Maybe I said this before when I was researching a Nelly Don dress, one of the most enjoyable parts of selling vintage clothing – for me – is research and learning.  It seems selfish not to pass along information when I find it. Including a lot of historical detail  in a description can be overwhelming for some, so I’m passing some knowledge along here!

I purchased several pieces of clothing from the estate of a woman whose family owned a high end clothing boutique from about the 1940s through the 1960s or 70s.  Almost every item was either tailor made, designer (remember the Mingolini Guggenheim?), or at least had an interesting clothing label.

Martha Sleeper label

Now that we’re well into summer, I’m desperately trying to pull a few more summer dresses out to get into my shop.  This dress caught my eye because the turquoise and white cotton print looks so cooling.  One look at the label, “Martha Sleeper Creates For You  100% Cotton San Juan, Puerto Rico� and I knew I had some research to do!

It turns out that Martha Sleeper started her career in silent films and then moved on to Broadway in the 1940s.  Then, in 1949 she took a vacation to the Virgin Islands and ended up in Puerto Rico where she loved it so much, she stayed.  While looking for a way to support herself in her new life, she began designing jewelry – a hobby she enjoyed prior to WWII.  Finding that “too tedious�, she started designing clothing and in 1950, opened a shop. She designed the silk screen prints for her fabric and 80% of this printed fabric was processed in Puerto Rico.  By 1955, her island inspired clothing was being exported to other islands and to the US.

Vintage 1960s Sleeveless Summer Dress by Martha Sleeper

In 1964, Ms. Sleeper opened a shop in Palm Beach, Florida at the urging of her friends and divided her time between Palm Beach and Puerto Rico.

Martha Sleeper died on March 25, 1983 of a heart attack at age 72 in Beaufort, South Carolina where she lived with her third husband.

So now that I’ve found out just who Martha Sleeper was … can I really sell the dress?  Well it depends.  Does it fit me?!

I confess.  I’m totally weird.

During a recent raid of my mom’s jewelry, I came across a huge black and white zebra fish pin.  I really adore it, but at the time, I couldn’t think of a single thing to wear it with (of course, right now I can think of several things but I’m already dressed and … well, I’m lazy).

Instead, I continued to fish around (haha .. get it – fish around?!) in the jewelry box and came up with all sorts of interesting oceanic items.  By now, I couldn’t decide WHAT to wear and ended up entertaining myself by making a little diorama.

And yes.  I was late getting to the shop.

Undersea Jewelry Diorama

Here we have the big 1970s zebra fish pin and two pairs of earrings acting as bubbles.  The yellow, red, and green earrings fill in the “water� with more fish and color.  And, across the bottom are a matched set of 50s earrings and a sweater guard with a pair of 1980s starfish earrings.  And don’t forget the darling little 1950s screwback shell earrings!

It’s a shame to keep all our pretty jewelry stashed away in dark boxes and I’m thinking of making a shadowbox of it.  It might also be fun to find an old glass top coffee table, paint it, and display jewelry under the glass.  My fish would be particularly fun decorating a Florida room or a sunroom.

Why not take a look at your own jewelry box from outside the box and have a little fun enjoying your jewelry in a decorative way!

Beautiful Beaded Flapper Dress

I’ve gotta say … I’ve loved this fantastic beaded flapper dress ever since first laying eyes on it.  The unusual, bright teal underdress is striking enough, but add the black crepe and steely beads and this dress is just breathtaking!

The dress practically has its own fan club.  It gets “oohs” and “aahs” whenever it’s displayed in the shop or at a show.  But I could never get a decent photograph of it because it just refused to hang right and it languished in the shop.  I was certain there had been some alterations made – it looked shortened because of the tuck at the dropped waistline that held the under and over dresses together – and I assumed there was some hidden damage although I really couldn’t see where.  There are some catches near the hem of the teal underdress, but … it just didn’t add up.  At one point, I had almost decided it had been altered for a

Were these alterations made to accomodate a pregnancy?

pregnant flapper because of darts at the waistline!

Not long ago, I found space to set up a specific location for photography and thought maybe that would help.   So I tried it again.  It didn’t.

Finally, I decided that the only thing left to do was to remove everything that looked like an alteration and see what was going on.  After all, there were large basting stitches showing on the underside and in order to write an accurate description to offer it for sale on my website, I really needed to know what the problem was.  After some encouragement from my friends in the VFG (Vintage Fashion Guild), the decision was made –

Very timidly … I do NOT want to screw this up – this is taking all my courage … and very cautiously, all the stitches were removed.  Certainly there was something awful under that tuck.

Nothing was wrong.  Absolutely nothing!  No damage whatsoever … just the most minute bit of evidence of the stitches I removed.  Now that the under and over dresses could be separated, I could see that the straps had been shortened, tucks had been taken under the arms, near the waist, and a strip of silver metallic lace had been added across the bust.  These remaining alterations were removed.

Why had this dress undergone such neatly done alterations that were so obviously reversible?  Occasionally, we find antique and vintage dresses that have been altered (usually not very nicely) for use as costumes in plays … or worse – Halloween.  But this alteration showed all the signs of being contemporary to the dress.

Showing the results to the VFG gave me the answer I was looking for.  The dress was made about 1923, when the hemlines were fairly long.  Fashion being what it is, hemlines became shorter in 1924 and 1925.  Our foremothers had always updated their clothing by remaking their dresses and it was only prudent not to permanently shorten the dress.  Many dresses with this very treatment have been found and some are even in clothing collections and museums.

Beaded Flapper Dress circa 1923

Wouldn’t you love to know who wore the dress when it was longer and what the occasion was?  Maybe it would be more interesting to know what the occasion was when it was shortened!  If dresses could only talk ….

Do you sometimes leave notes for family members that never get seen?

A couple summers ago when my youngest son was home from college,  occasionally I needed to leave him a note.  But how to make certain he would see it?  Figuring that one of the first places a sleepy teenager would visit upon awakening in the early afternoon hours, I decided to try the bathroom counter.  When that didn’t quite work, I turned to the toilet – lid closed, of course.  Somehow, even that didn’t always work.

A face only a mother could love

Then one day while sorting through a vintage haul, two beady little eyes peered up at me.

Fearlessly (ok, I knew it was in there – but it sounds good) I pulled the little guy out and noted how unusual he is.  You know those old mink collar/stoles where several pelts are sewn together and a head clips onto a tail?  Usually, there are multiple heads, feet, and tails.  This one has just one head and one tail.

I’m a sucker for these things – Grandma had one and I think they’re kinda cute.  Please understand that these things come from a time and place when our sensibilities were quite different than today.  Vintage furs come from animals that gave up the ghost long, long ago.  That critter is already dead, and throwing it out now seems somewhat disrespectful and mean, so don’t come after me with hate mail.  I love animals and I wish these things didn’t happen, but they did.  Sad, but what’s done is done.

Try walking in, half asleep, to find this on your floor!

Anyway, here’s this little mink face staring up at me.  Ever notice how squeezing the clip makes the critter “talk”?  Well, we were talking and he gave me the idea to clip one of those bathroom notes in its mouth and leave it on the floor of the bathroom.  I’m betting there’s a pretty good chance this note won’t get missed.  Frankly, I’m really sorry I wasn’t there to see the reaction.  You’d have to know my kid ….

So now the Message Mink hangs on a hanger on a hook on the

Somehow, this note didn't get missed!

back of the bathroom door.  That’s where he lives now.

Minky's Hang Out

Fast forward to last week.  The Message Mink is now hanging in our bedroom.  Noting this, I asked how it got there.  It seems that I hung a bunch of shirts on the hook where the Minky lives.  DH picked up his shirts and took them upstairs and put them in his closet.  A few days later, he reached in to pull out a shirt and out came those beady little eyes.

WHERE am I when all the good stuff happens?

Mingolini Guggenheim Dress

From the first moment I laid eyes on it, it was obvious that this dress was special.  The label read “Mingolini Guggenheim Piazza del Spagna, 9-91- Roma”.  Honestly, I had never heard of Mingolini & Guggenheim before I found this dress

What little information I found while researching indicates that Carlo Guggenheim and his partner, Mingolini were designing clothing at least since the 1930s and into the 1990s.  Micol Fontana mentions a Mingolini Guggenheim jacket from the 30s in her archives that was once owned by Edda Ciano – Mussolini’s daughter – in an interview with Eugenia Paulicelli, the author of “Fashion Under Facism”.  She calls Mingolini Guggenheim “one of the best known fashion houses in Rome”.

In a Reuters article from January of 1960, Italian fashion designers DeLuca and Mingolini-Guggenheim are said to be designing with an eye toward the American market by creating fashions with a “long, slim line for a long, slim woman”.  Smooth fabrics are meant to emphasize “slimness, softness, and smoothness.”

An Associated Press article from January 1962 describes the coming spring fashions from Italian designers Mingolini-Guggenheim as being focused on capes and influenced by the Egyptian look due to the new Elizabeth Taylor movie, “Cleopatra”.   The new designs by Mingolini-Guggenheim were notably the cocoon-like capes, evening gowns with godet skirts, and suits with short or bolero jackets and narrow skirts.  They were described as having “lots of appeal for individual private clients but much too lush to be a pacesetter for mass produced fashions”.

Undeniably, one of the most outstanding tidbits of information I was able to find was in the Caribou Observer of March 10, 1955 (p.14).  Included on the social page was a photo of a drop-dead gorgeous evening gown (would have loved to have seen it in color!) on a .. shall we say “special” mannequin.  The caption calls it “weird” and “surreal” – the body of a woman with the head of an animal.

Mingolini & Guggenheim are now on my personal radar.  As I locate more information about these designers and their fashions, I’ll be posting more here.  And if you have any information to add, let me know!

I noticed an interesting phenomenon a couple mornings ago as I was putting together the jewelry I wanted to wear that day.  It moves.

Some years ago as I was sorting through my mom’s old costume jewelry – and my grandma’s because Mom had it until I inherited it – I kept finding things like earrings in Grandma’s jewelry box and the matching necklace in Mom’s.  At the time, I thought it was interesting to see the types of costume jewelry Mom liked well enough to move it into her own jewelry box.  It was fun to match up the sets again and then I started to wear them.

Over time, I’ve pretty much tried to keep Grandma’s costume jewelry in her jewelry box and Mom’s in hers.  And of course, mine in my jewelry box.  There’s an interesting difference among all three of our jewelry boxes.

Grandma's Pastels

Grandma wore mostly pastels and she had a lot of bracelets.  Most of her jewelry dates to the 1940s and 1950s.  (Can you believe she gave me that sparkly blue set to PLAY with?)

Mom's Fall colors

On the other hand, Mom wore mostly fall colors and pins, and her jewelry mostly dates from the early 1960s through the 1970s. (Lots of Sarah Coventry there, which probably explains part of why I’m so drawn to it.)

Glitzy 1950s 1960s costume jewelry

They also had two sets that were identical except for color (the earrings are a bit different).  I was surprised the blue was in Mom’s jewelry and not in Grandma’s.

I would include a photo of my jewelry, which dates from the 1970s with a big gap to post 2001, but really, until post 2001 when I really became interested in vintage costume jewelry – mine is, let’s face it, crap.

And then it hit me.  My jewelry box is beginning to sprout some of their jewelry inside!  Some moved from Grandma’s, then it moved to Mom’s and now it’s in mine.  I’d say that’s absolute proof that vintage jewelry IS truly timeless!  AND migratory.

Now, go raid your mom’s jewelry box!  (with her permission, of course!)

I’ve talked about my dear grandma in a previous post about vintage Swirl dresses, and I guarantee I’ll continue to do that because she is the one who really led me to my love of antiques and vintage clothing and jewelry … and accessories, and … you get the general idea.

Hardly a day goes by when I don’t wish I could “go shopping” in Grandma’s closet.  Well, all over the house.  Down in the basement was a trunk of “old clothes” that would transform me into The Princess.  That’s a blog for another day, though.  Today, I’m going “shopping” in Grandma’s jewelry box.

Grandma loved cameos.  Our family was aware of that and so you can imagine what Grandma got for every gift-giving occasion.  I’m sure at one point, she wished she’d never mentioned cameos.

Whiting & Davis Glass Cameo Earrings

The one cameo I remember she wore the most was her Whiting & Davis cameo earrings and the matching bracelet.  I’m sure it must have been her favorite cameo set because I do remember her wearing it often and I always admired it – particularly the bracelet.  So pretty and delicate … of course, I thought it must have been ANCIENT antique jewelry at the time.  I’ve never found a date for when this particular design was produced, but my best guess is the 1950s and 1960s and I’d consider it a Victorian Revival style.

Fast forward some (mumble, mumble …) years and Grandma’s jewelry box is now in my possession along with all its glorious wonders.  Grandma didn’t have “fine” jewelry but she had some GREAT costume jewelry from the 40s and 50s.  I wear the pretty silver filigree cameo bracelet often and it’s one of my favorite pieces.  It always seemed like a fairly large – bold – bracelet to me so you can imagine my amazement when I came upon a LARGER version!  Oh I knew it existed – I know there are several more pieces in the same design, but I just hadn’t come across one.  And then I did. And Wow.  It’s big.  At least for someone with short, stubby limbs (yeah, that’s me).  I put it on and felt like Wonder Woman.  With one on each wrist, I could defeat all evil!  Maybe not, but some days a girl just NEEDS that attitude, right?

Large & small W&D Bracelets

Looking at the two bracelets side by side, you can really see the difference.  I also noticed that the cameo centerpiece on the smaller bracelet is the same size as the cameo earrings and the centerpiece on the larger bracelet is the same size as the cameo pendant on the matching necklace.  Now I have to find the ring and the pin and find out how big the cameo is on them.  And, it makes sense that there might also be a necklace with a smaller cameo.  I need to know.

What makes me crazy is that I’m almost positive I have additional pieces to this Whiting & Davis set in my STASH.  Now … where to start looking ?

See the vintage Whiting & Davis jewelry at Bonnie & Clyde’s Treasure Trove

Now that the holidays have been and gone and I’ve finally caught my breath, it’s time to make those Resolutions, right?  How did I do with last year’s resolutions?  Not too bad.  After all these years, I’ve finally learned not to resolve stupid things.  Like losing weight.  Either I will or I won’t and a New Year’s Resolution isn’t going to accomplish anything except leave me sitting on December 31^st depressed because yet another resolution went by the wayside.

Granted, there are things I should resolve to do like exercising and eating properly, but I won’t (resolve to or, probably, DO them).  Therefore, I resolve NOT to resolve.

But there are some things I’d like to accomplish this year.  Like making blog posts more frequently.  So here I am.

I’d also like to update the websites more frequently.  Today, I have diligently kept my nose to the grindstone and have uploaded some nice vintage jewelry to all three of my shops!  Off to a pleasant start.

Shocking Pink & Black Multi-Strand Necklace

Coro Faux Pearl & Rhinestone Brooch

Beautiful Black Onyx Bead Necklace with Hangtag

Another thing that needs more attention is my newsletter.  When I first started sending out newsletters, I was sending them every other month.  Last year, I was lucky to manage them quarterly and maybe that’s not so bad.  Since becoming active with Twitter and blogging a bit, most of my “news” is old news by the time a newsletter goes out.  So this year, I’m going to use the newsletter as a platform for letting subscribers know about special promotions.  It’s easy to have little promotions in my brick and mortar store since I see and talk with people all the time there.  So I’m excited about having special Internet Only “events”.

Sure, there are many more things I want to accomplish this year but instead of resolving a whole bunch of things today, I’m going to conquer this much and then set a few more.  Less stress, don’t you think?

If you’d like to subscribe to my newsletter (to get in on those special internet promotions .. or even if you just want to see if I actually DO this resolution!) CLICK HERE.

One of the many things I find so enjoyable about vintage fashion is coming across something I’ve never seen before and then learning about it.  Of course, part of that comes from needing to know as much as possible about an item in order to properly describe and sell it.  But really, I enjoy placing vintage clothing in its context.  It’s really amazing how understanding the clothing people wore at different periods in time tells one so much about HOW life was lived.  It’s history, yes, but with everyday people in their everyday lives.  I could yap on this subject forever but I’d never get to the point I was originally trying to make.

Late 1930s/Early 1940s Vintage House Dress, Hostess Dress, Housecoat

My latest “whatzit” is a delightful late 1930s / early 1940s house dress.  To be honest, when I first laid eyes on it I thought it was just Depression era cotton fabric yardage.  That is, until I discovered the metal zipper down the front that led from the bodice with the poufy sleeves and scoop neckline to the billowing bias cut full-length skirt.

To say I was stymied, is an understatement.  To my modern eyes and modern mindset, this looks to me to be almost an evening gown.  But in cotton calico?  With a metal zipper at center front?  And it’s so simply constructed that it could easily have been homemade except for the size tag and the manufacturer’s label – Modely.

Putting on my Sherlock Holmes detective hat and secret decoder ring, I made a list of things I knew about the dress:  1)  Cotton fabric in Depression era colors and pattern.  2)  Large metal zipper on cotton twill.  3)  Bias cut fabric in the voluminous skirt.  4)  Label.

Numbers 1,2, and 3 all scream 1930s to me.  An internet search brought absolutely nothing on the manufacturer.  I tried searching on 1930s dress, 1930s fashion, 1930s gown … some similarities but the cotton fabric kept tripping me up.

After exhausting my own resources, a quick turn of my decoder ring (aka a yelp for help from my buddies at the Vintage Fashion Guild)  brought me loads of information once I knew what this item is actually called!  It’s a house dress from 1939 – 1941, sometimes called a housecoat.  Proper terminology really helps, especially with internet searches.

Now after doing more research, it occurs to me that the words “house dress” bring the image to mind of an old, cotton, rumbled, frumpy dress that some old auntie wore around the house while cleaning and doing laundry.  Something I would not be caught dead wearing.  And the word “housecoat” makes me think of a shapeless, quilted nylon knee-length piece of “lingerie” (bathrobe) that covers up jammies and goes nicely with  those vile, bristle hair rollers with the pink plastic picks sticking out everywhere. You know, the hair rollers from h*ll. (Have you ever tried to SLEEP in those things??!!) Ok, so maybe I come from a family of hillbillies but also, I’m thinking of things I saw back in the 60s and 70s.

Obviously, the meaning of the words “house dress” and “housecoat” in the early 1940s has changed.  A page from a Sears Catalog from 1934 is titled “House Wear and Uniforms” and includes a “house frock” (a cute gingham dress) and aprons as well as nurse and waitress uniforms.  The house dress, at that time, was still nice enough that one could have a friend over for a cup of coffee, clean house, and run to the grocery without having to change to a day dress in order to be seen in public.  (This reminds me of a Letter to the Editor of our local newspaper that made a comment about how it’s nice that people wear their pajama pants anywhere now, especially when they get “dressed up to go to Walmart”.  Oooookay.  But I digress.)

After some thinking, I’ve been wishing for something to wear around the house in the evening that isn’t as frumpy as my nightshirt and bunny slippers.  I think I just might sew one of these pretty little frocks for myself – this one isn’t quite my size, or a color that could ever conceivably look attractive anywhere near my body.  It’s time to feel just a bit more feminine and fancy at home, in my house dress.  I might even ditch the bunny slippers.

Nooo … let’s get real!

Vintage Juliana Rhinestone and Crystal Bead Pin

One of my latest finds was a lovely vintage crystal bead and rhinestone pin. Immediately upon spotting it, I was excited because it had all the hallmarks of jewelry made by DeLizza & Elster, also known as “Juliana” jewelry.  These pieces are quite sought after by those who collect vintage costume jewelry because they are always especially beautiful in design, color, and artistry.

Jewelry made by D&E is never “signed”.  For the most part, the company made costume jewelry for other companies like Weiss, Kramer, Coro, and even Sarah Coventry just to name a few.   But during the mid-1960s, the company sold a line of jewelry while trying to build their own name recognition.  The only identification on this jewelry was a hang tag or a card that the jewelry was held on.

So how did I realize that I had found one of the coveted pieces of “Juliana” jewelry?  I’m not telling – that way I get to keep it all for myself!

Note the "figure 8 puddling" and rivets

Oh ok .. I’ll spill the beans.  The first thing I look for is exceptional quality, beautiful design, and lovely stones.  DeLizza & Elster always made first-rate costume jewelry.  It is solid.  Turn the piece over and look at its construction.  A particularly notable feature of D&E construction is what many collectors call “figure 8 puddling”.  And then there are the rivets, and stones with open backed settings and … well, there are so many features that are distinctive to Juliana jewelry that after studying and handling them, you begin to just “know”.

One of the very best ways to learn how to identify Juliana jewelry is to go to the DeLizza & Elster Jewelry Education Site.  This site is put together by a devoted group of people who work with Frank DeLizza to identify this jewelry.  Here, you can not only learn about the distinctive features of Juliana jewelry, but you can also look at numerous pieces of jewelry that have been previously identified.  If you think you’ve found a piece of Juliana, you can even submit photos and find out for certain.   Frank DeLizza personally reviews photos and results are posted to the site.  Just browsing this informational site is fun – talk about eye candy!

For an exceptionally interesting in-depth look at the jewelry business, Mr. DeLizza has written a book detailing his decades of experiences.  It is an absolutely fascinating read and shouldn’t be missed.  You can purchase the book, “Memoirs of a Fashion Jewelry Manufacturer” on Mr. DeLizza’s website.

I’m proud to say that any piece of vintage jewelry found in my shop – online or brick & mortar – that I’ve identified as being D&E/Juliana is guaranteed to be just that.  And if you ever want to know how I’ve identified it as such, just ask!  I’m always happy to show you.