MARCH 2008 We Love/Cause Celeb - ROMANTIC HOMES

Some Like it Vintage

Romantic Homes spotlights the first in a series of features about worthy causes we commend. By Jickie Torres.

A courageous woman is no longer victimized by an abusive partner. Read how she used her harrowing experience to start an online shop and help others in the process.

Clicking away at her office computer, Veronica Cizmar's life in Toronto, Canada, has slowly returned to normal. She has her own business, Some Like it Vintage, an online boutique and consignment shop to keep her busy and fulfilled.

The site features only authentic period items, and 10 percent of the Web site's sales help women subjected to domestic violence--something Veronica knows only too well. Just five years ago, she found herself in a whirlwind romance that would ultimately leave her a victim of abuse.

In the summer of 2002, Veronica met a businessman who said he was visiting the Canadian city for a meeting. Charming, handsome and seemingly well-connected, he claimed ties to many powerful forces in the U.S. Maintaining he was a first cousin of President Bush, Bruce had all the visible merits to confirm his stories: the clothes, the belongings, the persona and, at times, the entourage.

"Bruce said he was, in fact, the head of the Bush family," Veronica says. Ominously, he told her that, "there was no divorce in his family; the only way out was by death-accident, natural cause or otherwise."
By October, the two friends began dating and, swept off her feet, Veronica accepted his marriage proposal just two-and-a-half weeks later.

Almost immediately the atmosphere changed. Bruce turned aggressive, hostile and intimidating.
"He had not touched me in any way yet. It was his attitude and demeanor that were becoming more and more aggressive and threatening; not just to me, but to others-waiters, concierge, strangers, family and friends," she says. Soon, he asserted further connections to the American mafia.
Bruce, like many abusers, had cultivated a convincing life story and, like many victims, level-headed Veronica had been given all the evidence she needed to believe him. Despite gut feelings telling her to flee, Veronica soon became a prisoner, forced to stay in the relationship believing Bruce had the power and influence to harm her or her family.

The brutality began no long after Bruce had moved into Veronica's apartment. It was less than a month after their engagement when he came home brandishing a gun, hard proof he had the means to kill her if she ever tried to leave him. Lying on Bruce's orders, she told her family and friends that gambling and addiction problems had forced Bruce to take her on a trip to recover and rehabilitate. He sequestered her from anyone who could help her. The beating was violent and tortuous, as Bruce would systematically wear her down with hits, cuts, burns and sleep deprivation. "He would tie me to a pillar in the room, duct tape me and whip me with leather belts, make me stand at the foot of the bed and not let me sleep," she says. "This would go on for days."
It was that way for the rest of their 18-month-long relationship, with Veronica held captive alone or forced to accompany Bruce to business meetings and errands. "I had to have my cell phone with me at all time," she says. "During the last three months he was mostly out of the house, and I was too terrified to leave. When he did come home he would torture me. My house was bugged, and my internet activities and phones calls were monitored. I was in a complete state of panic."

Emotionaly and physically drained, Veronica had neither the strength nor the mental fortitude to leave. It was only by chance that due to allegations by his business partner and one-time foster brother regarding fraud, extortion and threats to his own family that an investigation on those charges led police to Veronica and the subsequent awareness of her abuse. "Police officers showed up with a search warrant," Veronica says. They were on a hunt for papers that proved Bruce had been stealing money from his business, threatening others and lying about his withholdings. "As I read the warrant, everything fell into place," she says. "I was still terrified, but I was convinced to hand over the keys to a closet where all of Bruce's papers were." Veronica had finally been given access to Bruce's true identity. Instead of ties with American business dealings and political families, there was a long record of criminal activity and records indicating that, among other things, he was Canadian, married to another woman and had a second fiancée in another part of town.

"This was the day I was free from Bruce," she says. "during my seven hour interview that night I spoke for the first time about the torture and violence. That was when the police were able to add 13 more charges to his arrest."

It's been five years since the ordeal began, and Bruce is behind bars serving a 15-year sentence. For Veronica, every day has been a process of growth and healing. In 2004 she started selling vintage goods on eBay with a friend as a hobby. The next year she took the company solo and turned it into Some Like it Vintage. In addition to the funding she helps provide for local shelters, Veronica also works closely in Toronto with Redwood Women's shelter, volunteering her time to help prepare meals and talk with the women there.
Therarpy for her anxiety and post traumatic stress, and karate classes to help her deal with aggression, have brought Veronica to a place where all she wants is to focus on her future. She hope to eventually turn her online shop into a brick-and-mortar one. She wants to share her story through talks at local high schools and in a series of articles she hopes to write.

"My goal is educating women to rely more on themselves, to be more confident," she says. Though she always knew she was intelligent and self-assured, she regrets not heeding her gut. "I fell into what I did partly because of not following my gut feeling...I hope to teach people how to recognize the signs of anybody who might be taking advantage of them. The more I can do the better."

With all the latest buzz of helping the environment, wearing vintage clothing is a great choice. Not only is having some vintage items in your wardrobe a unique statement, but no energy resources have been wasted! A perfect way to contribute to saving our environment is to recycle clothing and other household items.

We have become a world of disposable items. When something breaks, we throw it out. When we are bored of an item we throw it out. When we no longer want an item in our home - we throw it out. Imagine making one pile of all the garbage in the world in all the landfills - this probably cannot even be measured as it's too big. Just imagine....

The beauty of vintage clothing is our ability to see a new use for an old item. Recycling is easy....not to mention cost effective. For those craftier folks, vintage fabrics can be fashioned into a new piece of clothing or household item! Using new threads, zippers, buttons and trims are generally the only additions. Think about taking a loved piece of clothing to a tailor and having it updated instead of throwing it out. This can be as simple as shortening hemlines, taking in jackets, replacing buttons...get creative!

Lots of vintage sites have been doing this for years. A piece of clothing that is generally in good condition but just needs a little TLC can be turned into something wonderful. This practise is catching on and consumers are eager to own a one-of-a-kind piece. A vintage item with a modern twist can be incorporated into any wardrobe. This has even been shown on major fashion runways with well known designers.

Choose to buy vintage or antique items for your wardrobe or your home. It is a wise, friendly and environmentally positive choice - stay green with vintage!

Why vintage clothing? There are many reasons and for every person who buys, wears or admires vintage clothing, each will have a uniquely emotional response.

Nostalgia. Perhaps a feeling of seeing our parents in a particular outfit brings back memories. I used to love watching my parents get ready for their evening cocktail parties and dances. They would pour themselves a little 'drink-eee-poo' while getting dressed in their finest. The smell of dad's cologne, the beauty salon appointments mom would have just returned from...all bring back warm memories. (And of course, my sisters and I got to stay up late with the babysitter!) Times of war, movies and hollywood, ..all moments in time that have never been reproduced and are a part of history.

Uniqueness. Garments were often tailored and hand sewn requiring time, thought, detail and emotion put into each piece. The seamstress or tailor would work with their customer over a time period of weeks to make a work of art. As you can expect, these pieces are one of a kind and were never mass produced. You could be sure of a garment that no-one else would have - a garment that reflected your own personality.

Fabrics. Luxurious, high quality fabrics and colours that are not produced today. Dye lots that cannot be equalled today ensure a unique colour in a vintage garment. Remember the greens & blues of appliances in the 1950s? Although modern computers can do a great job of replicating vintage hues, finding a garment with a colour specific to an era is quite exhilarating!

Investment. Many pieces of vintage clothing are highly collectible and therefore valuable. Haute couture designers and historically significant pieces are all sought after by collectors willing to invest in owning a piece of history. It is easy to acquire a very valuable collection of vintage clothing.

Some Like it Vintage
www.somelikeitvintage.com
office@somelikeitvintage.com

There seems to be alot of confusion between clothing items that are considered vintage, from items considered retro. A vintage item is typically no less than 40 years old. For example, a dress from the mid 1960s is still considered modern, therefore it is retro. For us older folks out there, we may even have these items still in our closets!

As of 2007, vintage clothing would be considered pre 1960. As we move forward in time, so does the era of vintage. When we are in the year 2020 and depending on the fashion trends of that future day, vintage could be considered anything from the 1980s!

For the moment, keep it simple. Pre 1960s is vintage, post 1960s is retro including up to the early 1990s. Don't forget...not everything comes back in style. Just because it is old, does not mean it is good!