I just shipped a beautiful black linen trumpet skirt, perfect for Balboa or Lindy, to Australia. There are so many excellent Balboa dancers out there. The skirt was a rare find with asymmetrical, angled seams that pieced the body of the skirt together. The fabric is a nice matte black that updates the 1930s styling. Great for dancing but also beautiful for non-dancing activities. This is my favorite skirt style as it really flatters the figure.
Tag Archives: used clothing
Links to everything Model J Vintage!
Skirt Styles and Features Guide added
I have added a skirt styles and features guide to the main page listings. I hope this helps to clarify styles for many of you!
Banner Image for Etsy Shop is Da Bomb!
Ok. This looks good. I have to admit it. Check it out here. Whew. That was a lot of photoshop cutting and pasting. Lots of lovely photos to choose from. I’ll have to keep updating it and switching photos in and out. I have more lovely model photos than I could fit in one banner. Special thanks to the discerning eye of my artist friend John Unger who kept reminding me to keep it simple. I really needed to hear that. It made all the difference. Thanks John!
Etsy Shop Launches on Mother’s Day
As a tribute to my mom on mother’s day I am launching my Etsy shop with two vintage suits she owned and wore. Click here to see my main Etsy page.
My searchable name on Etsy is ModelJVintage: no spaces and capital M, J and V. I decided to start my Etsy shop with items from the 1970’s and 1980’s. From the research I’ve done it seems to be the place to market items from those decades. I believe it’s the younger, hip, DIY shoppers on Etsy that currently favor those styles. It’s funny because if they hadn’t become popular and resurfaced in current fashion offerings I wouldn’t appreciate them as I do now, nor see the connections those decades have to styles from the 20s, 30s and 40s.
The suits I am starting off with are two vintage early 80’s pants suits that my mom wore to sell real estate and work in showrooms. There is a banana yellow linen number by Anne Pinkerton and a magenta wool one by Adolfo. Both are in pristine vintage condition.
1980's Anne Pinkerton Linen Pants Suit
It’s amazing how contemporary they look. These are two wonderful suits that weren’t as big in the shoulders and thighs as those to come in the later 1980’s.
It’s a wonderful sense of accomplishment to get this shop up and running. I look forward
1980's Adolfo wool pants suit
to posting, oh, everything I own! Well, maybe not everything…
Model: Elaine Silver
Photography: Joy Grad
Private Fittings
I had the pleasure of doing a private fitting with a local NYC Lindy dancer who saw my clothes at an event but didn’t have time to try on anything as her dance card was full. This is often the case. A mutual Lindy dancer friend made the introduction via email and we embarked on some virtual shopping. First she gave me her approximate size and style interests. Then I looked through my stock, measured items and photographed them, and sent her the photos via email with prices. Next we set up an appointment. On the day of I packed a suitcase with the skirts she liked plus a few other items I thought she might like and a couple of skirts that seemed a bit small but that might work. We met up and she tried on all the skirts and we both reviewed them on her. She ended up purchasing five skirts and staying within her budget. A successful first private fitting for Model J Vintage and a very satisfied customer.
Here are a few of the skirts she took home with her:
Super twirly trumpet skirt by Atmosphere, a UK brand.
Red Silk Polka Dot Skirt w/Belt and Pleats
NYC skyline print 1950's style full circle skirt
Gap stretch cotton flare skirt, perfect for Balboa!
She got a selection of skirts great for dancing different swing styles including Lindy, Charleston, Balboa and a little rockabilly.
New skirts great for dancing!
I acquired some gently used skirts great for dancing, ladies. Some trumpet, a-line, full, cut on the bias and generally twirly ones in all sizes and colors are now available. I also picked up some sweet and sexy fishtail skirts that are great for our other non-dancing activities. Come check them out before they get snapped up at my excellent prices!
I will also have a box of free stuff from my closet for everyone to pick through so have fun with that 🙂
Photography figured out!
After much experimentation I figured out how to make some great shots of clothing. I experimented with a Donna Karan silk purple dress I picked up at a thrift store that will be my first item I place on ebay. I tried a ton of settings on the camera and different lighting angles, also playing with varying amounts of lights. I finally settled on four lights, two clip lights from the front but off to the side and two larger photography lights from my light box on the sides but slightly in front. Ebay’s book on selling is a great reference filled with tips and guidelines for photography. I am using my Nikon Coolpix 4500, a great little camera I originally purchased for its wonderful macro lens. It has quite a lot of manual and semi-manual settings, as well as automatic and scene settings. All the advice I read about not using a flash is completely true. It really washes everything out. Despite all my maneuverings I still had to do some editing in iPhoto. Mainly cropping, but also on the color. I was pretty happy to find that I could easily adjust the saturation to get rid of some pink tones and show the true purple tones of the dress. I am still not 100% happy with the results but I think it is good for my first listing.
From there I took two of the main photos into Photoshop (I have CS2) in order to create my main ebay image. I put both images side by side to show a full-length and a close-up view in one image, and then layered my logo on top of them.
Donna Karan Purple Silk Dress
I am pleased with the way it came out. The next step is for a better backdrop than my homemade version. This is on order and should arrive soon! I think a little more fiddling with camera settings and color correcting is all that is needed. Overall, I am pleased.
Photo Area
A large folding table I brought with me in the move from Chicago is now the base for my photography area. I have a light box, two taable lamps and some small backdrops that fit inside the box. It’s a pretty handy unit that I purchased in Chicago for under $100 and works well. I have used it for many items in other pursuits and know it will work well for all the small items I have for sale. That is one side of the table. The other side is for weighing the items and packaging to determine shipping costs. I have a nice Pelouze platform scale that can weigh up to 50 lbs. I hope this will be enough for most of my items. I guess I can use my bathroom scale for anything heavier or awkwardly large.
It took some doing to rearrange my living space in order to set this up. An old table that needs refinishing is now upside down on top of cabinets and my gorgeous steel 20’s side table stands w/glass table tops are broken down and stacked, as are many other things. It is worth having my own furnishings stored away in order to begin this process of divesting myself of my overabundance of collections and various unneeded items that have built up in mine and my family’s lifetimes.
Displayers are arriving!
I now have one adjustable dress form for making repairs, doing alterations and possibly making items from scratch. I already used it to alter a lovely 1970’s velvet jacket into a 40’s style with short sleeves. Need to update the trim on it and perhaps puff up the gathered shoulders just a little more for that 40’s look. The form works nicely, adjusting with multiple dials to just about any size. Sweet.
My display torsos have arrived as well as a head display for showcasing jewelry or hats. I put a wig on its bald head but the style is not quite right. Will work on that. The new female torso with stand is nice enough. It looks better than it is made which is kind of what I expected. But it stands almost straight and will look lovely when I use it to display and photograph clothing. It arrived with the top piece a bit chipped but nothing that a little black paint can’t touch up. I also received a used female torso that is larger and will work better for the big items in my collection.
The only items left to look for are a male torso and perhaps a mannequin hand to display jewelry. Am putting those off for the moment after this huge buying spurt. All I need immediately is a nice photo backdrop and I’m in business!
Model J Vintage 