I live in a 1953 brick home in Phoenix. Over the six years I’ve been here, I have painted the kitchen 1950s pink and filled the walls and shelves with colorful vintage items I have found in other women’s kitchens. I often wonder just how many lives are represented in my kitchen. The rest of my house is the same; decorated with objects from other’s lives. I have a large collection of vintage clothing, jewelry and textiles. I love having things out so I can look at and enjoy them! It makes my eyes happy.
I grew up in Portland, Oregon, in the 1970s, surrounded by grandparents, aunties and uncles. I was an only child on both sides, so I got a fair amount of attention for a number of years. My maternal grandparents had a lovely 1950s home in the Cedar Hills area of Portland. My grandfather, Jack, was a traveling salesman, driving all over the Northwest as a ladies’ ready-to-wear representative. In the 1960s, he converted a motor home into a mobile showroom, visiting independent dress shops and department-store dress buyers with clothing samples. Back then, there were four distinct fashion seasons, and once a season ended, my grandparents held sample sales in their basement. Some of my earliest memories are of the fun old ladies who came to Jack and LaVonne’s basement to shop for Henry Lee and Mendel’s sportswear and dresses! The sound of the hangers squeaking across the racks and the smell of a slightly musty Oregon basement take me right back to a happy time and place. My paternal grandparents built their house by themselves in 1950 in Beaverton, and it had a huge garden in the back. I loved spending time there as a child, picking flowers, fruits and vegetables. There is nothing like Oregon trees, and I miss them all the time. My grandfather grew the best raspberries in the world.
My teenage years and early adulthood were more complicated, as my daughter was born when I was 17 years old. But things worked out in the end. I certainly had to grow up faster than I thought I would ever have to. It took me a long time to find myself. When I turned 40, everything started to click into place. There have been countless challenges since then, but I am so much happier now than I have ever been.
I started drawing at a very young age, and it was always pretty ladies in huge fancy dresses! I have always been fascinated with fashion, textiles and textures. My mother has always been a sewist, and I grew up around the tools, fabric and notions that go along with that. I loved making things for my dolls and doing cross-stitch embroidery. This is also when I started to enjoy collecting what I call “little fiddly things”—little bits and pieces I would randomly find: buttons, stray vintage earrings, pretty rocks. I loved organizing them and making up stories about them. Playing dress-up was probably my favorite thing, and my love of old clothes definitely started very early on. I remember putting on every single one of my grandmother’s big rhinestone brooches and feeling very glamorous!
As an only child, I spent most of my time by myself. In my head, I would create elaborate stories for my dolls and the dollhouse my mother built for me. I read all the time, mostly stories about old-fashioned girls and mysteries. I developed a fascination for the 1940s and 1950s when I was about 5 years old. I was convinced my Art-Deco-loving mother was a 1920s flapper before I was born! In pretend play, I was always a pretty lady in a big fancy dress. Today I think of myself as still playing dressup— I just do it in my own clothes! I also sew for myself, using old patterns, fabrics and notions. I learned many things about fashion and social history early on, which has served me well in the vintage clothing business. I have always said I wanted to be a historian or archeologist. I never got to college, and I am entirely self-taught, but I can hold my own in a conversation about the vintage business!
I am so l honored to have met the few amazing people who have acted as mentors for me. I had a lovely friend named Heidi Owens who hired me in 2007 to work part-time at her vintage store. Within a few months, I was her “Gal Friday.” I ran the store five days a week, doing all the steaming, ironing, repairs and general maintenance of the stock. We went on buying appointments together. I created themed fashion shows. It was like she handed me this precious gift to take care of, and it was some of the best education I could have received. Sadly, Heidi passed in 2010 of cancer. One of her close friends, Charlotte, was a long-time vintage jewelry dealer, and she took me under her wing until she also passed in 2014. I learned how to do vintage and antique shows acting as her assistant. She was incredibly knowledgeable about life, antiques and jewelry, and she taught me what she could before COPD took her life. I like to think she and Heidi are watching over me.
I started selling on eBay in 1999, when the site was fresh and new and magical. I did that for a long time, mostly selling textiles, small collectibles, dolls, vintage Christmas and the like. It saw me through a divorce, depression, hard times with children and unhealthy relationships. The thrill of the hunt was always a fantastic escape from reality, plus it kept me financially afloat. I learned how to deal with people more effectively, how to find a good deal on vintage items, and along the way, got better and better at fixing things like jewelry and clothing.
Around 2011, I fell into vending vintage clothing at markets. It was not something I had planned. It felt right, though. I have great customer service skills and sincerely enjoy talking to people about vintage clothing. At a certain point, the markets became more successful and less stressful than the online business. I truly love getting ready for shows and traveling. I love the fixing and mending, knowing I am bringing something back to life in order to pass it on to a new home and continued life. My best friend in the world, Jennifer Ball, calls it “wearable history.” I completely agree.
“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.”
— Laura Ingalls Wilder
I am at the point in my career where I get frequent calls to go to people’s homes to buy directly. There is a fair amount of psychology that comes into play in this situation, as the seller is almost always in a state of grief. I have found that they just want to make sure that their loved-one’s items are cared for and find the right home. I call it “taking custody.” These are parts of someone’s life, and I want to honor that as much as I can. Plus,buyers love the story behind the dress or the necklace, it makes it so much more personal and real. This is not just my job, it’s my passion.
One of my favorite items in my workroom/studio is my 1958 Ironrite Automatic Ironer. Her name is Betsy, and she is fabulous! Some people might know her as a mangle— the roll that comes down heavily on fabric and has indeed mangled fingers before! I learned how to use it by watching a 1947 promotional movie made by Ironrite. With Betsy, I can iron a dress shirt in four minutes flat. When I have to iron a large amount of textiles, the job gets done much more efficiently and faster than with a hand iron.
At the moment, I am teaching myself how to accordionpleat my 1950s Southwestern patio skirts and dresses, since I have finally acquired an original metal skirt-pleater made for this very purpose. It took me years to find it! It is harder than I thought it would be, because there are many yards of fabric in those skirts, plus a ton of trim and rickrack. I am excited to figure it out, though, and I hope I can offer it as a service someday to all those sweet rockabilly girls out there!
Finding a constant source of stock is definitely my biggest challenge, followed by the time to process everything to sell it! I am a one-woman show for the most part, though I can almost always count on my best friend Jenn to help me at shows. We work incredibly well together, and I trust her without question. I am lucky to have her on my side!
I have met some incredible people doing shows—some of them “famous” on the vintage scene. Mostly, though, they have simply been cool people who love vintage and “get it.” There is nothing like meeting other members of a tribe you never knew existed. My house has been featured in a couple home décor magazines, and I’ve been on TV and the internet a few times in conjunction with other high-profile shows.
I take great pride in being able to say my vintage items are wearable off the hanger. They are clean, pressed and ready to wear. I spend many hours making sure I can back that statement up. I cannot think of selling something that is dirty or needs mending. I want my customers to remember a pleasant experience with me and come back. I have walked a very, very long road to get where I am now, mostly because I was such a young mom.
I have never fit in to any conventional ways of living. I spent years trying to figure out my place in life. While I never really had a solid plan, here I am, doing what I know I am supposed to. I found my bliss! If I can inspire someone else who is different and who feels like they don’t belong, I have paid it forward.
I am constantly learning new and better ways to do things.
P.S. I LOVE THIS!
The book, “Dress,” which I am holding in the picture, is one of the favorite things I have found over the years. It is a vintage 1950s home economics book about the planning and care of clothing for the student and her future family. I have found quite a bit of the information in it to be very helpful and practical. Plus, the cover is just adorable.
