A little over a month ago, in a post called Blue Jean Baby, OK Falls lady, I mentioned the fact that around that time my husband and I had spent a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon in the neighbouring community of Okanagan Falls, where amongst our stops, we paid a visit to one of the Southern Okanagan’s longest standing and, in my opinion, best antique stores: Jardin Estate Vintage Jewelry and Antiques.
Nestled in a small building on OK Fall's quaint little main street, this shop is one that I remember visiting occasionally as a child in the company of my mom and paternal grandmother (who, like me, has always adorned the Victorian era). Back in those days OK Falls had two antique shops in the same area, but today only Jardin Antiques remains.
I'm very glad that it does, because there are really aren't too many vintage and antique stores in this neck of the woods, and I think that the community needs to try and hang onto those few that we are fortunate enough to have. As such, whenever I'm in the vicinity of one, I love to stop in, chat with the employees and hopefully make a purchase or two.
It had been so many years since I lasted visited Jardin, that I couldn't say for certain any more what types of items they carried (aside from jewelry, which they are renowned for). I was delighted to find that amongst the gorgeous antique and vintage babbles, beads and jewels on offer, there as also a lovely, well curated selection of household goods (from fine china to recipe booklets), accessories (I hummed and hawed over a black lamb's wool muff, but decided against it in the end because I felt it wasn't in quite good enough shape to survive the many future Canadian winters I'd want to use it for), books, and sundry other terrific items.
While they did have a few vintage garments (mainly 1960s frocks) in stock, the selection in that regard was sparse. What they weren't lacking for however, was vintage hats (a blend of 40s-70s styles) and gloves - two of my absolute favourite wardrobe pieces in the whole world.
Though I could very easily have bought more, I spared my credit card a beating and opted instead for the following five items (all of which were, to my mind, quite reasonably priced).
Far from collecting merely for the sake of collecting, I frequently wear vintage gloves and hats, so I was tickled pink to find three of the pairs of 40s/50s era gloves (they had several other, too, but again, I was trying to be a budget-conscious shopper) and a gorgeous green velvet hat all in my size.
I'd been hunting for a dark green hat in that sort of hue for ages, and was thrilled to pick this one up for (if I remember correctly) $22.00. It's beyond comfortable and I've already worn it a few times since bringing it home to join my other vintage hats.
{Close ups shots of the dainty crochet, ultra tiny buttons, and chic rouching that, respectively, adorn my three new pairs of beautiful vintage gloves.}
As some of you will recall from this post back in March of 2011, I've long been a fan of the classic young reader series of books, Cherry Ames, and have been on the look out for a title from that series to add to my vintage book collection for some time now.
{I love that Cherry's cheerful, smiling face appears on the spine of this fun vintage book about the adventures of a young nurse, who, in this title, finds herself at a wild west dude ranch.}
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Given that Ok Falls is a mere 15 minutes or so away from our town, we'll likely be out that way periodically (especially during the summer months when the town holds a public flea market on main street there every weekend), and will no doubt stop in and visit Jardin's many more times in the future. I hope that on subsequent visits I'll find additional "must have" vintage treasures to add to my collection, too.
Should you ever be in this sage green, lake filled corner of British Columbia, I highly recommend stopping in at Jardin's. We spent over half an hour there and I still could have kept looking for longer, because every last one of their offerings is just the sort of thing that makes a vintage loving gal's eyes light up.
