The Origin of Species:

My mother used to have a neighborhood seamstress make my dresses until I learned to do it myself. Being a perfectionist, I put all the bells and whistles in my own clothing - the silk linings and padding stitches, etc. By the time I got to high school I could sew better than the home ec teachers so I didn't take home ec (didn't want to be a hausfrau cooking for my master), but when they had a fashion show, those teachers asked me to be the M.C. In addition, my mother always haunted the thrift stores, so I learned to do that too. Came in especially handy when I did costumes for theater.

When I worked in the garment industry, I got really spoiled because I had lots of samples I could buy at below wholesale prices, and I got out of the habit of sewing my own stuff.

As far as my interest in vintage, that began when I was about 10 and found my mother's hat in the top of her closet. She bought it in Washington D.C. in 1943 - copper coloured wool felt tipster in kind of a caricature of a fedora with a fluffy ostrich feather. I used to sneak it out to play with it when she wasn't home. Still have it.

I wish my mother had been in show business. She had some friends who were when she was young so she encouraged me at first when I was in high school. Then when she saw that I was getting serious, she back-pedaled real hard because she wanted me to have a "normal" life --- you know, with grandchildren for her. So I ended up married with kids, for a while anyway.

When my son was in first grade, I spearheaded a pilot program called "Project Nutrition." One of many parts of it was a little act I did in which I was dressed like Sherlock Holmes, calling myself "Sugarlock Holmes, Hidden Sugar Detective." The smaller ones were confused - didn't know whether I was a man or a woman. Flash forward four years. I started modeling, and one day came to pick him up at school right after an audition, looking real foxy. My son volunteered that he was a lot happier to have me show up looking that way than dressed as a man.

After my divorce, I got more involved in theater, both on stage and in the wardrobe. When I found out that some of the actresses were asking to buy things I had made for the shows, I decided I should get a degree in fashion design. That's when I moved to L.A. to go to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.

After working for several companies, another designer and I started our own small hat company. Neither of us had a head for business so it didn't last long. I continued to work for garment manufacturers when I moved back to Phoenix, but also did costumes for theater and film, as well as some modeling and commercial acting. During all that time I collected hats, both vintage and contemporary; stuff for making hats, both old & new; vintage clothing as well as contemporary; and about a ton of fabric, often by the bolt.

Finally I decided to combine my knowledge of the garment industry and my love of old garments by dealing in vintage clothing. That way I can afford to own almost every marvelous outfit I find, whether it fits me or not, at least for a while until someone buys it from me so I can go buy more.

So that's my story in a very fat nutshell. Sorry its so wordy.

Mariamne

someone just wrote me and asked "so what's a girl like you from new york doing in st. louis selling vintage clothes?". strange theme these days.

re: maria... cuba in the 40s and 50s?? unless, of course, you said your mother was rita hayworth. it doesn't get much better. i think of my grandparents taking holidays in havana back then, spending gobs of money on those trips and the old home movies are just gorgeous.

my love of clothes comes not from mom, or even grandma, but my brother. to sum him up in a nutshell, is a drag queen and knows more about modern clothes than any one of us women could imagine! he had me wearing maud frizon shoes at age 13 and spraying myself with fracas while other girls my age were making the daring leap from brown to black mascara. ooooooooh. naturally, any thinking person would want to investigate the history of clothes once they have a grasp on what's current. i went to school on the upper east side of manhattan and our teacher would take us on field trips to the met all the time because it was only four blocks away. we saw the huge costume exhibit in the 70s and all i can remember, as a fourth grader, is standing in front of the cher/half breed costume and thinking "wow!". we saw clothes from every century that had survived and all i can remember is a feathered crop top and a headdress. doesn't it figure that i have a passion for modern clothing?

while i am often floored by a deco evening gown, the fragility and style of older clothes keeps me at arm's length from really getting to know a piece. i can't imagine selling clothes i don't believe in and can't fathom being a woman who stands there, in liz claiborne, and tries to talk up a patou dress. seems hypocritical. i want clothing that i can wear on a regular basis and modern styles afford me that luxury. my lifestyle doesn't provide enough black tie affairs to justify owning twenty antique beaded dresses i can't wear and i don't want to have stuff just to "have it". i can't garden in a hoop skirt but i can run the dog through the park in vintage gernreich. we all adore vintage clothing, although from different eras, but another thing we all have in common is that we wear new clothing too and i try not to save my style for the days where i only wear vintage. unfortunately, much modern clothing is just recycled vintage so it's hard to get passionate about too much new stuff unless it's really innovative like alexander mcqueen or ann demeulemeister. maria, don't hoard prada... spring for those moschino milk carton purses.

another unfortunate aspect of the "collecting" craze is that people are spending money on things they don't love or things that won't hold their value in the hopes of someday having it be worth something. we all know that just because something is old doesn't make it valuable. it's the inherent style that makes something still worth the trouble. if i don't LOVE it, i won't touch it - as a consumer or a professional.

i believe that women who love clothing really just feel good about themselves and paying attention to the way you look every day is a reflection of that. i'm not talking about fanatics who chase trends because they're insecure. those are the women who are always dominated by their clothing and not just stylishly dressed. acquiring a closet full of fabulous clothing is up there right after being kind, happy and having a hairdresser you can trust with your eyes closed. from enoki

I graduated from high school in 1978 and was into vintage and cashmere long before then. I used to ride my bike to garage sales in the wealthy areas of KC. buying cashmere beaded sweaters with my baby sitting money. My family had money, but would only buy me clothing at the Lemon Frog Shop at Sears... yikes, I wanted to wear old clothes not those nasty bright poly pantsuits. So I would use my money and hit the garage sales. In our neighborhood there were a lot of Church rummage sales....always could find things old ladies donated....very fine garments that were in pristine condition.

Once I began driving, I could get to the thrift shops all over KC. I started going out buying black party dresses from the 40's, 50's and 60's. I wore them to everything.

I just attended my 20 yr reunion.....one friend commented on how nice I looked that evening dressed elegantly in black.... another that had been a neighbor kid...came into the conversation and said.... I see you are still wearing black....you always thought you were a witch. I thought hua????????? I had to ask him, what in the world was he talking about, how many beers did he drink? What a strange thing to say to me. Then he told me....you always wore all those funky old black dresses, I thought you were a witch when we were kids. I thought I looked like a movie star and he thought I was a witch! So I cast a spell for him to get a clue and found someone else to talk to, but found myself laughing all night about the perceptions. How could anyone think the classics were witch dresses???

I also found it amusing how you remember your mom's clothing...it was just her nicer things. I have 2 little boys...last year on Halloween, I was the room mother. I wanted to surprise my son and decided to go in costume. I had the greatest ribbon skirt from the 40's posted on eBay. So I pulled it and dressed as a gypsy....I had on so much jewelry, that my neck hurt from the weight. I had a Victorian velvet scarf tied across my hips with a huge RS jaguar pin....etc. After school when we were on the way out..I asked my son if he was surprised I showed up in costume.......he looked at me and said, "what costume???" I said the one I am wearing! He looked at me very puzzled and said, " I just thought it was one of your funky outfits". I hugged him and knew he did not have a clue I was attempting to be fun for his party.

Then 2 little girls came up to me an asked me if I was a movie star... I thought yes !

I do not go around with velvet scarfs wrapped about my hips or even wear much jewelry..it will be interesting to see how my boys think of me when they are older. Hopefully they will think of mom's nicer things!

Paisley