I started selling vintage items at 5 years old with my mother. We would pile items into the back of our station wagon and rent a booth at the flea market every other Saturday. We held a booth there for 2 or 3 years, but later stopped doing it until we purchased our brick and morter shop in 1997 and ran it until Mom retired in 2015.

I really didn’t care for vintage items as a younger kid. Several years ago, mom bought 5 vintage 1950s dresses from a gal at our shop. I didn’t care for them at all. (I was 23 at the time) I got irritated with her and told her to donate them. But, she bet me a milkshake (our usual bet) that they would all sell. She pulled out a small special rack and stuck them right next to our cash counter. She sold every one and sold them quickly. That was truly when I perked up on vintage seeing I could turn them quickly for a great profit. My love affair has grown leaps and bounds since then. I have now been doing it for over 30 years and just love it.

I began modeling in vintage styles about 5 years ago for some local photographers. I then connected with a local paper and was hired to write a vintage column which I did for about 2 years. During that time my individual style for vintage began to blossom. I started learning how to do my hair and make up in styles from the periods and with my vintage collection at my shop I was easily able to put together the look. My favorite era has always been the 1950’s. I adore Dior’s New Look and watched I Love Lucy with my mother every day at lunch since childhood. I was always enamored with her style and it simply stuck with me. As I have grown older I now am really loving wearing items from the 1940’s too. My favorite label is Bonwit Teller. I am totally in love with everything they offer from the 40s through the 60s. (although they were around through the 1980s). Here I am in my favorite 1950’s dress (also a Bonwit Teller dress) while I was hosting human vintage models in my friend’s front window during a special event. There were 7 of us in the front window all in different era’s. It was a wonderful event and the public enjoyed it so much we made press.