I feel very lucky to have a wealth of knowledgeable antique and vintage experts in my own back yard. One of my favorite events of the year is the Brimfield Antiques Show where I look forward to chatting with venders about jewelry history and culture as much as I do discovering a new piece for my designs. Most of the components for my vintage inspired jewelry are found right here in New England using locally sourced vintage textiles, buttons, and costume jewelry, and with up-cycled materials such as discarded findings and components from bygone jewelry manufactures.
My Brimfield Antiques week started off with a one day indoor Vintage Textile and Vintage Clothing Show in nearby Sturbridge. Approximately 250 Vendors set up at the Host Hotel, selling everything from vintage fashion and textiles to buttons, belts and shoes, to hats and jewelry. Tuesday to Friday I stayed at a delightful bed and breakfast, Lord Manner, and walked the fields from 6am to 6pm. I was not the early bird though! By the time I arrived some people were already carting their treasure off to new homes.
Here are a few of my most memorable finds – I didn’t purchase any of them, but found them to be inspiring!
The Brimfield Antiques Show is the largest outdoor antiques show in the world, with over 6,000 dealers and 130,000 visitors during the course of one week, held three times a year in May, July and September. I always look forward to attending! While I refer to the week as “Brimfield”, the entire show is composed of 23 fields, owned by individual promoters who lease spaces to dealers from all over the world. The large fields of venders are located on a mile long stretch of a two-lane road (both sides!) just outside the town of Brimfield, in central Massachusetts. Different fields open on different days with unique venders, so each day is filled with new discoveries!