My Perry Ellis jacket

All this month I’m pulling out and wearing vintage items with special meaning to me. This jacket fits that category. I made it from a Perry Ellis Vogue pattern in 1985.

When I first saw them in a Vogue Pattern magazine, I fell absolutely in love with the somewhat austere, somewhat 1920s-vibe of Perry Ellis's fashions.

I made my jacket using silk blend fabric and Christian Dior lining (there was no “PE”-print lining fabric, so I settled for “CD”). The buttons are leather, which unfortunately attracted our puppy to chew one when she was coming home for the first time. That makes me love the jacket more, frankly.

Here was the jacket in 1987 (with me proudly holding my then-new Lawson French horn)

...and here it is today

I have always loved that low-slung back belt!

Perry Ellis did not even begin to fulfill his legacy in his brief life but I remain convinced that if he were still living, his work would still be cream floating on the surface of fashion. He was such a creative force, imagining so well what women would love to wear in the manner of the best American sportswear designers.

Dreaming of some red for Christmas?

Some of the cheerful vintage reds in my shops:

1. Red dotted swiss dress with dramatic ruffle 2. Red cashmere turtleneck by Dalton sorry, just sold 3. Red taffeta party dress with a slip meant to show 4. Red checked cotton tweed swing coat 5. Red taffeta and tulle formal 6. Red and white striped gown by Emma Domb 7. Emma Domb red, gold and gown 8. Candy apple red patent stilettos 9. Red cashmere clutch coat

Need a different size? a different price? a different item? I have picked out a bevy of vintage holiday reds (coats, shoes, hats, jewelry, dresses, skirts...) from other sellers on Etsy in a collection called holiday reds. Let me know if you have a specific vintage wish that you can’t find and I’ll help you find it from me or some other seller. (Sound like Macy’s sending people to Gimbel’s a la Miracle on 34th Street? All in the holiday spirit!)

Mama’s ring

I’ve mentioned my mother’s blue glass ring before, but it is probably my very favorite and most meaningful vintage item, so out it comes again today.

My mother, as I’ve mentioned before in my blog, grew up in Iowa during The Great Depression. Her father was a banker who worked with farmers to keep their farms from being foreclosed upon. My grandfather also worked with prisoners at a local penitentiary to find skills for them to take back into the real world. He worked with an expert forger to create the Sheaffer Signature Pen.

One man learned to craft jewelry. As a thank you to my grandfather, this man made a ring “to match his daughter’s eyes.” It is sapphire blue glass in a gold setting, very simple and elegant. Mama’s eyes were exactly this color. My eyes are green, but I still love wearing this beautiful ring.

Mama showing off her new ring and me—70 years later—striking a similar pose with the ring

My Harold Balazs bracelet

I’m wearing something meaningful to me each day this month, and today I come to a bracelet I bought at an estate sale about a dozen years ago. I was just starting out with my vintage business and watching every cent coming in and out of the coffers. This bracelet absolutely caught my eye, and I purchased it to sell.
Really enamored with the bracelet, I then saw the signature on the back and could not consider selling it. Harold Balazs is an artist whose work has constantly inspired and uplifted me. His work is all over Washington State, and Spokane especially. At that time I hadn’t realized he made jewelry. My bracelet probably dates from the early 1960s.

Here I am in 1985, across the Spokane River from the Spokane Opera House (now called the INB Performing Arts Center). I had just won the position of Principal Horn in the Spokane Symphony and I felt like I owned the place! The grandly-scaled lantern behind me is by Harold Balazs, and several other sculptures by him are in close proximity.

I consider the abstract totemic images on the bracelet to be my good luck symbols!

Harold Balazs is still creating (see Washington State Magazine’s recent article Finding the artist: An absurd and incredible journey.) He seems unstoppable, or at least I hope he is.

Papa’s tie

The meaningful item I pulled out to wear today is a tie I gave to my father when I was little. My father wore a suit and tie every day and was always sartorially splendid. His suits were custom made by a Savile Row tailor, his shirts were made of Sea Island cotton. His ties were by Dior, Cardin—wonderfully stylish and high quality. So when I gave my father a tie which I had chosen and he loved it and wore it often, that made me so happy! The tie is pink and green, my favorite colors, not my father’s, but he said they reminded him of me.

My father died in 1974, not so long after I gave him this present. I still have the tie and it is really dear to me, like the memory of my father.

My fruit umbrella

It rained cats and dogs this weekend and so it was not hard to think which meaningful item to pull out. This is my fruit umbrella, given to me in 1992 by my future husband. We had just gotten together again (after having been friends years before) and this was his first gift to me.

You know how it is easier to forgive some things more than other things in a partner? I could live with a multitude of sins, but not lack of humor or lack of style. This beautiful umbrella just makes me—and everyone else who sees it—smile. It melted even further my already melting heart.

I hope you have something that protects you from the storm and keeps your heart and soul warm!

Meaningful Finnish modern necklace

I’m wearing something meaningful to me every day this month, and it isn’t hard for me to come up with things, although sometimes they are more meaningful than remarkable.

This is actually a rather distinguished necklace by the Finnish modernist artist Seppo Tamminen. It was given to my mother by her Icelandic friends in the 1960s. I have worn this for photos here and there to enhance a modern 1960s or 70s item, and have never had so many inquiries about purchasing something that I had used just as a prop in the picture. It’s such a large and distinctive piece that I no longer show it in my photos, temptation to others that it is!

I loved hearing about my mother’s friends Skúli and Kippi (not sure how to spell their names) who gave her this necklace. My favorite story was about when Skúli started school at the University of Washington. He was asked to give his religion so that they could put him in touch with a club or church. He didn’t wish to say, so he gave them the answer Druid. They didn’t know what to do with that so they had Buddhists get in touch with him!

Meaningful make-up

My meaningful item to wear today is a sparkle eye powder that I have actually worn here and there since I bought it in 1979. It is essentially pink-shaded mica, and it was such an extravagance for me at the time. I used to use it not only on my eyes but as a highlighter, and it caught the bright night lights of its era perfectly. I have looked up the ingredients and none of them are banned. I don’t have any negative reaction to the use of this, and I certainly can’t use it up in my lifetime, it’s that intense. 

Once when I had a coaching with a former model, an expert on make-up application, she offered to help me out by tossing this ancient eye powder. I practically screamed NOoooo! It is a meaningful piece of history to me.

I don’t even know who made this anymore because that name has worn off the side of the container. 

I was so glad to see the great Lisa Eldridge has a video about her collection of vintage cosmetics (Vintage Make-Up...I Love It!). It makes me feel a little less strange hanging onto a cosmetic item even though it’s much more about the memory than the use of it. As a matter of fact Lisa strongly warns that you should not use vintage cosmetics, and that preserving them, their beautiful containers and their era-evoking colors, is precisely the point. So I’m not obeying her wisdom and caveats for today—I just had to remember my own life in 1979.  

Oh, and if you have a love of vintage makeup looks and a few minutes, you really must see Lisa Eldridge recapturing a Biba face with Barbara Hulanicki’s most original colors: 

Autumn warmers

Things are starting to cool down now here in Spokane, how about where you are? This makes me very happy in one way: I LOVE coats! Especially VINTAGE coats! My theme for November is a small tribute:

Just some of the vintage coats currently available in my Etsy shop and with more arriving all the time—

Stay warm and stylish! ♡

Wear something meaningful

Care to join me in my November vintage resolution?

November: Wear something meaningful every day. I have plenty of interesting family items, souvenirs from long-ago vacations, gifts from my favorite people and other items with great karma. I resolve to wear at least one of these each day in November. 

I know many of us have on a wedding ring, locket or some other meaningful item every day, but I’m thinking of the sorts of things that are not usually used every day. I want to seek those items out, think about their history and appreciate them.

I have always been a hoarder of the tiny things that don’t slow down a move—from jewelry to hair clips, socks to scarves—so many smaller items are with me from quite awhile ago.

Today I’ve pulled out a barrette from the 1970s that says VOTE.

My mother caucused for her candidates and went door-to-door for causes she believed in. She took my brother and I with her to watch her vote and never EVER missed voting. This barrette reminds me of her...and reminds me to vote!

Untapped 70s retro-inspired fashion? Not so fast

Early 1970s retro-inspired fashion seemed to me to be a great choice among wearable vintage clothing because it isn’t often so fine as to not be worn regularly. I kind of thought it might be a niche that was not overly coveted.

I think I had that wrong!

First, it is more scarce than I’d thought. Second, it seems to not be underrated in the least. Third, it is kind of hard to find online.

Keywords? I would have said 70s does 30s, 70s does 40s, 30s-style, 40s-style, retro-style 70s, deco revival. I expanded my search and found more early 1970s items under 1960s mod, boho and other search terms. If you are searching, you might cast your net farther.

I also realized that I have sold some items that fit into this 1970s retro style, and each disappeared quickly from my shops.

A few of the items I could think of from my past sales:

I guess I was wrong about the retro-mania 70s look being an untapped market!

In my Etsy search, I found these. (See my Retro-inspired 70s Etsy page for details on these items and others.) 

I would so like to put these together (again, details on that Etsy page):

Every color for Breast Cancer Awareness

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and as in the past I am devoting a portion of my sales this week to the highly respected Living Beyond Breast Cancer.

From now through October 24, I will donate 25% of the sale price on any of your purchases from my Etsy shop to LBBC.

Etsy shop

In the past I donated a portion of sales of vintage items in pink during a week in October. This time, whether you like pink or not, I want you to be able to be part of this. Even though pink’s my favorite color, I know it’s not everybody’s. This year, any color goes.

Thank you for helping with this important cause that affects so many of us.

October resolution: Wear an era I don’t usually wear

You may recall that I decided to tackle one vintage resolution per month this year, and I’ve come to October:

Wear an era that I don’t usually wear. 

At the beginning of the year I thought about wearing 1930s items. I love the prints, the lengths, the jewelry! However, I know it isn’t easy to come by genuine vintage clothing from the 1930s that is actually wearable for more than special occasions.

Then I thought of the retro-inspired fashion that came into vogue around the early 1970s. There were wide-legged pants, platform shoes, turbans, veils, puffed sleeves, cloches, little sweater vests, berets, empire waists, flippy skirts, romantic florals and deco prints, big lapels— inspirations from the 1920s through 40s.

Mr. Natural (source)

I have something to confess. The ONE vintage dress that I sold that most haunts me and I really wish I still had: A retro-inspired early 70s dress in bright blue polyester with Mr. Natural printed all over it.

I guess you kind of had to be there to get why I loved this dress. It was just so cute and odd with this polyester print and early 40s-style puffed sleeves, back tie and shirring at the shoulders. I even asked the good customer who bought it if she would tell me if she ever wanted to sell it. I'm sure it was homemade.

I guess I love the new/old juxtaposition at the time. Some was terribly elegant...and some had Mr. Natural!

Real women wear vintage hats

I asked on Facebook and Twitter if anyone had a photo of herself in a vintage hat that she would be willing to share. I knew women were wearing hats out there, but wow, look at these stylish women!

Real women wear vintage hats...very well. How about you and me? I’m putting one of mine on right now.

Image found on Galakospeculoos Tumblr

You’re a star

I’m not much into impersonating an icon head to toe, but I love to catch one or two aspects of their style.

My theme this month is a tribute to finding the star in yourself!

My green hat collection

A few years back I was all prepared to sell this green hat at the same time I was selling the green suit. I took photos of it then got a huge lump in my throat...I loved the hat so much that I decided I couldn’t let it go. Because I know I have a vintage business to run, I don’t allow that to happen much, but in the case of this hat...


Then another green hat came along and the same thing happened. Maybe its my reddish hair and green eyes. Maybe I just like green. Now I have a small collection of green hats.

I can’t imagine anything more flattering than the right hat, whether it is for the shape with your face shape or the color with your coloring. We keep toying with the notion again, wearing decorated headbands and fascinators—which are great—but what about all those vintage hats? There are decades of hats out there and I believe it just takes finding a few that work for you and you will be hooked.

My green hat eye candy collection on Pinterest: How green was my hat

September resolution: Wear hats

My September vintage resolution, as I wrote in January:

I have some beautiful vintage hats and I tend to wear them for special occasions if at all. Everyone tells me they love hats, but just can’t bring themselves to wear them. Maybe they need someone to lead the parade?

So here I am.

Transform yourself

You know those celebrity look-alike sites where you can find out which famous person you resemble? I honestly have gotten two deceased Asian (male) dictators as my matches.

I know I can do better than that!

One of my favorite things about vintage clothing is the opportunity it offers to transform oneself. I don’t personally want or try to exactly match a famous person, but I love trying to capture something of them for my vintage clothing photos. 

See if you can tell who was the inspiration for each of these photos. (Answers tomorrow)

Laaaa-zzzzy

This is the time of year when most of us in the Northern Hemisphere are warm (or hot) and could use a break.

First, if you don’t keep track of denisebrain on Facebook, I invite you there now for a cool break on vintage clothing.

Second, check out my August theme, which is fashionably late this month...appropriate to the theme:

The perfect Little Black Dress?

My August vintage resolution (determined way back in January) is to find or decide upon the perfect go-to black dress.

Do you believe it exists?

Do you think it would take more than one dress to fill out your definition of “perfect”? Maybe you would never consider an LBD the perfect go-to item...what’s your single most perfect item?

How do you define LBD? Could it be vintage and if so what era?

Can you picture it or do you own it? Have you ever owned such a dress?

Where would you wear it?

I’m asking because I don’t know myself! I’m on a quest.