We are celebrating a new season! Spring fever is in the air. It’s time to start bringing out the flirty frocks for springtime. We all do this at home, we store away our winter clothes like heavy winter coats & boots and switch to a new colorful spring palette.

Here, at  Alameda Point, we will do the same and stock up on our spring looks at the Vintage Fashion Faire with playsuits, wedges, sun dresses, bathing suits, big hats and accessories. We dream of spring…..floaty dresses, cardigans, colour and roses. We are looking forward to the many events this spring starting with our vintage extravaganza at the O’ Club. The theme for our costume contest is “Tiki Style” and we will have tropical attire galore. Friday night, March 22 from 6-9 PM will be our “Tiki Style” Party, with live Hawaiian music by Garden island Blend. Top vintage dealers from near and far will be offering lovely vintage garb from every era to kick off the season.

Our costume contest is at 8PM in the main Ballroom & the Grand Prize is a $100 voucher to shop the show. All entries get a prize for their Tiki Style.

Here are some fun spring images to get you in the mood …

Brigette Bardot is an inspiration for spring

Can you tell that spring is sprung? Oh yes, indeed!

Stay Stylish in Vintage…

Aloha Vintage Lovers! Have the winter blues got you down? It’s time for a tropical vacation. You don’t have to go too far for Island shopping. We have you covered at Alameda Faires. All your Tiki dreams can come true without an airline ticket. Just shop for décor, barware,  & retro fashions and you are there (with a coconut or two and a flower lei).

The words “tiki culture” refer to the Polynesian style bars and tribal art that started to crop up in America in the mid 1930s. When American soldiers returned home after World War II, they brought back a major South Pacific influence along with them and helped to achieve a similar feeling in America. A number of Polynesian themed restaurants and tiki bars started opening up across the United States, which were based off of the ones in the South Pacific. The American tiki bars were kitschy fun (which I have no problem with!) and we have an award winning Tiki bar in Alameda called Forbidden Island.

Don the Beachcomber (Don Beach) is generally credited as the first to open a specifically Tiki/Polynesian-themed restaurant and lounge in Hollywood, CA in 1934. About three years later (Vic Bergeron) opened in Oakland, CA as Hinky Dinks with a similar theme but became Trader Vic’s due to trading in the recession.  Both proprietors got popular concocting tasty cocktails not to mention the exotic décor, & a casual yet festive atmosphere. The theme called for bamboo and wicker decor, hand-carved Tikis, palms trees, & pretty girls in sarongs. Hawaiian music set the stage for the blossoming era. With Hawaiian statehood, Tiki in America became a sensation and folks could become suburban savages for the weekend.

I have to say my favorite things about tiki are the retro, bright floral dresses/Hawaiian shirts, mugs carved into tiki gods, and of course, the tropical umbrella cocktails.

In preparation for our upcoming spring Alameda Point Vintage Fashion Faire, where the theme for our costume contest is “Tiki Style”, I’ve been collecting vintage tiki-theme images and thought I’d share some with you. It will be held once more at The O’ Club and is a two day indoor fashion extravaganza. Friday night, March 22 from 6-9 PM will be our “Tiki Style” Party, with live Hawaiian music by Garden island Blend and cocktails available. Top vintage dealers will be offering vintage from every decade. Our costume contest is at 8PM in the main Ballroom & the Grand Prize is a $100 voucher to shop the show. All entries get a prize for their Tiki Style.

If you love the Island Lifestyle, Tiki, Hawaiiana, or Polynesian Pop Culture, Alameda Point is the place to shop.

We’ve wrapped up the wrappings, made ourselves merry, and donned our gay apparel. The holiday season is over and we rang in the New Year in retro style. Now it’s time for resolutions. You can find my  Top 10 “Thrifty Style Resolutions” in the January issue of the Point Magazine. We have some fun things planned for you in 2013 including the upcoming Vintage Fashion Faire on March 22 & 23rd at the O’ Club. Also, look for a new updated website look this year. We have new shopping totes for a mere $3 at the front of our show that will hold all of your collectible antiques and vintage goodies found at our Faire and make great hostess & New Year’s gifts.

I’ll be featured in the upcoming Flea Market Decor magazine this spring with my flea market tips so be sure to pick up a copy.

So…Another year over but there is plenty of retro stuff to buy at Alameda Point. For Auld Lang Syne, my friends!

Vintage New Year’s postcards are plentiful at The Point

Happy New Year! Mae West brings it in, Hollywood Style

Lucy & Desi celebrating New Year’s Eve

Vintage Style New Year

Happy New Year, Antique Lovers! Stay Stylish in Vintage!

Where do you go for ho-ho-ho Holiday shopping? Seasonal shopping at The Point is one of the most unique places to shop for special gifts and décor. So many vendors come every month to our Faire with vintage goods to tempt you and the holiday season is brimming with great ideas for decorating your hearth and home. Not to mention finding gifts galore. (Next month, for December~ I’ll once again feature some gift giving suggestions in my Vintage Holiday Helper Guide).

vintage glass ornaments

Getting ready for the holidays is a cinch when you know where to shop for one-of-a-kind treasures. As you wander the aisles bring a shopping list of things you need for entertaining. From clothing & accessories to barware and serving pieces, you’ll find everything you need to make a festive vintage statement. While you’re at it, shop for the perfect hostess attire. Deck yourself out in retro holiday splendor.

Holiday decorating can be kitschy fun or an elegant presentation.  Tree trimming items and vintage Christmas trees are plentiful at The Point. Our vendors are selling a vast array of vintage items including records, clothing, jewelry, books, posters, and much more for your retro gift giving pleasure. So rent a cart and hit the aisles bright & early. Stay all day and enjoy our stunning view of San Francisco with lunch at any of our top food vendors.

At The Point you’ll shop vendor’s booths chock full of all those goodies that you enjoyed as a tot. You’ll be transported in a nostalgic time machine back to your childhood. You will also see vendors offering a showcase of re-purposed, crafty vintage items that make spectacular gifts.

One of our dealers with her vintage creations.

Skip the big box stores this holiday season and help support our stylish tastemakers and retro artists. Remember that shopping for vintage is a green practice too.  Find your best Holiday gifts this season at The Point. Look for my flea market shopping tips on Casa Sugar and the spring issue of Flea Market Décor magazine coming out next year.

Stay stylish in vintage. Absolutely Fashionating! Happy Turkey month…gobble up!

Steampunk fans create their own fashion designs, an adventurous pastiche of neo-Victorian, Edwardian and military style accented with sometimes crudely mechanized accouterments like brass goggles and wings made from pulleys, harnesses and clockwork pendant necklaces, not to mention the odd ray gun dangling at the hip. Steampunk style is corseted, built on a scaffolding of bustles, crinoline petticoats and parasols & high-arced sleeves, often made with leather.

At the fall Alameda Point Vintage Fashion Faire, Steampunk lovers will be able to shop for accessories and clothing and show off their own creations on September 14^th and 15^th. I’m excited to assemble my own fashion creation as hostess of this event.

Steampunk Art design from my Pinterest

Comic Con just wrapped and the Steampunk set was in full throttle. Esteemed novelists as panelists such as Gail Carriger (The Parasol Protectorate Series) who attended our last Vintage Fashion Faire, were on hand to discuss their research but also discussed their originality in descriptions of Steampunk attire. After all, the Victorians didn’t have walking, talking robots but such an invention wouldn’t be out of place in a Steampunk book or show. Retro-futuristic technology, however, isn’t the only thing Steampunk has up its sleeve ~ when asked what drew them to it in the first place, more than one panelist said “the clothing.” Steampunk isn’t just about comic books, novels, and webseries.  It is also a style many women (and also men) like to sport.

Allow me to share some pointers about Steampunk’s Victorian-inspired style:

1. Steampunk Equals Originality .

Key features include goggles, facial hair for guys (sometimes artistic mustachios), and corsets for women. Dressing up is a big part of Steampunk’s appeal for creators and fans alike.  One of the reasons we chose this as a theme for the fall Vintage Fashion Faire as a style for our costume contest is it allows a new way to do costuming where one doesn’t have to necessarily dress up as somebody else’s character. It’s about creating your own character and your own world.

My Pinterest Steampunk Board Ladies

2. Looking good is cinched up with a corset.

Many corset experts agree that corsets can be more comfortable than a bra. The trick is to get one that fits correctly ~ it shouldn’t prevent you from breathing or sitting. Don’t wrap the laces around your waist, which damages the corset.

Everyone knows that corsets are also sexy. You can feel beautiful in Steampunk clothing. In the authentic Victorian era, women “were second-class citizens” but the Steampunk aspect of it allows women to be powerful & strong.  While most Victorian women didn’t get the opportunity to be scientists or world travelers, women in Steampunk garb can imagine a world where they could do those things while still embracing the beauty of the Victorian aesthetic.

Steampunk corset on my Pinterest

3. Use bold accessories to add authenticity to your ensemble.

Steampunk enthusiasts can add Victorian verisimilitude with reticules, bowler/top hats, and exaggerated eyewear such as goggles.  Celebrate the genre’s fusion of past, present, and future by putting high-tech information devices (iPads, iPhones) in Victorian-like cases.

4. Get Steampunk flavor with wares at The Alameda Point Vintage Fashion Faire and Antiques Faire!

The Steampunk subculture is gaining in mainstream popularity, in large part due to the appeal of its aesthetic. The Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes movies are an example of mainstream Steampunk style. Disney has started incorporating steampunk into its merchandise (fans have followed suit with their own Disney steampunk art). Steampunk jewelry and accessories are popular on Etsy and Pinterest, and the movement shares stylistic elements with the work of designers like Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquiere. Even Prada has come out with a men’s line featuring the dashing Gary Oldman and Willem Dafoe in their ad campaigns. Women are rejoicing to see men in waistcoats again.

Prada’s take on “Steampunk” attire

The Alameda Point Vintage Fashion Faire Preview Party will be held on Friday, September 14^th, and the Steampunk Costume Contest will be held at 8PM in the Main Ballroom. If  you sell Steampunk clothing or accessories we still may have availability. Please call the ABB office at 510-522-7500. Stay Stylish in Steampunk!

The Officer’s Club (O’ Club) is right off of Pan Am Way. What could be better than having our spring Vintage Fashion Faire Preview Party take off as a Vintage Style Travel theme since so many people loved the now cancelled TV show Pan Am?  Our 60′s Mad Men costume contest was a hit so we wanted celebrate the fashions & styles of that era. If you tuned in to Pan Am and saw the first episode, they depicted the rigorous restrictions on weight and grooming of the airline stewardesses back in that time. They had to weigh in every day and were required to wear girdles and slips. Not to mention be well groomed (see below for a small sampling).

Airline Grooming Tips

If you want to recreate the look of the decade, there will be a bevy of adorable vintage sundresses, coats, hats and accessories to choose from and if you care to sport some stylish vintage, enter our 60′s costume contest. Channel Marilyn Monroe flying in that period or of course, the famous flight crew of the TV series Pan Am! We are giving away prizes to every entry and a $100 Grand prize voucher to the winner to shop the show for more 60′s fashion. 1st Prize  & 2nd Prize are Pan Am flight bags & 3rd Prize is a Passport cover courtesy of Pan Am.com. All entries get a prize.

Marilyn Monroe looking fashionable in travel attire

Ultra glam travel garb on Ms.Monroe

Marilyn at Miami International Airport, February 21, 1962 on Pan Am. (Photo: Bob East)

JFK with Pan Am flight bag

John F. Kennedy dined at the O’ Club before he was president and he traveled on Pan Am. 

Pan Am Stewardess on the runway

So come aboard and be our guests at the historic O’Club. Get a free cocktail (Courtesy of our neighbors, St. Georges Spirits) and relive the heyday of the glamour of air travel on Pan Am…your destination? A vintage shopping extravaganza.

How did you celebrate Earth Day? Here at Alameda Point, recycling and re-use is our business and keeping other people’s old stuff out of landfill is our mission. In other words, one person’s junk is another person’s treasure. We love to see the most over-the-top, outrageous vintage decor get wheeled off of our show field. You never know what you’re going to find at our monthly show with 800 booths of antiques and collectibles. We’ve seen it all. Well…not yet. Every month is a new surprise!

Look who's Green at Alameda Point!

In our modern world of constant production, we advocate wearing and collecting vintage fashion. It is re-cycling existing, pre-loved garments and injecting them with new appreciation & giving them life.

Vintage clothing at the Point

Here at Alameda Faires (Antiques By The Bay),  saving the planet is an issue close to our Heart.

If you want to get the stylish, feminine look of the ladies of Mad Men or the office swagger of the executives of those 60′s ad men, look no further than the Alameda Point Vintage Fashion Faire on May 18th & 19th. Every clothing decade will be represented and most garments pre-1960 are made in the USA. There will also be patterns, textiles,  & buttons for those sewing talents who wish to create their own garments and textiles for the crafty folks attending. Also, re-purposed vintage delights by hot designers that have shops on Etsy selling their designs too. Endless ways to re-purpose and re-use await those with a flare for the unique so don’t miss this amazing shopping opportunity that’s good for the planet and for the pocketbook.

Mad Men fashionable ladies

Re-purposed vintage button jewelry at the fall Vintage Fashion Faire 2011

On Friday night, May 18th, we time travel back to the glamour of air travel “Pan Am” style. Back when we didn’t have to get a security pat down or X-ray screenings and service was always with a smile. (See our Vintage Fashion Faire page for more details). Our costume contest is at 8PM in the Main Ballroom with a $100 voucher for the grand prize winner to shop the show.

Pan Am girls out of uniform

Retro 60's Fashion TV ~Pan Am Style

You can always get to us by public transportation. There are buses and ferries running to our event and don’t forget to take our free shuttle service at the monthly antiques faire.

Be glam & green. Stay stylish in vintage. See you at the Point. Happy Hunting.

Fashion, spirits & entertainment all take their cues from the past so why not take a trip in retro style to the fabulous O’ Club at Alameda Point  on May 18th &  19th, where we serve you a little travel with a twist. We’ll be hosting a “Pan Am” style travel theme Preview Party with a costume contest to commence at 8PM in the Main Ballroom. A $100 voucher to shop the faire goes to the Grand prize winner with more prizes to be awarded. St. Georges Spirits will serve cocktails and live music by Bay Area Swing All Stars will set the tone for your shopping pleasure on the Friday night Preview Party (21+) and a re-admit is included to come back and shop the show on Saturday, May 19th. (Ages 16 and under are free on Saturday only). Get jet set for your destination for summer holidays in vintage & Hollywood glamour with over 50 booths of quality collectible clothing, couture and accessories from every decade. We have out of state attendees signed up and tickets are available for pre-sale now on Brown Paper Tickets. You’ll fly away with vintage in the bag. See why the jet setters prefer shopping at our premiere vintage event and buying one-of-a-kind frocks for their summer soirees.

This Pan Am stewardess has just the ticket for your vintage clothing needs.

Flying Pan Am to Europe...Let yourself GO!

We've got you covered. Pan Am style. ca.1963

Summer fun! Get your Retro attire in the bag.

flight crew style- runway walk

The TV show "Pan Am" displayed classy attire when the girls were out of uniform

Travel in Style

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Vintage Lovers.We hope you enjoyed a parade or drank a bit O’ Irish beer in celebration. Maybe you saw a rainbow with all of this rain in the Bay Area. It sure did feel like Ireland today in San Francisco. I like to claim my Irish heritage and proudly wear green every St. Patrick’s Day. I sure do feel lucky at the Alameda Point Antiques Faire every month and March was no exception. Every month is green at the Point with recycled and repurposed goods. Until we see you on April 1st…{April Fool’s Day}, I wish you the luck of the Irish.

Lucille Ball in traditional Irish attire

Irish actress Maureen O'Hara

Please be aware that at our Antique Faire on February 5, 2012, agents from The California Department of Fish & Game confiscated ivory pieces from two vendors at our show.  The vendors were issued misdemeanor citations and must appear in Court on April 12th to face charges.  A stuffed deer head was also seized!

PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!

WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT DISPLAY OR SELL ANYTHING WITH IVORY OR ANIMAL PARTS!

Veronica Lake with animal skin

Please proceed with great caution.

Thank you, Allen Michaan