ARE YOU AN AVERAGE AMERICAN?

The average number of blue jeans a U.S. citizen has in their closet (which is were you may keep them if you have high-end designer jeans), or dresser (which is where I keep mine), or floor (which is where my kids keep theirs) is between seven and eight.
Considering all the styles, colors and fits a pair of jeans can come in, and how many different places we wear them, that number seems low. But this may be accounting only for the jeans that a person is actively using in his or her wardrobe at any given time. I am going to bet that if you are reading this blog you have a few more than that in your stash.

Most of us practically live in our blues, some even sleep. Their durability, comfort and character  gives us that can do feeling every time we put them on. I know I don't feel ready to tackle the day until mine are snuggly in place, zipped and buttoned. An what else invites you to wipe your hands on them as welcomingly as a good ol' pair of blue jeans ?

It's always bitter sweet when you have to give up wearing a beloved pair of jeans because they have become to worn to reasonably take out in public any more. I used to keep every pair of old blue jeans we had, thinking I would make some bags or a rag quilt out of them. Never did. Finally threw them away a couple of years ago before one of our moves. However I still hold onto the belief that I will someday make that quilt. A blue jean quilt - one that you can lay around in or eat on or watch TV with or snooze on or cuddle under with someone - would be a dream.

In 1979, at the age of seventeen, I worked at a clothing store in Spokane Washington called Harvey's. On the main level they sold higher-end men's suits. Downstairs they had the tailor shop and a storage room were they whittled out a spot to sell the "in" clothes. It was considered very cool to go down into that dark windowless cellar with the loud music and shop for the latest styles. I worked with the first openly gay man I had known, and we sold "designer" blue jeans, along with other hip men's clothing. This was my first introduction to really nice blue jeans. Prior to that I had sewn many of my own clothes, including a pair of jeans. Never again. Nothing fit or felt like a good pair of high-waisted, designer label jeans.

The history behind this most iconic piece of American clothing is fascinating, and I hope to share that with you soon!

Check out my shop at:
Etsy.com/shop/https://www.etsy.com/shop/VizziVique?ref=search_shop_redirect
to see the styles we used to wear back in the late 70's and the 80's. Buy a pair of jeans just for the fun of it. And go ahead; tuck your shirt in!

ARE DEMIM BLUE JEANS REALLY AN AMERICAN CREATION?

Yup! But, like apple pie, it's origins can be traced elsewhere.

Okay, so a couple of weeks turned into four - but I did come back!
I have been busily (and happily) engaged in adding listings to my
Etsy shops.
I currently have 30 items in my new vintage clothing shop at https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/TheClotheThingsCo and you can also check out my vintage "everything" shop, https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/Vintagietta where I also have a few clothing and accessory items at listed.

I am the creative type that loves things to be organized. So my clothing shop is starting out with all the red and sailor genre items. But much more is coming! All colors, styles, eras and sizes. Men's too! I have about pieces 100 photo- graphed out of over 600, but each item requires about 30 minutes to measure, describe and tag in order to get the listing activated. Never enough time in a day.

I am composing an article on Denim and Blue Jeans that will be publish this weekend. You might be surprised to learn where they originated and how they became an American icon. Everybody has a pair of jeans! It's a fascinating history.

ALSO UPCOMING:  Basic Fashion Wardrobe Must Haves, Oscar de la Renta's Biography, How to Remove Difficult Stains From Clothing,  What Makes the Difference Between a Poorly Made Shoe and a Well Made Shoe (hint: it's not just the cost).

 

Groundhog Day - me, me, me...

That's me! Me . . . me . . . me. Me also. And sometimes I go months without looking!

I love to watch movies with my husband, learn new things, create, be with my kids, create some more, organize, travel, create some more, organize some more, write,  meet new people, dance, play with my pets, create some more and sell the treasures I find.

As a child I played in the loft of my mother's ceramic and flower shop, in the alley of my grandparent’s home and running free with the neighborhood kids in Everett and Marysville Washington. Life was both wonderful and hard, as my parents divorced when I was three. My mom was always making clothes for my dolls and me, and all sorts of other magical things like miniature doll houses decorated with beautiful  scraps of wallpaper and a grand train track with dozens of those precious little fluffy trees that I always marveled at.

During my early years my mom married my (step)dad and we moved to Riverside California, Dayton Ohio, and then Spokane Washington.

I went to high school in Spokane Washington, where, in my senior year, while driving my purple 1960 convertible Fiat 1200, I discovered the thrill of thrifting. I began buying anything cheap, but always stunning and classy. I wore the most glamorous long black coat from the 1940's that made me feel elegant where ever I went.

At 21 I served a mission for the LDS church in Italy. I returned to the US with a greater appreciation for art and fashion (and I could speak okay Italian). While the American teenagers were wearing jeans and T-shirts, the Italian kids wore dress pants and tucked in button down shirts as they on zoomed off past castles and crumbling stadiums in their Vespas.  

At 25 I met my husband, and after dating for one and a half years we were married in Bellevue Washington. Within another year and a half we had our first daughter, Katrina. About a year and a half after that, came our son Vance, and about a year and a half after that, our son Vaughn. Finally, almost 6 years later we had another daughter, Elana.

After living in the Seattle area for nearly 25 years of our marriage, my husband was transferred to Albuquerque New Mexico, and then to Columbus Ohio. We now live in Hilliard, a suburb of Columbus. We hope to return to Seattle in a few years, maybe sooner, if my online business makes that possible.

We now have two granddaughters, Amelia and Eloise. We love them more than anything else in the world. 

Life is good and we look forward to some traveling in our future, but selling beautiful, used things for people to use and appreciate all over again will always be a the thing I get up for in the mornings!

Give me a week or two - I may get this blogging thing figured out by then

When I do you will be privy to all sorts of fashion info, tips, history, updates, etc., all in hopes of inspiring you to get your fashion grove thing on! (That's my 1970's teenager self speaking).

I am no fashionista, but I started wearing vintage clothing back in 1980 and have continued to collect it ever since. I have about 500 interesting pieces that I am using to start my online store, and hope to find a lot more as I get rolling. I currently have a couple of things for sale in my Etsy shop called Vintagietta, although none of them are from my personal collection.

However, I will be opening another Etsy shop "tailored" around vintage clothing and accessories called - you guessed it - The Clothe Things Company. I have some fun ideas for displaying and photographing them and expect to have those posted in my new shop in the next couple of weeks. You will find both new and old iconic fashions in my online shop TheClotheThingsCo.com when it opens in March.

You can learn a lot about vintage and designer clothing in 33 years and I don't plan on wasting all that good info. Even though I usually just bang around in jeans and T-shirts, I still love everything about fashion and clothing. It says so much about an individual and if you have your wardrobe is set up right, can make getting up everyday just a little more fun!

In this blog you can look forward to daily posts about: fashion history, designer stories, what new, who's who in the design industry, how to know if something in vintage or not, caring for various fabrics and removing stains, organization tips, how things are made, pet fashion, DIY clothing projects, mending tutorials, reader input, a guide to building the basic wardrobe, what not to wear, success stories and, dare I say it, so much more!

Oh, and giveaways, modeling contests, design contests, and paper doll patterns are in my little bag of goodies too!

So... if you want tips on getting your closet in order and stocking it with just the right things to make your life simpler and allow you to express your personality (I picture an "explosion" of possibilities) then set your dial here and tune in often!