I constantly remind myself how lucky I am to be living in Perth where we are feeling pretty safe and protected from Covid. Although we’ve gone through lockdown like most people, we are lucky that we haven’t had any community transmissions for quite some time. Despite that, we have missed out on many events that would run throughout the year, one of them being the Polka Dot Vintage Market which is a 3 in 1 market hosting sellers of vintage, retro, handmade, antiques and collectibles. It is always a wonderful event and this time, myself and my pinup bestie, Miss Vintage Orchid, we thought we’d take you with us and share our day with you. Oh and our haul will be at the very end of this post!

Please also note that whilst visiting the markets, we constantly sanitised our hands, tried out best to keep social distancing and followed all guidelines and procedures set in place by the venue, the organisers and the government. We are very safe here in Perth and no one was put at risk.

We planned on getting to the markets early Saturday morning, but then I couldn’t get out of bed and we rocked up around 10;30am. It was already pretty busy and I honestly don’t remember the last time the event was so busy. For those who have never been to Polka Dot, the market is divided into two main sections; the lower half which is vintage, clothing, records/vinyl and hand-made items/crafts, and the top section which is more antiques and collectibles. I normally start with the lower section before moving onto the antiques up top but it’s honestly such a large event, it’s pretty hard to see everything in one day. If you are planning on attending, have a plan with items you’d like to discover in mind. Myself and Miss Vintage Orchid stayed at the markets from 10:30 till 4:45 and we still had rows of sellers we didn’t even walk down. Oh and bring cash!

Our first stop (and purchase) was The Vintage Side where we could not resist her gorgeous hand made aprons. Now I have a fair few aprons in my apron drawer but I seriously could not resist the beauty of these hand made creations. I struggled to choose a design as there were so many beautiful ones it almost came down to a coin toss. I was going to get a gorgeous brown and orange tones apron but settled on this pink one because I can’t resist pink and flowers. Miss Vintage Orchid snapped up a pink and red apron. We can’t wait to wear them in upcoming videos and shoots!

Our next big task was to tackle the clothing, hats and accessories. As always, we had our tape measure at the ready to see the sizing of certain pieces and to save a bit of time when it came to trying things on. We found a few pieces here and there but I didn’t find any 50’s day dresses that really stood out or that really fit me. I did find a gorgeous lavender nightie and a true vintage bra, as well as Miss Vintage Orchid finding a stunning velvet robe and a cute little ‘around the house’ dress. All will be revealed in our final haul.

One find of note was a very cute vintage makeup case for only $15. I found it on the floor of a jewellery and vase stall and was very happy to note that it was in great condition even if it didn’t have any of the original bottles inside. I am hoping to use this when I go to shoots to store delicate items such as my makeup, jewellery and other accessories (such as small hats) so I’m very excited by this purchase. Looking about the market there were several trunks, travel cases, suitcases and even vintage doctors bags which made hunting for such an item easier. They all varied in price and I even found my cases twin a few rows over and was tempted to buy the set.

The best part of this event was seeing so many familiar faces. After so many cancelled events, it’s been a while since the pinups had a proper catch up so I think we spent a lot more time chatting than browsing for bargains. But honestly, is there anything better than shopping for vintage with your pinup pals? I love being in places such as these markets and seeing a certain item and thinking, “Oh Miss Vintage Orchid would love that!” or “That brooch is perfect for Miss Lady Lace” and “I’ve never seen a more Miss Rosie Rabbito hat in all my life!”. It brings about a sense of closeness and fondness and it’s honestly such a wonderful feeling.

I’m sure other people do the same things, but I have a bit of a vintage-wishlist which features items I would one day love to find and own. One such item is a beautiful pair of vintage opera glasses. I have a bit of criteria when it comes to such an item such as it must have a carry case, no cracks and preferable in a light colour. Whilst hunting, I found two pairs of glasses but unfortunately one had two large cracks and no case, and the other had a case but they were very dark in colour (not to mention very expensive). Alas, the hunt continues but I know that if I’ve been hunting for close to 5 years now, they might just appear soon.

On the way to the ATM, Miss Vintage Orchid and I stopped dead in our tracks because we found a gorgeous hand made candle stall selling the most beautiful candles we’ve seen. Now I love scented candles, I normally have one burning in the house and I change scents depending on the season and my mood. I have a few places I get my candles from but I’m excited to have a new brand to add to the list. Hutton creates their candles in Australia from Australian suppliers and the results are spectacular. We spent quite some time sniffing all the delightful scents available including Pink Champagne and Exotic Fruits, Ginger Peach Bellini, Blackberry Fig, Miss Dior, Lychee and Black Tea and Tobacco and Leather. The jars that hold the candle are beyond beautiful and come in different colours, shapes and sizes. We both purchases a pair each and Miss Vintage Orchid bought a second pair as a gift for a friend.

I had my eye out for some vintage pyrex and although I found a gorgeous dish at the end of the day, I couldn’t buy it because believe me I had run out of money and arm space to carry it. Oddly enough, I was on the hunt for damaged pyrex for an upcoming project. I found one set which was damaged but their asking price was very much in the ballpark of perfect, rare and unique pyrex so I politely declined. The hunt continues for both perfect pink pyrex and some not so perfect pyrex. I was tempted to buy these small pyrex bowls but couldn’t bring myself to damage vintage just for the sake of a project.

Despite all the lovely items, Miss Vintage Orchid says her favourite find of the day is a children’s Chewbacca mask. You know the mask that went viral when a lady discovered the joy the mask can bring when worn due to the fact that it expels a Chewbacca noise? Yeah, that’s the mask she found, haggled for and went home with. Honestly, I did laugh a lot when she put it on and screamed at me in Chewbacca and I’m glad she found something that brought her so much joy.

My last purchase for the day was from a big box labelled “Terry Pratchett”. I was lucky enough to find a box full of Terry Pratchett novels so I immediately called my husband (wow… I have a husband…. holy cow!), and asked him what was missing from his collection. I managed to score 5 new novels for him which he was very happy about. I also tried to convince him we need ceramic mushroom containers and a statue of a fox riding a dolphin with “South Florida” painted on the bottom but he said no and I didn’t feel like spending more money on a joke item. Maybe next time…

To round off the day, we both found some older Erstwilder pieces which we desperately needed: I found some heart studs from the Valentines release and Miss Vintage Orchid found a ray gun from a previous space collection. You know, because we both need more Erstwilder. I also found some ceramic flower earrings (something I’m noticing I am collecting very slowly), another ceramic flower brooch, and two pairs of vintage gloves (one black and one light pink). I have quite a bit of vintage jewellery so I make sure to only purchase things that are unique, of a colour I don’t already have or something that I can’t live without.

And now it’s time to reveal our hauls from the day (this can be part of our Vintage-shoppers-anonymous intervention). Whenever we go shopping, we normally bring our own carry bags, we had one each and it soon became apparent that we were going to struggle. We were very kindly allowed by a friend to leave our purchases at their stall whilst we continued which helped us out but we definitely needed help getting our new treasures to the car.

Miss Vintage Orchid purchases included; a new apron from The Vintage Side, a set of pink candles, a retro radio tin for her sewing area, a pink nightgown, a red velvet nightgown, a yellow floral dress, a vintage Hawaiian shirt for her husband (not pictured), the Erstwilder brooch (not pictured) and a Chewbacca mask (not pictured). All up, a pretty great haul and believe me, we had to be very selective.

My haul includes an apron from The Vintage Side, two vintage magazines (not pictured), a set of candles, a lavender nightie, a vintage gold costume jewellery necklace (not pictured), ceramic flower earrings, a ceramic flower brooch, a vintage makeup carry case, a vintage bra, two pairs of vintage gloves and Terry Pratchett books (not pictured). Quite a successful haul if I do say so myself.

Myself and Miss Vintage Orchid would like to thank Polka Dot Vintage Markets for inviting us to spend the day hunting for treasures. It truely was a lovely day and we could have spent our entire weekend just browsing beautiful things. I feel that the items I purchased will all be very helpful for future projects and future shoots. Sometimes when at a vintage fair, I’ll see an item I know will look good on camera so I’ll buy it and wait for the perfect shoot to appear. Trust me, you will be seeing the lavender nightie very soon!

Spending the day with my pinup bestie is always a treat. We get to chat, laugh, share our passions and discuss items that we come across. It’s also a nice way to share memories especially when you can say “oh my grandmother had something like this”, or “we use to have that in our kitchen”. It’s also just fun to have a giggle at some more outlandish items. I sometimes like to find the most bizarre item and tell Miss Vintage Orchid it’s going to be her house warming gift. To commemorate the day in all it’s glory, and in memory of our sore feet and empty bank accounts, Miss Vintage Orchid kindly whipped up this gorgeous illustration of the two of us admiring our purchases.
Please contact Miss Vintage Orchid if you’d like to comission your own illustration.

Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.