Randolph Street Market Editor's Choice for Charity

This weekend I was honored to participate in an event that was not only fun, but for a worthy cause!

I was asked to be a part of the Randolph Street Market Editor's & Designer's Choice for Charity. Randolph Street Market is a big vintage and antique market that takes place in Chicago different times throughout the year. On Friday evening, I joined bloggers, designers and fashionistas for their first Editor's & Designer's Choice for Charity.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew ahead of time what the concept was. Basically we would get to walk through the venue early, and would select 5 great items (whatever we wanted!) to receive a blue ribbon. If any of the items sold, a portion would be donate to the charity of our choice. Even if nothing sold, they would donate $100 to each participant's charity. Awesome, right? I selected Tree House Humane Society, the no-kill cat shelter where we adopted Dinah 7 years ago.

Here was my outfit for the evening. Pintucked vintage blouse closed with a cameo (from Mel's mom's collection), trousers by Heyday!, saddle shoes purchased last weekend at the Vintage Bazaar, green tweedy vintage jacket, Bakelite and celluloid bangles, a beret knit by me (finished recently, I'll be posting about it soon) and a shrug you can't see in this photo.

(Remember in my sponge roller tutorial I talked about those little pieces of hair that don't play nice? I swear I almost always have one. See my neck.)

There was a nice little spread for us when we arrived.

Mel went as my guest. We enjoyed some wine, got the lay of the land, and then I went to select my top 5.

Not all the vendors were finished setting up, but here's what the main ballroom looked like Friday evening...

And what were my 5 selections? I tried to vary it a bit in terms of items and prices.

A gold tone lucite-handled purse...

A wicker basket purse with a horse's head (dang, I wish I had bought this myself!)...

A first edition of a Nancy Drew book from 1934...

A 60s formica tiered end table...

And a butterscotch-colored jewelry set...

Here I am, writing up my selections!

All in all I was pleased to participate in the event. Almost all of the blue ribbon items sold, and the final donation count (split between the various selected charities) was $3,150! Outstanding! (ETA: I later found out my charity got $150 and all five items I selected sold!)

On the way home Friday evening, I got a couple of really interested city shots to show you. Look at the sky!

Blurry, but I love the train going by on the platform, with downtown in the background...

And one more gratuitous outfit post, once we got home that night...

On Saturday morning, Mel and I went back to the market to actually do some shopping! It started off as a horribly dreary day. This was snapped under the shelter of the train platform as it rained cats and dogs. Outfit details that you can see include the same jacket, a black purse that got a strange amount of compliments that day, a skirt featuring scottie dogs, and wedges formerly owned by Beth of V is for Vintage! The big bag in my left hand is a vintage knitting bag.

Here's a selection of photos of some other neat things we saw around the market.

A pretty good variety. I was so glad that when we went back outside from the indoor portion of the market the sun was shining. It turned out to be a nice day, after all.

Here are a couple more photos from errands later in the day. I love this close-up of Mel's deadstock tie. The jacket was Mel's dad's from college. Family vintage!

Knitting while waiting for Mel to get a haircut...

But... of course you want to know my haul from the market, right?? Well, here's a funny story. While we were there for the Editor's Choice event Friday evening, I saw a pair of shoes that I fell in love with. They were a gorgeous 30s/40s pair, perfect for me, looked to be my size and a beyond reasonable price for the condition. Only, that seller happened not to be at her booth, so I couldn't even attempt to buy them that night. I couldn't stop thinking about them, however. We returned on Saturday morning and when we got there, the shoes were still there! Phew. I tried them on, they fit, and now they're mine! For whatever reason I have had a hard time finding vintage shoes that fit and are comfy (thus I wear a lot of repro shoes), so this was a big score for me. I mean, look at them! They make me so happy.

But it must have been my day for shoes, because I found another pair that I had to have, too. These were a little big (nothing an insole couldn't fix), but the older gentleman selling them was so dapper and gave me a great price, and they were Cuban alligator peep toe pumps, and I rarely wear heels but they were a sturdy and sensible height, and well, I couldn't resist. You can see why.

I also picked up a couple of inexpensive bracelets that I forgot to photograph, but I didn't forget to photograph my last big score, a Pendleton jacket. Now I need another Pendleton like I need a hole in my head, but this one has my perfect pillar box red! Plus I've been starting to wear them occasionally as kind of over-sized blazers to work, and it was a good price and in nearly flawless condition, so it wasn't hard to justify the purchase.

And that's it from Randolph Street Market! But here are a couple of photos from Saturday evening, partially because I love Mel's vintage fisherman sweater and tweed cap so much.

Sunday was much less eventful, spent inside during another rainy day, mostly involving projects I couldn't get off the ground. I was going to finally sit down and sew my Wearing History trousers, having cut out the pieces a few days before, except I realized I didn't have a matching zipper. And then I started a swatch for my Vintage Knitting College kickoff (thanks for all the support!!), except the colors looked horribly 70s once swatched. So not a very productive day for me, unfortunately. Don't you hate it when your best laid plans for your projects are foiled?

Hope you had a nice weekend!