Urban Gem

On the first friday in February, zoe swartz took me with her to open studios in the south end. There, we stumbled into an amazing vintage store called Bobby From Boston, where it just so happened zoe's mom used to be a camp counselor with the owner, Bobby. The place was absolutely AMAZING - a mix of everything from the late 19th century all the way to the 80s, while the store itself looked like a mix of ralph lauren, rugby, and brooks brothers rolled into one. Bobby, who scours estate and yard sales for these treasures, is actually one of the top suppliers for period film costumes in Hollywood, and from the looks of his store, it was easy to see. It had anything you could think of - mens cricket jackets from the 20s, womens dresses from the 40s, and shelves and shelves of shoes, for both men and women, ranging from riding boots from the 1910's to 70's converse sneakers. It blew both of our minds. What made the experience even better was that because he saw how amazed we were, he invited us to go shop at his private warehouse, where he keeps most of his merchandise. We didnt even hesitate to answer YES, and her mom made all the arrangements.

Last friday, when we had no school, we travelled to the secret location of the warehouse, where it requires a private appointment as well as an invitation by bobby himself to go to. Feeling like vips and uber cool shoppers, we climbed the stairs and found ourselves transported back in time with all of what we saw. The mens side of the warehouse was HUGE, and contained everything from WWI and II army uniforms, 1940's loungewear, 50's suits, and barrels and barrels full of vintage belts. With all of this spanning countless racks, i spent the better part of three hours just looking at everything, never mind actually picking stuff out. By the time i found the perfect piece to claim as my own (a vintage cream button crew-neck sweater from the 40s for 20$) i had been dumbfounded by everything. It was just too much to handle. Making my way over to the womans side to visit zoe, i saw shocked at what i saw - everything was arranged by decade - there were original flapper dresses (a fabulous one in a dusty green), 50s day suits, 60s evening sheath dresses, and 80s levi jeans. It was amazing, seeing vintage hats, gloves, shoes, gowns, and basically anything you could imagine. When zoe settled on a 50's boys levis denim jacket for 45$, we realized there was so much it was ridiculous. Thoroughly enjoying our afternoon, we were pleased with our purchases and agreed on one thing - we definitely want to go back.