Brooke Hogan: Spotlight On: Lost and Found Market

In my search for an outfit for the upcoming Mission 65 Event I decided to explore some of Melbourne's fantastic markets. Recently mentioned by superblogger Susie Bubble in her blog and by Rudy Rose on MTV, I was keen to checkout the Lost and Found Market in Collingwood.

With over four levels full of vintage clothing, accessories, furniture, books, records and bric-a-brac, you could easily spend hours searching through the fantastic range. As there are 38 different store holders occupying the space, you get a fantastic range of items with each store owner's personality and style coming across in the layout of each stall. Stall owners take turns working in the Market for free, which not only keeps the cost of goods down for shoppers, but means you can ask them about the history of items you are interested in. They also can provide advice on vintage items from different eras.

Two of the lovely store holders Kat and Joh were nice enough to give me some background about the market and their stores:

KAT

Kat is the Saturday Manager at the Lost and Found Market. You can find her stall at number 38. She specialises in small space dining, desks and small furniture, perfect for apartment living. She also stocks kitchenalia, barware and has a love for 70s things. Her homemade 70s bell sleeve African print dress colour co-ordinated perfectly with her stall!

JOH

Joh started trading vintage in 1996 in Flinders Lane before moving to Lost and Found. Joh gave me the following information about her stall: "I provide quality authentic garments, great examples of their time - like structural 80's designer prints, etc. 90% of the things you see in fashion magazines is derived from designs of the past. I offer the original garments, generally made from natural fibre, usually made in Australia and always better value than the new version."

Thanks to Kat and Joh for taking the time to have a chat to me!

If you're a lover of vintage, or are just looking for that special one-off piece, you must check out the Lost and Found Market. The difficult thing won't be finding something to buy, it will be trying not to buy everything in the whole shop!

Here are some of the great things to see at the Market: