Les Indécises Vintage

dimanche 24 avril 2016

Travel - Flea markets in Japan

In march, I visited Japan for the second time. As I wrote in a previous article, I had already been to a flea market in Kyoto two years ago, and the perspective of going back there and hunt vintage treasures for Les Indécises shop was more than exciting. Before the trip, I had carefully planned my "Flea Market Route" through Japan.

Lucky me! During the two weeks I spent there, I had the chance to wander around three huge flea markets! One in Kyoto, one in Osaka and one in Nagoya.

Always under a bright blue sky, I took my time to wander around the alleys, checking each stall carefully, rummaging through dusty boxes to find the ultimate treasure...

And I found so many! Tiny treasures which probably looked random to the local people, but looked amazing to me! For sure, treasure hunt is even more fun when it happens on the other side of the globe, and when it involves objects you have never seen before...

Of course, I also got to admire the temples around me, the cherry trees which were just about to blossom, and simply take my time and enjoy...

All of my finds are getting available on the shop, piece by piece!

Check our Travels & Good adresses Map to discover our tips for flea markets around the world!

Elsa.

Credit: all pictures are from Osaka flea market, taken by Elsa Pitseleh.

samedi 27 février 2016

DIY - Build a retro poster hanger with wooden rods

As a geographer, cartographer and vintage addict, you can imagine my joy when I found fifteen abandoned vintage Rossignol school maps from the 50s and 60s! I was so excited that I adopt all of them right away. I offered three maps to three good friends and kept another two for me.

When I wanted to hang the maps on my wall, I realized I didn´t know where to buy frames with the right dimensions (90 x 75 cm)... and which fitted my (very) tiny budget.

So I started thinking to something I could do by myself with a low budget and only few basic tools.

I wanted to keep the retro design of the school posters. So my first thought was to build a hanging system with wooden rods.

Besides, as the maps are printed on both

sides, I can change sides in two minutes and have the feeling I have a new wall decor!

I looked on the Internet and found some tutorials. But they were all using glue to fix the poster between the rods... and I didn´t want to damage my maps. I decided to try it with magnets instead of glue.

Here is a step by step tutorial, so you can build your poster hanger too!

Budget: 10 to 15€ (without the saw)

Material you will need :

- 4 wooden rods of your poster length (or width) as minimal size

- a meter

- a wood saw

- glue

- 16 small but powerful magnets (here 10x2 mm)

- sandpaper

- string

Saw the wooden rods to the size you need (here 90 cm). It can be at the exact size of your poster or a bit bigger, so it extends on each sides.
You will need four pieces of rod: two for the top and two for the bottom of your poster.

Sand the ends of each rods to make it look nice.
At this stage you can also paint the wooden rods if you want to. I decided to keep the natural color.

3.
Glue the magnets on the rods.
I put 4 magnets on each rod.

For this step, you have to pay attention to a few things:
- the magnets are right in front of each other, with the rods turned in the same position as they will be once they hang the poster.
- the magnets are glued on the right side, so they don´t repulse each other.

Put your poster between two magnetized wooden rods.

Add a hanging system. I chose to attach a string on each rod end. You can also use clips.

6.
Hang it on your wall, contemplate your work and take a break!

Make yourself a tea or a coffee, eat a piece of chocolate... you deserve it!

For me, it will be a "planning trip" break. Let´s stick to the maps and wanderlust theme!

Indeed, I will visit the Baltic states in May, starting with Latvia. If you have any good addresses (especially regarding flea market), I will be glad to read from you!

You can find our french school maps selection on our online shops!

Here : Les Indecises Vintage on Etsy

And there: Les Indecises Vintage on Tictail

Marie

dimanche 21 février 2016

Behind the scenes - Photo session at Les Indécises...

Last week, we received ten boxes of vintage objects that Marie found during her last stay in France, for Christmas holidays.

We took three days to take pictures of each object - yes, there were so many of them that it took this long.

There were old silver jewels, and we used a grandma recipe to clean them: foil, baking soda and hot water. It smelled like rotten eggs but the result was stunning! The jewels got from black to shiny silver! Plus, the experience was fun and made us feel like it was biology class time again...

Sometimes, during photo sessions, we have surprises and discover treasures we hadn't seen in the first place, when we found our objects.
Like this leather bag that Marie found: while opening it to clean the inside, she discovered a golden printed note ...

"XIIIth Confederal Congress

Labor Force

10th to 13th May 1977

Vichy"

A collector's piece!

We also found other treasures... of another kind...

"Women are fascinated by strenght...
Men prefer charm"

Yowza!

We also had fun re-shooting these beautiful leather shoes. They matched Elsa's socks so well!

Of course, it was a lot of work and sometimes a bit exhausting, so we found ways to relax...

Now these treasures and more are online!

Don't miss any of them and visit our stores:

Tictail

Etsy

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dimanche 7 février 2016

Travel - Kyoto's flea market

Two years ago, Elsa took her first trip to Japan. She had been dreaming of it since she was 13 years old, and needless to say, it was an incredible experience. She went there with her best friend and they visited several cities, starting with Kyoto.

The plum trees were blossoming and people were just taking walks to admire it.

The city was also holding a giant flea market around a temple. There were coffee stands, plants, food and, most exciting, antiques!

Elsa had been to many flea markets in the past but of course, this one was different: it was in Japan! Seen from afar, it was not so different from the one she used to go to in her hometown every year - but when you looked closer, it was nothing like it! Even the smallest or simplest things like kids toys were different.

But the most amazing part were the Kimonos: huge tables covered with vintage kosode and haoris, all the colours you can imagine and crazy patterns.

Kyoto used to be the imperial capital, which maybe makes it keep this somehow "traditionnal" style: there were a lot of people wearing traditionnal outfits - and it was a delight to see this display of kosode (the long jacket) and haori (the short jacket) "live".

Needless to say: Elsa got a little crazy and bought no less than seven haoris. Yes. Seven.

She kept most of them for herself or her friends and family, but she managed to save two of them for the shop!

Visit Les Indécises Vintage shop to discover two beautiful haori!

dimanche 31 janvier 2016

DIY - Shibori

You know what it's like: you're travelling, you see a thousand amazing things, you think "Hey, I should totally try that at home!" and you come back from your trip filled with ideas and motivation.

While she was travelling in India, Marie was amazed to see all the dyers at work in the district of Shahpur Jat, in Dehli. It was crazy to see all the fabrics soaking in rich colours, then hung up to dry. The deep blue of the indigo, the bright yellow of the turmeric... Marie could already see herself trying this technique at home!

Elsa, as for herself, discovered the art of Shibori in Japan: the typical indigo patterns were everywhere. They seemed so intricate and yet so refined, how was it possible to get such a beautiful result with just fabrics, pleats and knots?

Two weeks ago, we decided to finally do it: cotton canvas, some indigo dye and rubber bands, and off we were, trying to handle the fine art of Shibori!

We started by pleating our canvas or tying rubber bands around wood beads. This is how you create the pattern of blue on white (or white on blue, depending on the technique you use).