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NY Good Questions: Where Can I Find these "Vintage" Mirrors?

1.17mirror.jpgHello AT,

Urban Outfitters near me decorates all their stores with these types of "vintage" mirrors.

They're huge, ornate carved mirrors, refinished in everything from black or white paint to bright pink lacquer.

You can find them in Anthropologie stores, too, where they tend to look more "weathered".

Where can I get one without spending an arm and a leg?

I continue to scour thrift stores with no luck yet.

I would take either vintage or a reproduction happily, since I'm just going to paint it, but all I can find are genuine and pricey antiques.

Thanks! Lisa


 
 
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Comments (25)

These typically aren't carved -- they're molded plastic from the 1960s and 1970s. Vintage originals were showing up all over eBay for a while, so I'd try there; you may also want to go further down-market or more suburban with your thrifting (though the eBayers tend to grab popular stuff the minute the truck unloads).

posted by wende in the twin cities on 2008-01-17 10:53:24
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Try eBay. Enter "Hollywood regency mirror" and you'll find a bunch.

posted by Lisa Hunter on 2008-01-17 10:53:54
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I have seen reproduction antique mirrors like that at TJMAxx and Marshall's. I found a couple for myself at estate sales, all way below antique-store prices. You could always buy a slightly damaged one and take it to a frame-smith for repairs.

posted by nanc on 2008-01-17 10:59:29
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I have a related question--I have an old, metal frame that I would like to get a mirror for. any idea where I might be able to find something like that? preferably someplace online?

posted by lcg on 2008-01-17 11:01:12
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Ikea has one in black. You could easily spray paint the frame to a different color.

posted by caw261 on 2008-01-17 11:04:44
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Yesterday, I was strolling through Macy's and I noticed pictures frames (not mirrors) in that "hollywood regency" style. They are on sale right now.

posted by 335ktt on 2008-01-17 11:18:37
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I bought one at a T.J. Maxx for around $6. It was a gross aqua-green, luckily I was able to remove the mirror spraypaint red and reassemble. Good luck!

posted by pmd on 2008-01-17 11:27:04
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i would put this notion in your must have mental file and continue to visit thrifts and fleas until you see the right mirror. have you visited the garage flea on weekends at 25th st?

posted by patrik on 2008-01-17 11:40:50
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I've seen a frame just like that at Ikea, you'd just have to add a mirror.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00091967

posted by riian on 2008-01-17 11:44:25
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one word: Syroco.

Search "syroco mirror" on ebay and you'll come up with a bunch. pretty cheap too. Spray paint it your favorite color and voila!

posted by suziegoombs on 2008-01-17 11:58:37
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http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=syroco mirror&category0=

:)

posted by suziegoombs on 2008-01-17 11:59:44
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also check out brocade home. that is totally their look...

posted by lw3cornell on 2008-01-17 12:02:04
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Dumpster dive behind a great frame shop. Yes, really.

I have amazing frames that I took out of the trash. People bring in these old ornate frames to have the art reframed in something new & sleek. The old frames get trashed. Occasionally I find the newspapers that were in the original frame and they can be very intersting (and a money maker on ebay).

posted by I Love Upstate on 2008-01-17 12:07:58
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IKEA's Ornate Frame. My plan worked well. I will post a pic of the results...stay tuned!

posted by Aaron on 2008-01-17 12:14:43
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AT, you rock! I had actually been on eBay without much luck before. "Syroco" was spot on and I would never have guessed it in a million years. I plan to scour Macy's and T.J.Maxx, too.

"Hollywood Regency" was close, but what kept turning up all those gold-plated antiques...

LCG - Just find your local glass shop in the classifieds! I've had picture glass and mirrors custom made that way for very reasonable prices. I highly recommend it over online, because shipping is dicey on fragile items, and if unsatisfied you can easily return.

I must admit ... I am actually in Boston. But I hope to check out your local suggestions when I visit my big-city-livin' sister. Hopefully you will all see my new fancy mirrors in this year's Smallest Coolest. :)

posted by lwray on 2008-01-17 12:49:51
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Given the rising popularity of this style, you now have to go further "down" the thrifting food chain... try Salvation Army, for example (if the great leads on eBay above let you down).

I also think the style, thrift-wise, is fairly market/region related. I think West Coast and South Florida are the elephant burial grounds of this style.

posted by patrick (the other one) on 2008-01-17 13:25:23
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This is a frame, and probably smaller then you are looking for, but I love it!

http://welldressedhome.com/framecoatofarmsfuchsia.html

posted by AMP on 2008-01-17 13:38:35
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I bought one of the black frames from Ikea and did this. I sprayed it bright orange (several coats) and used the paper insert included with the frame as a template to have the mirror cut.

The mirror was about $60-$75 to have cut. A friend got it cut at a glass supplier in Brooklyn.

posted by sharpeiboy on 2008-01-17 15:23:18
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I bought one of these at IKEA and attempted to turn it into a mirror. They have this fantastic spray from Krylon that turns glass into mirrors. Alas, the glass in the ikea ones is so incredible thin and fragile that it cracked in half when I attempted to remove it. So if you do go the spraypainting route - just tape it off well instead of taking out the glass. Good luck!
p.s. Urban Outfitters was selling these - seems they keep the ones they don't sell and spray paint them for store decor. They still have a small sconce from that line - which I bought and promptly dropped, ensuring me 7 years bad luck.
http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp;jsessionid=7D2C0A33E7BF85BE2318B03E916473A3.app12-node6?itemdescription=true&itemCount=60&id=13957444&parentid=A_FURN_WALL&sortProperties= product.marketingPriority,-product.startDate&navCount=3&navAction=poppush&color=

posted by romeoandjewels on 2008-01-17 15:52:22
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Eek - tough link.

Let's try this again.
Linky here

posted by romeoandjewels on 2008-01-17 15:53:27
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$60 to cut the glass? OUCH. I had some cut up near me and it was $15.

posted by I Love Upstate on 2008-01-17 18:05:07
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Urban Outfitters has a new mirror that is similar for $52

http://tinyurl.com/2wq4ro

posted by LaDonnaNichole on 2008-01-22 15:29:18
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These mirrors OFTEN turn up at thrift stores.....they're actually plastic painted gold. My mom had that stuff all over the house when I was a kid. Krylon makes paint for plastic, and as someone else said they also have "mirror" paint that turns any glass into a mirror.

posted by ohjodi on 2008-02-08 04:38:40
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