modern, but she was still always interested in markets, good old fashioned trash & treasure markets. That was how I got introduced to it. I've always been interested in old things.
"I used to go to op shops all the time, and the things I used to come across – the gowns! The shoes! They were magnificent. Back then, nobody was collecting; nobody was walking around in vintage clothes. But it's so hard to find things now. That's how and why the shop evolves, because it depends on what I can find to put in it. It's gone from girlie to more masculine to a mix of both, which is what it is now," she adds.
"My style, which is always inspired by old glamour, is just in me, it's part of who I am. The more worn, aged and faded, the more I love it. My armchairs at home have rips and tears in them, they have character, and I love that."
So do a lot of others. Lyn's Fitzroy warehouse home, an ultra-feminine vintage-lover's dream, has been featured in newspapers, books and magazines around the world. On her shop counter is a just-delivered Hungarian edition of Elle Dekor magazine and there on the glossy pages is Lyn, with her bouffant hairdo and wearing a glamorous cocktail dress, at her romantic home with its vintage chandeliers, armoires, stacks of antique quilts, gowns and silver-sequinned dancing shoes from the 1920s. |
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"I do hoard," admits Lyn, who used to work in merchandising for Levi Strauss, sourcing all their vintage props. "I could open up another shop no problem. When you're a collector it's dangerous. I'm not a great businesswoman," she jokes. "I hang on to a lot of stuff. It's difficult when you love something so much yourself."
Busy though she is hand-selecting pieces for her shop and working as an interior decorator [domestic and
commercial], Lyn is set to expand her vintage empire. She has just bought an 1850s miner's cottage in Daylesford – the mineral spa capital of Victoria – which she's renovating and decorating, and will turn into a comfy country nook to rent to people wanting to get away from it all and enjoy some vintage country surrounds.
In addition, she'll be taking vintage-lovers on outings [don't mention the word 'tours'] around Melbourne. With her business partner in this venture, Danielle Pumo, Lyn will take half a dozen people to the best vintage outlets in the city. They'll get around town in two vintage Fiats. Called A Vintage Outing with Betty and Miss Shirley, the four-hour trips, started in July and can be booked through Hidden Secrets Tours. "We just want to tell people about what we love," says Lyn.
Over in London, meanwhile, a fabulous emporium has opened for the travelling bowerbirds among us. Priscilla Carluccio – sister of Terence Conran of the Conran Shop and wife of restaurateur Antonio Carluccio – has opened Few & Far, a lifestyle boutique at 242 Brompton Road.
The 72-year-old former photographer/stylist/buyer/restaurateur calls it her dream shop. No wonder; everything in it – vintage and contemporary furniture, homewares, lighting, clothing, jewellery, toys – is all personally chosen. Priscilla's benchmark is that she'd like it herself. At the time of writing, Few & Far had a 1930s Cosson sewing machine for sale, at £1950; a sweet Tudor dolls house from the 1940s priced at £100; and an Oceano trunk by Andree Putnam for £1840. Prices vary enormously so there's something for everybody.
If vintage clothes are your thing, take a look at what auctioneer and fashion historian Kerry Taylor is auctioning. Kerry has just auctioned the collection of English aristocrat Daphne Guinness. That was a special collection, with some special prices to match, but the London auctioneer has racks of designer clothing [Azzedine Alaia, Halston, YSL and Versace to name a few] and accessories [Prada shoes, Hermès handbags] that she auctions regularly at her West Dulwich warehouse for dealer prices. Those designer shoes? Thirty quid for six pairs – Prada, Chanel, Manolo’s, Ralph Lauren, Alberta Ferretti among them; we kid you not.
Taylor holds two big auctions every year at Sotheby's. That's where she sold the contents of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's wardrobes, a headline-making event in New York. But she also holds what she calls mini-auctions every six weeks at her London auction house. The good news is that you can bid by phone, email or eBay and Taylor posts internationally. Collecting the mail will never be the same again.
By Carolyn Ford
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