Sometimes, I wonder where my love for secondhand things – especially trading them – comes from. I remember a scene when I was still a kid, and my parents took me to the huge Swissair flea market near Zurich airport. I guess that must have been in 1997 or 1998. Our silver Audi 90 was fully packed with stuff from our home that we didn’t use anymore and wanted to sell there.
I wasn't really a Barbie type of girl, so I wasn't unhappy to sell one of my Barbies, which must have been a birthday present from my relatives (so sorry for that, guys!). With my earned CHF 12 in hand, I set off alone and strolled through the different stalls at the flea market. According to my research, there must have been around 800 stalls. Back then, I was a huge Simpsons fan and found a Simpsons pencil box for around CHF 0.50. I wanted to buy it, and the deal was settled. The woman was very friendly when she handed me the box. My eyes must have been sparkling; I was the happiest kid ever. I couldn't grasp why she sold it for such a cheap price. In retrospect, that was the significant moment when I experienced the idiom "one man's trash is another man's treasure". I learned that people have a different understanding of value. Besides that, I learned that selling used things can bring you money, so you can afford other things you really like.
I'll tell you another memory of mine. Some of you might know that I grew up in a super small village in the eastern part of Switzerland. Every year, there was a flea market on the meadow next to my former kindergarten. I was 8 years old and really into music. Do you remember the 2000s video clip of Wu-Tang Clan's song "Gravel Pit" with their sexy ladies dancing next to awesome dinosaurs? When MTV broadcasted that music video on television, I turned up the volume because I freaking loved it. My mom instantly shouted to me that I shouldn't watch such things. Thank you, Chinese dragon mom. Anyway, I enjoyed reading music magazines. Most of these magazines had posters of bands inside them, so I collected them and sorted them by their genre. When there was this flea market next to my kindergarten, I took a stack of band posters with me and presented them on my blanket. That's when I sold many of these posters for good money to the Goth guys. Here I was again, with my earned money in hand, the luckiest kid who could now afford CDs!
Going to flea markets was always so much fun. When I was a kid, buying and selling used things felt like playing a fun game. Now, as a grown-up kid, I hope I will never get tired of playing. That's why I want to share a part of the joy I experience with you through my curated vintage and secondhand silk clothing.
This is the music video. Hip Hop isn't dead, because Wu-Tang is forever.