Hrelić report: Vintage treasures

My friend Iva and I got up early today on a cold November Sunday to go for a vintage treasure hunt at one of the well known and quite historic vintage markets in Croatia – Hrelić. 

So this post is our Hrelić report and foto report of what we found, Iva was brave enough to hold a camera with her hands freazing for two hours, so thank you Iva for these lovely treasure photos! 

We tried to park the car as close as we could but there was tons of people marching despite the cold weather across the Sava river bank where you can already see the first sales people selling every single thing you can think of from home made honey, old clothes, shoes, house wear and original police handcuffs, handcuffs? Yes, we were interested in hearing the story behind this as well but the gentleman selling them didn’t care to share J

Further down there is a motor vehicle selling lot, one lot next to it there are traders of various “made in China” goodies: clothes, footwear, furnishings, housecleaning supplies etc. all mixed up with gypsies selling their stolen goods or those they picked up from peoples trash, these items can be easily recognized as they are usually in a very poor condition, but there are also old people selling their “family treasures” like vintage leather suitcases like the one bellow which I got couple of years ago from a charming old man who personally purchased this suitcase in Sarajevo during Olympic games 1984. and has saved it ever since. 

     The old man was wearing a suite when selling it and he used his pocket tissue to clean it for the potential buyers as the rain started falling. I purchased it in excellent condition for 10 kunas ($2), cleaned it once more from inside and out and now I use it to store my belts and it serves as a decoration as it's sitting on top of my closet.

I have fond memories of searching for and shopping for vintage pieces at Hrelic. The most important thing is to have an eye for what is trash and what is a true vintage treasure and of course to know how to bargain. J 

Bellow is what Iva and I have found today. For contacts and directions to my favorite vintage places in Croatia and internationally please consult the map in a right column of my blog.

What do you think of vintage shopping lovelies?

All photos by Iva Mažar