Every Saturday I head over to Fort Greene to spend my day outside, rummaging through the Brooklyn Flea. The Flea features a mix of 100+ vendors selling handmade arts and crafts, vintage clothing, antique furniture and collectibles, as well as amazing local food and much more. I always leave feeling fully inspired to either take on a new D.I.Y. project or revamp my apartment. The Flea has recently expanded to a new site on the Williamsburg waterfront every Sunday as well, so you can enjoy two days of shopping outdoors. Check out their site for a list of all vendors, directions and upcoming events.

1.American-made vintage bikes adorned with Nantucket Bike Baskets. They don’t sell online, so you will have to walk to the Flea and ride home on one of these. —Diana’s Vintage Bikes (find the baskets here).

2. By the time we reached this table, all the handmade bow ties were sold out; luckily there were plenty of fun ties to rummage through. —Travis Sylvester

3. One of my favorite vendors creates handmade leather and felt bags and wallets along with printed denim shoes. —Flux by Ryan Greer

4. Beautiful lace dresses and slips. —Sharon London Vintage & Design

5. Among the vintage sewing books, pins and postcards were these great finds: vintage Esquires.
—Bleecker Street Antiques & Collectibles

6. These spring flower arrangements were breathtaking and great for color inspiration. —Kat Flower

7. Typewriters and cameras from 1908 to 1975 in pristine working condition. —Kasbah Moderne

8. I could barely squeeze past the crowd hovered over a table full of vintage frames and sunglasses!

(post by Morgan Milner)

Glenn and I continue our hunt at the flea market in Brimfield, Massachusetts. Today, tons of great artwork was to be found!
Dealers travel estate sales and collect items to bring to this show. We tend toward modern art but also love stumbling across old artists’ portfolios where we can sift through years’ worth of great studies.

(post credit: Ruth Parsons and Glenn Tuma)

Glenn and I are always on the hunt for great one-of-kind vintage finds to decorate the stores. But a big highlight for us is Brimfield the gigantic five-day flea market in Brimfield, Massachusetts, that’s held in May, July and September. Literally thousands of dealers sell everything you can imagine on acres of fields. 

We’ve got our walkie-talkies charged up and a truck to fill! Stay tuned as we bring you our favorite picks of each day. Over and out…

1. Three of seven old French shutters we found that might be just right in the showroom for an upcoming design presentation.

2. Manufactured using old steel, the holes cut into the sides of these shelves help lighten them visually. Frank and his team’s designs are the only things these shelves need to be the coolest things ever.

3. A really neat sculpture—the wood form sits perfectly off center.

4. A great mid-century sculpture that will add warmth and interest to a store shelf or upper!

(post credit: Ruth Parsons and Glenn Tuma, photo credit )

Made by the defunct New York textile company Davis and Catterall from the l920s–1970s, Elephant bandanas have been highly collectible in the Japanese vintage market for decades—not only for the beauty of their prints but also because of their significance in worker, cowboy, farmer and rebel culture.

Collectors of Elephant bandanas note that the Elephant logo went from trunk down to trunk up during the ’50s to make the brand’s logo easily identifiable as an elephant when compared to the many other animal bandanas during that time period appearing on the market. 

Collectibility is often dictated by the print, logo version, condition and color, with sun-bleached blues, polka-dot and advertising variations being the most collectible. Check out the book series by Kazuhiro Hirata, created by the creative director for the Japanese clothing brand Kapital (our designers love their stores), carried at 1040 Madison Avenue.

(post by Jamie Sabuda)

A bunch of us from the men’s and crewcuts design teams went out to L.A. recently for a Spring ’12 research trip. The Inspiration event was held in Long Beach, California, at the Queen Mary and is very vintage-menswear specific. A lot of menswear companies head out here for inspiration. There are a bunch of booths set up from Japanese labels and vintage collectors from all over the country, as well as the UK. You can find more info on it here http://inspirationla.com/.

Every year we take a design trip to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, which is set up on the second Sunday of every month. This is a big industry thing to go to, especially in menswear. People from all over the world set up here —you even brush shoulders with celebrities from time to time. 1. A couple at the Rose Bowl selling vintage goods from their London based company De Rien. 2. Kristina Boiano, one of our designers, at Inspiration L.A.

(post by Katie Boiano)

Find yourself looking to go beyond the beaten path of the Lower East Side in Manhattan? Walk a little further and find Modern Living Supplies on the serene corner of Henry and Rutgers Streets. Operating out of the historic Garfield building, Mark Naylon uses his corner storefront as both the showroom and headquarters for his business. The business not only attracts walk-in retail customers looking to peruse his impressive inventory of vintage midcentury furniture but also services architects and interior designers looking to employ his own line of period-inspired creations (aptly named M|n). Mark’s focused aesthetic concerns itself with the timelessness of designs from the likes of Paul McCobb, Milo Baughman and Edward Wormley.  If you have little knowledge of these iconic designs, Modern Living Supplies is the perfect place to start. 

1. Paul McCobb for Planner Group 
2. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb
3. Paul McCobb for Directional
4. M/n Originals PM Chair
5. Edward Wormley for Dunbar
6. Milo Baughman

(photo credit, post by Glenn Tuma)