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Local provocateur and
New York Times columnist Bob Morris
has a thing for etiquette books, so we were happy to add
this volume of of Amy Vanderbilt's NEW Complete
Book of Etiquette ($15.) to his
impressive library. Bob tells us that he is considering
running for local office, on the "No More Mishegas"
platform. He's got our vote! |
It's
always a fun time when our friends Chuck Fiorello
and Kabuki visit! Kabuki is
a reknowned makeup artist who's worked with Vogue,
Harper's Bazaar, Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Michael Jackson
and Amy Sedaris - oh, and Sex and the City
- to name but a few of his credits, and Chuck is
his fantastic agent and jack of all trades. Kabuki flipped
over these vintage leather Sixties hippie sandals
($20.) and Chuck took home this lovely
Hall pottery ball pitcher ($20.)
and a pair of Ruth Draper record ($18@.). |
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Marta
is originally from Milan, Italy and now lives in New York
City where she is a photo retoucher. She loved this vintage
Carole King 1950's cotton floral print sun dress ($48.)
so much that she wore it home! Bellissima! |
Our good friend Sylvia
gets into the swim of things by channeling Betty
Grable in this vintage 1940's bombshell
ruched Hawaiian print bathing suit ($40.),
vintage wide-brimmed felt hat ($24.)
and Enid Collins-style red rose sequined bucket
bag ($44.).
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Our hero! Tekserve's
Dick Demenus recently rescued our beloved Mac,
and even drove 100 miles to hand-deliver our hard drive
to us! He and his wife, documentary film producer
Jan Albert are two of our favorite customers.
You never know what they'll take a shine to when they
enter The Spot. This day it was a
vintage red plastic camera ($10.), a
stack of odd snapshots, a Jadite
measuring cup ($32.), and a vintage
paperback of La Condition Humaine ($8.). |
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were honored when John and Kerrigan
picked out a vintage porcelain-handled cake
cutter ($15.) to use to cut their
wedding cake for their upcoming nuptials.
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good friend Ava is six (where does
the time go?) and she's rocking the hand-screened
Mystery Spot baseball jersey ($10.). She likes
playing baseball, and she wants to be a Girl Scout.
Go Ava!
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Our
new friend Fenner is also six, and
has been looking for the perfect dress to wear to her
upcoming Kindergarten graduation. And she found
it! Fenner fell in love with this vintage
Fifties girl's baby blue summer frock ($32.)
and wore it with pride when she graduated. Fenner likes
to paint, play Frisbee, and play with her cat LV. |
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Warren DeFever
is from Detroit. You probably know him from his band
His Name is Alive. He collects vintage
photographs of photographers' shadows, and
he was happy to find a handful here at The Mystery
Spot (25 cents.). Warren likes to
play Frisbee and he wants to be a Girl Scout.
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Emmy Bunn
is a designer for Ralph Lauren Polo and made out like
a bandit here at the Mystery Spot!
She went home with a mint Sixties Christian
Dior faux fur hat ($35.), gorgeous
Fifties black and gold brocade cocktail coat
($65.), killer vintage stilettoes with
stacked wood spike heels ($45.), a
black patent leather purse with lucite chain link handle
($35.) and a signed original oil painting
from our personal collection of a mermaid and
King Neptune playing poker under the sea ($45.).
Let's all say it together: come back soon, Emmy! |
Nina is a sophisticated twelve year-old
from New York City who speaks French fluently, loves
to draw, and is learning Chinese. She's obsessed with
"the old generation" and we think she looks
absolutely smashing, darling in this vintage
1950's red and white cotton print sundress
($35.) and matching vintage red felt
chapeau ($10.).
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British journalist (and
our good friend) Charles Laurence, his
son Luke and Mr. TeeTwo
rock the Fez at the Mystery Spot. |
Another
graduate finds the perfect dress! New Yorker Mary
is seventeen years old and about to graduate from Stuyvesant
High School. She loves foreign films and her favorite
film is Amelie. She'll be the the picture of
sophistication on graduation day in this vintage
black and white cocktail dress ($30.).
The vintage black patent leather clutch ($15.)
and black velvet hat ($18.) add a nice
touch to her ensemble, don't you think? |
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Nuala Hill
may only be two years old, but she's already got the vintage
vinyl-flipping gene. Look at her go! She especially
likes David Bowie in his glam years. |
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The Hill Family is
in the house! Nicholas, Weaver, Isaak, Nuala,
and Alex paid us a surprise visit from
Brooklyn, NY. We've known Nick for ages, and you can
be sure they didn't leave empty-handed. Weaver picked
out a ceramic squirrel figurine
($8.), Alex a Fifties cotton print blouse
($15.), and Nuala picked out a vintage
girls' dress ($26.) and a plastic
toy telephone. Nick and Isaak showed
great restraint, and for that, we applaud them. |
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Ah, dear Tessa,
we have taught you well and now it's time for you to
fly the nest! The Mystery Spot can
only take credit for Tessa's mod 70's multi-colored
wool blazer ($10.). Every other element
of her incredibly original ensemble was Tessa's doing.
Don't forget to write your dear old Spot from the salons
of Paris and the show rooms of Milan, Tessa! |
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Three year old Gloria is from California,
U.S.A., and she loves all things pink! She immediately
zeroed in on this killer pair of mint Fifties
fuzzy pink slippers by Sioux-Mox (one of
several New Old Stock pairs we came across recently,
unworn and still in the original box, $25.)
and wore them around the shop 'til she dropped.
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Cait,
Cait, Cait. We can't believe you didn't
take this awesome Forties peach satin and lace
dress ($20.) home with you! Twenty
bucks! Look how great it looks on you!
Yes, we understand that you Smith College Comparative
Literature majors have a lot on your mind (Borges, Salinger,
cliff jumping) besides fashion, but...twenty bucks!?
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Our good friend Ava is about to go to horse camp, and she already
looks the part in this terrific Western ten-gallon
hat ($15.) that she paid for with her own savings.
She completed the look with this shaft of wheat that
had fallen from a bird's nest and she found at her feet. |
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Our good buddy, illustrator/musician
Adam McCauley
and his wife, musician/designer Cynthia
Wigginton came all the way from San Francisco
to pay us a visit and say how-dee-do. Their terrific band
is called Bermuda Triangle Service. This
1940s vintage round oil painting on old sign board
of bear/horse fight ($125.) called to
them. |
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Also
popping in to say hey is our pal artist/illustrator
Eric White
who picked up a stack of tiny antique
aqua medicine bottles and old advertising
tins. |
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Our friend Molly
is three years old and she likes ballerinas and balloons.
She looks absolutely adorable in this 1950's black
and white gingham "Lil Airess" frock with red
Scottie Dog applique ($32.) |
Artist/illustrator
Cathie
Bleck and daughter
Ana made sure to make us part of their itinerary
as they took a mother-daughter trip down the East Coast.
They tore through the Mystery Spot like a hurricane.
(If it wasn't tied down, they bought it!) Vintage
chenille bedspreads, a War of the Worlds record,
Forties vintage fruity kitchen curtains, vintage dresses,
old children's books, macrame bags, you name
it! |
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Some of Ana's vintage
finds!
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Here's a happy
Ana with some of her Mystery Spot loot! |
Alison
is a soccer mom from Alabama who is also an urban permaculture
practitioner. Earl, who hails from
Mississippi, is the singer in the band Voodelic.
They were both quite taken with this pair of
antique Victorian large-format funeral floral arrangement
photographs ($300. pair) and made
sure they got a good home. |
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Our
friend Ellen
Nieves is a fine artist and Claudia
Handler is a poet. Claudia bought this vintage
1950s baby blue Mercury portable typewriter with case
( $100.) because she was drawn to its
lovely shade of blue and because it has the cents key,
and no doubt many wonderful poems will be created on
it. While she was at it, Claudia also picked up a very
useful Victorian celluloid collar case
( $35.) |
Danielle is fourteen months and from
the Bronx, and found herself a little friend in Phoenicia
here at The Mystery Spot.
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Our
wonderful friend Liz Glass just loves
rubbing the belly of this happy blue glazed
Buddha statue ($65.). Liz is amazing
jeweler/artist/banjo player, who has a shop in Walton,
NY called The Goldsmith. |
WAIT,
THERE'S MORE! ---->
Our Motto: "Clutter My World"
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