As usual, I say out with the new and in with the old! That is, I wish you new thoughts, new adventures, new friends...but vintage style!
Please see (and hear) my animated vintage greeting to you (click to view):
I need your help right now. I am going away on vacation—the first in many years—and my work for Conservation Northwest is unfinished.
I have a couple of days before I promised to deliver $500 to this great cause that protects the ecosystems of the Northwest. This area is the home of grizzlies, wolves, mountain lions and woodland caribou, old growth forests, pristine wilderness...and steady encroachment from human occupation and interests. We in the Northwest are the keepers of much of what is considered wild and wonderful in the U.S. Help me help Conservation NW to preserve this national and world treasure for all time.
I may go on vacation, but I won’t go happily without finishing this. Please either find something you love at denisebrain.com (Etsy shop and web store) where 25% of your purchase price will go to CNW, or consider a direct donation at my YouCaring.com page.
Some of the most beloved creatures on earth are counting on us.
Public domain photo
We are on our way to reaching the goal of donating $500 to Conservation Northwest at the end of December. Now here’s the wrinkle: During the last seven days of the month I will be on a small vacation (yay!) and so instead of having 18 days left to wrap this up, there are actually 11. Anything earned in the last seven days will also be donated, but I won’t be able to cheerlead the effort.
Here’s what you can do: If you find a vintage item you love in my Etsy shop or web store, purchase it this month and I will donate 25% to CNW. You may also donate directly on my YouCaring.com page. YouCaring takes absolutely nothing from your donation, and neither do I.
Please consider chipping in, for the grizzlies, wolves, spotted owls, woodland caribou, and all the other iconic species of the Northwest.
At the end of the 1980s I started being a supporter of Northwest Ecosystem Alliance because the fledgling organization gave me hope for the continuing health of the natural environment of my area in the face of a drastically expanding human population.
That organization is now called Conservation Northwest, and it gives me more hope than ever.
I live in Washington State (first Seattle, and now Spokane) and I am extremely fortunate to have diverse and unusual ecosystems in my backyard. There are diverse wildflowers and old-growth forests, tiny pikas and grizzly bears. There are about 44 endangered species, including iconic mammals such as the gray wolf, cougar and orca whale. One of the most critically endangered species in the U.S. is found in northeastern Washington: the woodland caribou. I have seen one of these magnificent reindeer relatives while on a hike. There was snow on the ground in the mountains on the 4th of July, and we saw nearly round hoof prints.
And then we came upon this solid and compact caribou with its snowshoe-like round hooves. It was a very rare siting of a woodland caribou for someone in the Northwestern U.S.
I am indeed fortunate.
The world is filled with deserving causes, but more and more I see the point of helping out in my own backyard. Conservation Northwest looks out for the wild Northwest and the balance between ecosystems, communities and wildlife. None of our natural treasures are a given for the future, and Conservation Northwest is watching out for the wild, present and future. Of course these are the country’s and the world’s wild treasures too...rare, wonderful, and to be preserved by and for all.
This month, for the sixth year, I am devoting a portion of my sales to CNW. Twenty-five percent of the purchase price on any of my vintage items in the denisebrain web store and the denisebrain Etsy shop will go to this great organization. If you don’t see any vintage that inspires you but would like to contribute, please go to my YouCaring.com page. YouCaring takes no money from the cause, so your donation goes entirely to CNW.
My goal is challenging: $500. We’ve done it before, you and I...let’s do it again!
So am I! ... as you can see from my December theme:
It’s the last day of November, and the last day of my resolution to wear something meaningful every day. I loved doing this...don’t think I will stop!
Today I feel honored to wear my great grandmother Lena’s locket. Here she is wearing it c.1882-85. She was born in 1868.
I’ve worn this locket—passed down from Lena to my grandmother to my mother to me—many times. It feels like I’m holding hands with each of these generations of wonderful women.
Today is Thanksgiving here in the U.S., and I am so thankful for the people I’ve met in the world of vintage fashion. I’ve had some challenges this year, but vintage clothing, my customers and colleagues remain a constant joy to me.
Since 1999 I have sold to several Parisian designers; an Aztec princess and school teacher; a woman working in the Pentagon (on 9/11/01) who apologized for paying me late for a suit after part of her workplace was destroyed; a mayor’s wife; a mayor; an actress or two; several museum curators, journalists and writers; a policewoman; an opera singer; an indie music artist; a biologist; my neighbor; a woman in her 80s who wanted to relive an event from her youth; a girl of 13 who wanted to experience what her great grandmother had experienced; a skiing star; my best friend. I have had loyal customers purchase full wardrobes from me; I’ve outfitted weddings and high school plays. You have a lot of fascinating stories to tell.
Even if all I know of you is your postal code and that you purchased a blue polka dot blouse...thank you.
Some may know I often try to raise funds for causes that mean a great deal to me, and not only have you tolerated my ongoing mentions of manatees and grizzly bears, you have supported my causes with me. There is no way I could be making a real impact for these causes without your support.
I have numerous deepening friendships with vintage clothing dealers, experts and collectors...people without whom I would not be where I am. Not only do I learn something new every day about fashion history, fabric construction, and the business of selling online, but I feel I have a real support network.
I had a decent opinion of human nature prior to starting the business, and 14 years of positive dealings with thousands of people pretty well proves to me that we’re a decent lot. My most sincere thanks.
You’re doing an excellent job of finding my vintage red items, thank you very much! Here’s an updated group of items presently for sale:
Don’t forget: 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!)
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.
Some of the cheerful vintage reds in my shops:
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!)
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 |
 |
 |
 |
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.
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!
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!
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!
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:
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! ♡
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!
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!
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):
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.
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.