Week 36: Ice Cream and A Vintage Market

Week 36: Sept. 3rd-9th, 2023

I did a bunch this week, but I'll try to keep it simple. I had to battle the heat of September, so of course I needed a little treat of ice cream. After a quick Yelp search, I picked a new spot: Jeni's Ice Cream in North Park. It was a really cute place, with tons of flavors.

I got Salted Caramel Peanut Butter and Milky Chocolate

I might have to return to get their take-home pints!

Jeni's freezer of pints

Secondly, my trip last week to Seattle and visit to Pike Place Market reminded me about the thrifting and vintage market scene in San Diego. There is a vintage flea market on Adams Ave with tons of vendors called Hot Spot Flea. I think it happens about once a month or so.

The entrance to Hot Spot Flea had a funky (scary) clown rug

I have conflicting feelings about vintage flea markets like this, which I'll get into later, but I thought I'd check it out. It was fun! I enjoyed walking around and browsing the carefully curated selection at each tent, but honestly, I was sweaty and couldn't stay long. It was only 10am, and it was already 83°F. I felt the sun eating away at my morning application of SPF (Stay protected! No wrinkles!), so I tried to stay in the shade as best I could.

Some people had umbrellas for the sun!

While browsing (and sweating), I saw many things I liked, but didn't buy anything for myself. I got my friend a cute, handmade phone charm for her birthday.

There was an entire tent for old film and digital cameras, and it was super popular. The funniest thing about this era is the trend of drifting back to using film or low-res cameras.

Film and digital cameras for sale

I see how its fun to return to old technology like the first point-and-shoot digital cameras from the early 2000's, but I think I'll be sticking with the HD stuff like my T5i, or even just my iPhone camera.

So, let's get into the conflicting feelings I mentioned before... First off, the markup on true vintage, iconic pieces is understandable. They are unique things that are unlikely to be created again with the same level of quality and care. However, thrifting, at its foundation, is meant for people who can't afford to buy new clothes. With thrifting and vintage procurement becoming "trendy," there are people at these markets who take advantage of this and try to mark up prices on items that aren't high quality or unique. This has wrongfully given the green-light to traditionally low-price thrift stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army to raise their prices as well. I hope these unwarranted price increases are just a phase in the life cycle of upcycling and fashion and that Goodwill gets a reality check soon.

At the end of the day, upcycling and thrifting is better for the environment than buying fast fashion, so I can't be too mad about it. If the "fashion" girlies are going to be spending $50 on a crappy old t-shirt that screams Y2K, who am I to stop them? I just hope that affordable and accessible thrifting doesn't go entirely extinct. I'm haunted (and motivated) by the thought of the huge amount of textile waste that gets produced annually. I love the increase in upcycling trends and its great to see the evolution (and eventual repetition) of fashion trends every year.

Being in creative spaces, around crafty people, is always really fun. I always get inspired with the gifts of creativity people share, thinking a mixture of "Oh, wait, I could do that myself!" and "Oh, wow, why didn't I think of that!?" all wrapped up in a bow of, "Oh, my god, this person is so talented!" It really makes me wish I had more space to create and spread out all of the craft supplies and my sewing machine that I store under my bed. I definitely want to check out more stuff like this, though preferably when it isn't nearing 90°F before 11 am.

I had to get a mango agua fresca to beat the heat.

See you next week.