Colors were strong and bright for this year’s final Antique Textiles and Vintage Fashions Show and Sale at Sturbridge Host Hotel and Resort conducted on September 3. Produced three times each year on the Monday of Brimfield Antiques Market Week, the show drew great crowds of shoppers who were buying from the collections offered by the nearly 150 exhibitors. In fact, Linda Zukas, producer of this nearly 20-year tradition, said attendance was at a new record high.
Susan Simon has been located just inside the door of the big exhibit hall for many years, but this New York City dealer comes up with fresh ideas each show. For this event, her theme was polychrome patterned textiles with a colorful bed cover as the side wall of her booth. Her other offerings were just as colorful, with dining table linens, covers, napkins and more.
Jane Lury of Labors of Love, Hillsdale, N.Y., looks for unusual and well-made quilts and coverlets for her exhibit. This time she found an early postage stamp quilt measuring approximately 7 by 8 feet made from hundreds of small pieces of brightly colored fabrics to be one of the primary hanging pieces for her exhibit.
Right to the Moon Alice, Cooks Falls, N.Y., supplies New York City stage and television productions with period costumes, specializing in the Twentieth Century. Pill box hats, small purses and the dresses and ladies’ suits seen on television shows from the 1950s‱960s are often provided by dealer Alice Lindholm’s collection. This is the only show the firm does, according to Lindholm, because inventory is so hard to find.
Cat Lady Antiques, Ackermanville, Penn., was showing a collection of small clothing. Some were for children, some were even smaller †for dolls †and owner Anne Bedics also had a collection of dolls to peruse as well. Bedics also produces a show near her Pennsylvania home each year with more of her antique textile inventory as a feature.
Maria Niforos is a regular at this show but also exhibits at Portobello Road in London with a similar inventory. At every Sturbridge show, the dealer has an inventory of dresses for ladies to wear to evening functions. This time her favorite was a little black lacy thing, quite attractive and elegant.
Kimberly Kirker, Leesport, Penn., has been finding different topics of textiles for the focus of her exhibit each show. This time she was featuring early handmade quilts and ladies’ beachwear. Her backdrop was an early postage stamp quilt in pink and white with a repeating pattern. Beachwear included straw hats and swim suits.
Textiles De Conde, Elizabeth City, N.C., offered a collection of ladies’ cocktail dresses. Kelter-Malcé, Bridgehampton, N.Y., was showing an assortment of costume jewelry, some folk art and a collection of early Twentieth Century blankets. Piqué, Sharpsburg, Ga., was there with a collection of quilts, predominantly Southern quilts but some from the North as well. Forget Me Not Antiques, Norwich, Vt., showed valentines and love notes, along with a collection of feminine smalls.
More unusual vintage items were everywhere in this show, including a five-piece outfit for the drum major of a marching band. Susan Gippin found it near her Akron, Ohio, home. Martha Perkins, Ashby, Mass., was offering several hooked rugs, including one depicting a lounging dog.
Heller Washam, Portland, Maine, rushed from the York, Penn., show to be here with a bedroom setting, including textiles and furniture.
The show will be back again on Monday, May 13. For information, www.vintagefashionandtextileshow.com or 207-363-1320.
