Winters Past

Vintage lovers will die and rise again upon entering Winter’s Past. Vintage Heaven is a tiny cottage on 441 South between Ocala, Florida and Gainesville, Florida.
It’s home to the most dazzling, beautiful, funky, quirky, odd and kitschy vintage everything you can think of: Hats, jewelry, clothes, shoes, even an old rotary dial telephone that has been bedazzled entirely (sadly, it’s not for sale, I’ve asked).
This is not a junk shop. This is not a yard sale. This is a store. Please don’t walk in and hope to haggle for lower prices. The owners have made good on pricing the pieces within. They know their brand names. Lift up a piece and ask them who made it and when. They will know. Then they’ll encourage you to try it on. You’d like a picture of yourself in that Trifari necklace? Okay!
The items in this store come from all over as it seems that the owners have buyers all around the US. Every inch of this store, including the ceiling, is decorated in fantastic pieces of clothing, shoes, hats, oh the hats, and jewelry.
I’ve probably spent a paycheck, combined in this store over the years. I’ve tried on every tiara on display. I’ve worn one of the most expensive pieces of jewelry in the entire store just because I told the shop owner I thought it was a neat looking piece. Who does that these days?
I won’t lie, over the years, I’ve become friends with the wonderful owner, but it was easy to do since she’s charming and funny and incredibly smart. She has excellent taste in music, which suits the store just fine. Her displays are an array of colors and sparkles. Honestly, I think I go to the store just as much for playing in the jewelry as much as I do for the company.
I’ve brought everyone I know to this store. We’ve all tried on the big daisy hat in the second room. We’ve given our pictures to the owner as thank you gifts for letting us decorate ourselves in all the rhinestones, crystals, and jewelry we could put on.
This isn’t just a store. This is a place where you go to spend a few hours and remembering, depending on your age, playing in your grammy’s closet and jewelry box or wearing a particular piece to your prom. I have as much fun going to Winter’s Past with my friends as I do my mother. I love listening to my mom and Ms Winters discuss what they used to wear before my generation came along. I love to see my friends girly up and transport themselves from Hipsters to 1950s Prom Queens. I love finding a piece and exclaiming, «My gram had this brooch!»
A good alternate name for Winter’s Past would be Happiness Present. Step in for a jump back in time and walk out with a little bit of fashion history!

If you’ve ever been to McIntosh, you know that the «mall» is outdoors and it is a junkyard, literally. So happily you scramble to the nearest decent sign of civilized shopping (although I’m sure you’d get a good find among the piles of rust in the junkyard.) In this quaint little matchbox you’ll find a kaleidoscopic arrangement of patterns that embody its very name. The only time I’ve been was well spent, as I walked out with a receptacle ring (made for poison, I believe) and some nifty little earrings. She has an amazing collection of hats and scarves, which are definitely my heart.