You do realise those are my sunglasses you've got on your feet? says Dr Mandi Martin. She isn't joking.
We've been out most of the day and just got back to the hotel.
Florence is one of those small, visually rich places where you can walk for hours and consequently do.
We must have walked for miles.
The goal, of course, had been to celebrate her birthday in style - go away for a long weekend, take in some galleries, some nice restaurants, enjoy each others company and discover Florence together.
Apart from a pair of women's Ray Ban Aviators, which we'd seen in a store near the airport, shopping was not in our plans.
It was all going so well until we walked down a deserted side street this afternoon and came across an unassuming doorway to a vintage store .
This is the place I was told about, said Dr Martin. We both stood at the entrance - ahead of us an expanse of Victorian lace dresses, vintage French work wear, WW2 British and US Military wear and all sorts of rare and weathered goodies in between.
Florence is one of the worlds fashion capitals, with 20 fashion colleges and some of the best and oldest couturiers and leather specialists located here.
Until recently however, Florence has been renowned for it's lack of vintage. Ceri Vintage was one of it’s first and remains one of it’s best.
We spoke to Danilo Ceri, who runs the store with his partner.
We started the shop about 10 years ago, selling antiques, clothes and so on; but I’ve been collecting since I was young- toy soldiers, military helmets, uniforms…
…Vintage clothing, second hand clothing is only now starting to become popular in Italy – in Florence when we started there were just two of three stores, now there are almost ten – in just one year.
Rather than feeling threatened by the growth in store numbers, he's actively supporting it, with a regular vintage fair in which they all take part.
On a personal tip, Danilo comes from an antiques background and so has an eye for vintage which goes way beyond clothing.
Here in the shop our customers are mainly tourists. We also work with some fashion designers doing research, fabrics and so on.
Not surprisingly, Pitti Uomo is an extremely busy time for him.
In Ceri, everything is selected with care; fabrics, denims, buttons, lace, work wear.
Danillo pointed out that there's not a vintage t-shirt nor any camouflage in sight.
It was then that I caught sight of the shoe box over Danilo's shoulder in a corner of a room. Mason Shoes it said.
I walked over for a closer look; mint condition work boots with a kind of dress boot trim, US Made - in Chippewa Falls Americas' lumber country. And they're my size!
Wow oh wow.
…not sure what happened after that. It's all a bit of a blur.
All I know is that we’re back in our hotel room - I've severely dented our budget and blown the chance of buying Dr Mandi Martins’ Ray Bans...I’m wearing these amazing new boots and...
...there’s a storm brewing overhead - inside and outside this hotel room.Time to find that emergency credit card, methinks.
http://www.cerivintage.it/
