Living a Vintage Life

Pretty much ever since 1955 I was crammed into my cousin's hand-me-downs.  I didn't KNOW that clothing was ever NEW, it was always from Karen. 

Luckily, Karen's mom had great taste in clothing! or so as a little kid I thought...

Thing is, often times Karen got her clothes from her older sister, JoAnn, who happended to have gotten them from MY older sister, Jo.  How's THAT for living green, living vintage??

Even BEFORE I was born, my family has always been careful recyclers on the planet.  Mom came from a family of 11 and lived through the depression era; and she just happened to be born in the lineage so that she was the designated seamstress for the entire family; fortunately for her, she loved it!

After alot of verbal nudging from my sister and I, Mom would quietly tell stories of making her own patterns and sewing for her 6 sisters, 4 brothers and herself, not to mention for Grandpa and Grandma, too.  Often times she'd de-construct winter coats (and just about anything else) that had worn out in some areas to re-configure them into smaller versions.  Buttons and zippers always led more than one life, adding character and personality to previously worn garments, or getting a new life on a totally different piece of clothing!  It was a full-time "job" and she learned to develop her own shortcuts, finishes and technique.

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We've now been selling vintage online since 2002 (well, before that if you count ebay, yuck).  If you'd like to shop with us you can find our selection of men's and women's vintage clothing & accessories from the 30's to the 80's at

The Vintage Merchant.  We seem to lean toward Rockabilly, lounge and nightclub styles, but we also have fun "Grocery Gettin" clothes and interesting accessories (loads of hats, great novelty print aprons, and clever handbags), as well.  oh, and our vintage eyewear particularly flies out as soon as we source it!

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If you like girly stuff like piles of vintage & estate costume jewelry (some Victorian, some sterling, lots from the 40's, 50's & 60's) and click-clacky high heels, prim and proper gloves and classic handbags, as well as romantic home furnishings and silky lingerie, come check out our shop:

Aaralyn's Velvet Dragonfly

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But we gotta admit, we love our kitsch collection probably best of all!  We have mid-century modern lamps & luggage, Eames era clocks and barware and chrome-y appliances!  We love art pottery, depression glass and especially reverse print frames.  We have LOTS of neat old wood frames, too; they're great for lining with vintage fabric to create a fun space for your jewelry treasures, or to use to compliment your photographs, of course.  We also like to frame old 40's ads, or pin-up girl art, it all looks best in a vintage frame! If you're interested, you can check our selection of those sorts of things at

And This And That.  We also have some very cool furniture but we've found that dealing with the shipping is horrific.  We'd be happy to have you come pick up a load rather than have to spend a fortune packing it; contact us through our And This And That website if you'd like to know more. 

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We'd like to thank you for your time, and for coming to visit us.  We'll be adding more stories and/or photos on living vintage, living green each week