All Barbie's Fault

I love Art Deco … anything and everything Art Deco!  From architecture to fashion to vehicles … I just love it!

Another thing I love is finding something new and different – to me, anyway.  I’m a research-aholic.  So when I came across this incredibly pretty, at first glance – brooch, I was thrilled to discover that it wasn’t just a brooch.  First, I thought it might be a hair barrette.  That is, until I decided that big, long pin stem on the back would probably cause just a little bit of discomfort as it pierced through one’s skull.  Definitely not a barrette. 

From the first moment I laid eyes on it, it was obvious that this vintage 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...

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,...

Who doesn’t just love pop beads?  If you’re old enough, you either wore them as contemporary fashion or maybe you played with your mother’s.  All the different colors to arrange in a zillion different ways! 

My friends at the Jewelry Ring recently were discussing vintage plastic pop beads that look like faceted crystal called Crystelle Poppits and it carried me off to do some research. 

I’ve had a few of these necklaces in my shop and never knew that they were made by Richelieu in the early 1960s.  Apparently only the earrings were signed – I had no idea there were matching earrings!  The necklaces came with hangtags, which of course, are almost always missing.

Hillcraft and Castlecraft costume jewelry has an interesting history and it also has a unique feature in its design.

The jewelry is very high quality costume jewelry.  As previously mentioned, gold filled wire was used as well as high quality Czech glass stones, beads, and Swarovski crystals.

Hillcraft and Castlecraft jewelry were never sold in stores.  The jewelry was sold either through clubs or as fund raisers.  Hillcraft was also sold at the Covered Bridge Festival in Rockville, Indana.