Mary Spears is the darling behind the carefully curated collection of vintage and modern pieces at Millay Vintage. She meticulously runs the online boutique and blog out of her home in Boston and spends her days (the ones not on the road searching for those perfect pieces) cleaning, mending, ironing, steaming, and sorting the unique items she has found. Once the garment/item is in top shape, she researches it, drawing us into the story of the piece, photographs it and puts in on her site where it continues it's journey.

Okay, so she's a tiny package just brimming with awesome already but, there's more. She takes us beyond the storefront in the short film below and introduces us to the muse behind Millay Vintage.

She has an uncanny ability to pick out the best pieces, but she also knows a heck of a lot about them.

“the world is mine; blue hill, still silver lake,
broad field, bright flower, and the long white road
a gateless garden, and an open path:
my feet to follow, and my heart to hold”

— edna st. vincent millay

VINTAGE HAT

“As someone who thoroughly loves vintage, I proudly note that not only do I hunt for finds myself, but I’m happy to buy lovely items that other wonderful sellers curate in their shops. This hat is from one of my favorite Etsy staples “Dotto" — she curates kitschy goods in her fun shop and donates a portion of her proceeds to a variety of non-profit organizations, and this hat was an easy impulse buy a while back that has served me very well in my own wardrobe.”

EARLY 1900S BLOUSE

“While in-tact antique clothing is a rare find at thrift stores, that is exactly where I found this beautiful early 1900s blouse. It is another that I “borrowed” from the shop, so visit www.millayvintage.com and snag it up if you’d like! The early 1900s offer wonderfully soft white blouses with subtle but ornate details in their stitching, and this is such a perfect example of that sense of romance that I try to capture in the shop’s offerings.”

WEDDING RING & BAND

“I pinch myself daily at how lucky I am to have the most amazing partner-in-crime in my handsome husband, and this ring (that he endlessly searched for and picked out all on his own to my biggest surprise!) is a late 1800s ring found at an antique store in Connecticut. There was originally an onyx that had gotten lost over the years, so the center stone is modern. I then stumbled across that band for a steal of a price at Scott’s Antique market in Atlanta. And yes, I do wear them backwards…because I like it that way.”

LATE 1960s SKIRT

“I found this vintage late 1960s skirt at a roadside flea market in Rhode Island and immediately loved its thoughtful construction (the horizontal ladder-like stitching between it’s color blocks is called “faggoting” and adds a sweet detail). Not only were the fit and proportions fatefully nice off the rack for me, but I love how thoroughly modern this garment is: it completely lends itself to modern, vintage, or antique pairings, making it a super versatile piece in my wardrobe.”

Follow Mary's everyday darling-ness on Instagram.

And thank you to Stephanie Bradbury for helping with this story.

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