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November 5, 2009
BFF of the Week: Rebecca Bliss
Amidst the ghouls and goblins at the Flea on Halloween, a scarved lass by the name of Rebecca appeared prancing through Rue St. Denis, rummaging through a huge bin of pretty things.
Is this your first time at the Flea?
No, it is not.
Do you come often?
Yeah, I live in the neighborhood so I try to check it out when I can.
What did you buy today?
I bought many scarves.
For?
I use them when I dance. I'm in a dance company and I use them to tie my hair back.
What kind of dance do you do?
Ballet and modern.
So you you're not going to use them in your Halloween costume tonight?
Unfortunately, I have to work for Halloween—so no costume.
Where are you working?
I also wait tables because I dance in a dance company. Haha.
You can't dress up while you wait tables? Not even as a dancer? I bet your customers would love that.
I wish!
Alright, thanks for talking to us, Rebecca! Happy Halloween.
November 4, 2009
Vendor of the Week: Carter Anderson
Carter Anderson is always full of tall tales—the way you want a Flea vendor to be. Jess learned about the time he sold baby bottles filled with lead paint to 90 cynical, design-hungry New Yorkers, among other tidbits. Dig the new VOTW format?
Name
My name is Carter Wilson Anderson. Goodness gracious, business names. I have gone under Anderson's Audacious Antiques, Big Time Antiques, Demolicious Antiques when I was in L.A., West of Eden, now I'm going under Artifactual. I just got in bed with some friends and we're doing a new website and a new enterprise together and we're here to clock it deep.
Hometown?
Washington, D.C., the city that kills people.
Where do you live?
I live in Alexandria, which is just outside of D.C. and I have a showroom and warehouse in D.C. as well.
How long does it take to get here?
It's about 3 and a half hours if no one wants to go to the bathroom. Three hours 40 minutes maybe, that's doing 75/80 miles per hour.
What do you sell and how long have you been selling it for?
I have been selling for 22 years. Anything from trash to decorative arts. We like to call the good stuff "eye candy." We like to call the stuff that pays for the good stuff "clutter." We try to bring a mix of both up here, make it accessible and bring a little power—you know, get their attention, rock their world.
What's your specialty?
Industrial and Victorian Garden. I like to sell Garden because it attracts beautiful women. And I like to sell Industrial because it attracts gay men and they pay the most for everything.
What's been your most memorable sale?
That's totally easy. In my early 20s I used to sell at the Chelsea flea market on 26th Street. I would leave the nightclub around 1am and get up to Chelsea around 5am. I used to sell a lot of Architectural and pull down a lot of buildings. One time we pulled all the ceiling tin down from this old supermarket and put it on a box truck. When you buy 2-3000 square feet of ceiling tin and you pull it off, you are left with a pile of lead paint chips. That very same week I bought 94 baby bottles from the '20s. So we are sitting around smoking pot (I did that then), trying to figure out what to do with these baby bottles. And we started putting the lead paint chips in the baby bottles, and I thought, You can always sell cynicism and sarcasm in New York. We were selling those paper weights for 40 bucks each. All 90 of them.
What keeps you coming back to the Flea?
Pretty women and I love Eric and it's just a great Flea with a good vibe. We are trying to get our name out here because New York is the best marketplace in America. It's the center of the world, the only city in America.
What do you do for fun?
I skate board—42 years old and I still skate. And I have a beautiful, wonderful kid and I spend as much time with her as I can.
Got a website?
Artifactural is the website [ed.: we're working on this]. We try to come up every couple of weeks, try to keep it fresh and try not to bring up anything more than twice.
November 3, 2009
NEW! Jess Bites Flea
A new feature here on ze blog: Jess Bites Flea, wherein Miss J samples and surmises the legends and secret stars of the Flea food scene. We launch with the lobster grits from Red Hook Lobster Pound, known of course for their deelish lobster rolls. Must be a claws in their contract about finding new products...
What's it like? Warm and comforting grits with a parmesan bite, topped with big ole chunks of buttery lobster and a dabble of shaved scallion.
Meal, snack or drink: Snack/light meal.
Eat with: Spoon.
Goes with: Peanut butter brownies, free with purchase.
Local? Lobstahs carted down fresh from Maine every week, made in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Now or later? Eat on the go!
Other uses: Warms and fills belly while perusing the Flea.
How much? $8.
November 2, 2009
Slideshow October 31
In case you were making mischief and didn't make it to the Flea on All Hallows Eve, check out what you missed. Trick or treat!
October 29, 2009
BFF of the Week: Alice Hsiung
Last Sunday the Flea's snazzy Design Co-op switched to Sunday to impress Miss M with their craft-tastic wares. We caught up with one lass purchasing some notecards from Maptote. Welcome Alice.
Where are you from?
California, Orange County.
And you're here visiting?
Yeah, just for the weekend.
Are you staying in Brooklyn?
Uh, we're staying in Times Square.
Did you not know that Brooklyn was the place to be before you booked?
Ha ha. No I didn't. I love this place!
So how did you find out about the Flea?
A bunch of friends told me about it.
What did you buy here?
I got a got a couple of map notes. Of Paris and Manhattan.
What are you going to do with them?
I'm probably going to frame them and put them in my house.
Did you know that Martha Stewart is here today?
Yes I know! I took lots of pictures of her.
What was the last crafty thing you did, the last thing that would make Martha Stewart proud?
Oh, I made a bunch of birthday cards using ink stamps and yarn.
Good one!
Do you think you'll be coming back to Brooklyn anytime soon?
I'll be in Connecticut for the next couple months working, so yeah, I'll probably come back to the Flea as much as I can.
Then we'll see you again! Thanks Alice!
Vendor of the Week: Jarontiques
Jaron was a sales and marketing executive at a major record label for years. Over the last 10 he started collecting antiques on the side, slowly filling his garage in Kensington (which he likes to call "South Slope"). When it started to burst at the seams, he knew what he had to do. He had to sell. And sell he did.
Dubbing himself "Jarontiques" (where everything is "Jaronteed!"), Jaron's first public foray into "the business" was Day One of the Flea, and it was nothing less than inspiring. For the next he year plotted his transition from Executive to Dealer, closing the deal this spring and going full Flea.
When Jaron was a wee tween, he scoured with his grandparents—they collected antiques, he baseball cards. Now fully bearded, Jaron specializes in mid-century modern Blenko Glass—brightly colored, clean lines, highly sought-after pieces—decorative arts, table clocks, and other perfectly unique pieces for the home.
J-Rock always comes correct at the Flea: constantly switching up his booth, giving 110% on his display (all yellow one day, all wood another, grouping random things together), and dedicating himself to the art of collecting in a way that makes him a leader of sorts among the Flea's next-gen coterie. (He's even got a super-snazzy new website now, too.)
And owls. Part of marketing and selling is paying attention to the market—and in this one, owls dominate, says J. He's gone deep into research on the habits and variations of owls, and the quality and quantity of owl items in his booth never ceases to amaze.
Check out Jarontiques in Fort Greene (V5) and under the Bridge (F-12) pretty much every durned weekend. He's a hoot!
October 25, 2009
Slideshow Oct. 25
Yes, the nutcrackers ARE for sale. Maybe Martha had some crafty ideas for them during her 3-hour tour of the Bridge Flea on Sunday (postponed from Saturday for weather). One of the Flea's finest hours yesterday, thanks to all for coming out. Relive it here.
October 22, 2009
BFF of the Week: Jamie + Jeff
Don't call me a third wheel. Who wouldn't approach a hot pair, looking all in love, to be their bestie? Welcome Jamie and Jeff!
So, what did you buy here?
Jamie (right): We bought an awesome dresser from a store called My Little India. They actually have a store but they just closed down. And then we got this chandelier.
Did you also get that from My Little India?
Jamie: Oh, yes.
What are you going to do with it?
Jamie: We just moved in together, so the dresser is going in the bedroom to replace the Ikea furniture--you know, movin' on up. This is going over our soon-to-be-purchased dining room table.
Cool, where are you getting your table from, somewhere at the Flea? I hear Long Island Eddie makes a mean table.
Hopefully.
Have you been to the Flea before?
Jeff: Yes, I have.
Jamie: I haven't.
So you guys are making that big step together?
Jamie: Yeah, we are.
Did you move in the neighborhood?
Jamie: No, Greenwich Village, about a block away from where we live.
How are you getting your dresser home?
Jamie: Those awesome moving guys are going to help us. (Ed. note: Word up, Eddie Rock.)
Cool, well enjoy the love nest, and come back for some plates and picture frames and stuff.
Jamie: OK Thanks!
Think I'll get invited to the housewarming? I would totally bring something awesome like a grapevine from Groundworks or maybe a clock made out of vinyl from Wecords By Monkey (hint hint). Thanks Jamie and Jeff!
October 19, 2009
Slideshow October 17
It might have been a bit rainy in the morning, but the sun, shoppers and happy vendors took over the afternoon. If you missed it on Saturday, check the slideshow.
October 16, 2009
Vendor of the Week: Fringe + Feather
There's nothing finer than the intra-Flea connections that spring up around the markets. A ricotta-and-granola combo here, a handmade sweater photo shoot with a jewelry vendor there, and a Blue Marble sundae with Nunu caramel everywhere.
Lillian Crowe (left) and Darlene Estremera, together known as Fringe + Feather, met at the Fort Greene Flea last summer (2008) and decided they liked each other so much, they would just share a booth from then on, pairing original jewelry and vintage clothes. Nice.
Lillian's two cast-jewelry lines are Shipwreck and Anatomical. The former features items like driftwood and squid pendants; the latter's signature piece is a human rib cage that Lillian fashions into gold, silver, and brass necklaces, and she's got other body parts too. They're a big hit at the Flea. About half her stuff is made from salvaged goods and dead stock, because not creating new waste is important to Lillian. So are her cats, Buffy and Cuthbert Cut Throat.
Darlene, originally from Long Island and doing the fashion thing for a few years now, has the vintage. She sells boots, belts and bags, scarves, skirts and dresses, and even one or two ponchettes (Ed. note: term coined at the Flea, check the images below, you'll see what we mean). Her picks are very cute young sophisticated stylish gal in her 20s--not unlike Miss D. And if you see Darlene in the morning, don't be surprised if she's rocking a new outfit that afternoon. She's got it like that.
In addition to Flea biz partners, Lillian and Darlene are also friends. They try to match their outfits (until the plan is black and white, and Lillian shows up in bright yellow) and give each other feedback on their wares. Aside from the business, they chill, and at their first sleepover, Darlene found a cuddle buddy in Cuthbert Cut Throat while sleeping on the floor. Hence, another shared interest found in Lillian's cats.
Fringe + Feather can be found at both the Fort Greene and Bridge Fleas most Saturdays and Sundays. Pop in, and ask about the ponchettes.