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Update on manatee fundraiser



Rosie and I are back to let you know that our fundraiser has gotten off to a grand start from a couple of very generous donors and purchasers (25% of denisebrain purchases are going to the cause). See the total over on my YouCaring.com page.


Thank you!

We can do it...but not without you!

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Wear scarves: Make a dress wearable edition


I have a particular reason for wearing this scarf: I love the style but not really the brick red color of this 1970s Young Edwardian dress on me. Changing what’s going on at the neckline can make it perfectly wearable with my coloring.


Good save, don’t you think?

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Wear scarves: Big square as shrug


Big square scarves are extremely versatile. With just a couple of knots, today’s scarf got to act like a shrug, or wrap. Basically it is like a shrug with full sleeves.




I got the idea from a post on Vmac and Cheese. Check out the other uses for a large square scarf in this post!





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What is it about me and manatees?

This is a variation on a theme I’ve written about before, and with my current manatee fundraiser, it seemed time for a reprise.

Every now and then the odd collection of my interests and pastimes seems to baffle people. Take manatees: Why am I, a woman living in Washington State, passionate about the plight of the manatee, which lives nowhere near me?

I have always had a great concern and fondness for endangered creatures of all kinds. I vividly recall first becoming aware of manatees as a little girl, before much publicity was being brought to their plight. I couldn’t believe I’d never heard of them before, and was fascinated by such awesomely large, perfectly gentle creatures, the corners of their mouths always turned up like little smiles. How could anything so wonderful be at risk of extinction?


Then in 2000 I had the opportunity to visit my relatives in Florida, and they took my husband and I for a short boat tour at Blue Spring State Park. We saw amazing plant life and any number of alligators, but what we really yearned to see was a manatee. There were hints that they were near—

—but it wasn’t until we got off the boat and were just standing watching the river that we saw some clamor, as a group of volunteers met a van. Out of the van the group of people hoisted a manatee which had been rescued and rehabilitated. 



When this manatee was released into the water, another manatee immediately came up from the bottom of the river and nudged the newcomer, unmistakably like a greeting.


I had tears streaming down my face...I was IN LOVE with manatees!

Since then I’ve tried to find out all I can about this creature, and have been amazed. For instance, manatees are intelligent (“capable of understanding discrimination tasks, and show signs of complex associated learning and advanced long term memory.” [Gerstein, E. R. (1994). The manatee mind: Discrimination training for sensory perception testing of West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus). Marine Mammals 1: 10–21.] They demonstrate complex discrimination and task-learning similar to dolphins and pinnipeds in acoustic and visual studies. [Marine Mammal Medicine, 2001, Leslie Dierauf & Frances Gulland, CRC Press]. The manatee’s closest land relation is the elephant, not the cow, despite their being called sea cows in many parts of the world. They are thought to have evolved from four-legged land animals some 60 million years ago.

Think about it: Manatees have made it 60 million years on the Earth and now their survival is threatened.

Katie Tripp, Director of Science and Conservation of Save the Manatee Club, wrote a succinct essay about the threats to manatees and what the future might hold (After Devastating Losses, What’s in Store for Manatees in 2014?). As she concludes, manatees “need our voices and our support now more than ever.”

Please help me support Save the Manatee Club and all they do to protect manatees. I am hoping to raise $500 by the end of the day on July 17. 25% of sales through my business will go to the cause, or you may donate directly at my YouCaring page


If you can’t contribute but would like to do something, please help by spreading the word. 

Rosie the manatee and I are counting on you!


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For Rosie and all the manatees

If you read my blog, my Facebook page posts, my tweets on Twitter, or know me personally, you are certain to be aware that I have a thing about manatees. I love the gentle giants, and am deeply concerned for them as an endangered species that is terribly vulnerable.

Photo © David Schrichte

Last year was the worst on record for Florida manatees, with an estimated 829 perishing. With no natural predators, their adversaries are humans. Every year many manatees are killed or injured by boat strikes. In addition, we encroach upon and pollute the manatees’ vital habitat.

With humans so responsible for the grave endangerment of the manatee, we must also be responsible for their survival. 

Save the Manatee Club is devoted entirely to the survival of the manatee and its habitat. Manatees have no greater friend than SMC, and I support them whole-heartedly.

That’s why today I am announcing that 25% of my sales for the next month (June 17-July 17) will go to Save the Manatee Club, with a goal of raising $500. I have also set up a  YouCaring.com

 page for those who don’t find any vintage to suit themselves but who would like to help.

$500 is a lot of money, and a sum I could never offer up on my own, but my customers have always come through, and I know will want to do their part for the manatees again.

In fact, I’m confident enough to pose as Rosie!

Appropriately, I have just symbolically adopted a manatee named Rosie as the honorary manatee of denisebrain.com and this campaign.

Rosie is a beloved manatee, known to all who visit Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. She is decidedly vintage, having first been brought into captivity in 1968. Rosie is not a suitable candidate for being released into the wild because she has an equilibrium problem that causes her to swim in right-hand circles. Instead, she is the babysitter to the orphaned and injured young manatees brought to Homosassa for rehabilitation, nursing the calves and shepherding them around the spring waters.

Rosie, photo © William Gavin

Rosie epitomizes all manatees, who are known for their great intelligence and gentle good nature. While Rosie may have a home safe from boats and other perils living at Homosassa Springs, most of the few thousand Florida manatees left do not.

For Rosie and all endangered manatees, please help me reach this goal. I know

We Can Do It!

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Wear scarves: Expo ’74 edition



In 1974, Spokane was smallest city ever to host a World Exposition. It is now the 40th anniversary of Expo ’74, and the denizens of my smallish city are still feeling the fair’s positive impact.

Today’s scarf (a vintage souvenir from the fair) is one I’ve been pulling out quite a bit this year in tribute to the anniversary. It features the Möbius strip, symbol of the fair which was the first to have an environmental theme.


Thinking 70s, I made a wide headband of my oblong scarf, and included a twist à la Möbius.




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Wear scarves: Natalie Wood edition

Any woman who was young in the 1950s probably had a chiffon scarf tied around her hair or her neck at one point. I chose Natalie Wood as my icon fort his because she had the perfect teenage look in that period.

The scarf I’m wearing today is a 1950s souvenir of Hawaii, and it could be worn the sock hop way, with a knot to the side of the neck.

Or I could go the headscarf route, which certainly shows off the design. (Darn, where is my convertible?)

I opted for a not-so-characterstic rosette made by twisting the scarf throughout its length. A pin holds the scarf together and a clip holds it in my hair.

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Wear scarves (ties): Diane Keaton edition


In honor of the cool and iconoclastic style of Diane Keaton, and with Father’s Day in sight, this is a post about wearing ties.

I have worn ties ever since...a long time, and still wear them. Yes, I can do a Double Windsor.

You have to have a certain sense of irony wearing a tie as a woman, but heck, it’s almost to the point that you have to have a sense of irony wearing a tie as a man.

So why not wear it without a collar?


Wear a straight tie as a bow tie?


A bow tie as a hair clip?


A tie as a belt?


I believe Annie Hall would approve.


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Wear scarves: Rosie the Riveter edition




This cute photo Effie shared on my Facebook page reminds me that head-wraps and turbans are some of my favorite scarf looks.

If I had Effie’s enviable long black hair I would do this all the time...love the wrapped up-do!














Head wrap-tying icon: Rosie the Riveter
For one super simple wrap, just halve a big square scarf to make a triangle. The long side of the triangle goes at the base of your neck and ties above your forehead. Hair in or out? It’s your choice!





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Happiness is a long organza scarf


This month I’m wearing my vintage scarves every day. (It is a Vintage New Year’s Resolution.)

I love my two long organza scarves. The one in black is easily the most useful scarf I own. This one is silk in iridescent orange and green.

If nothing else a long scarf is dramatic, and if it is crisp like this, it can be made into very structural knots and bows.






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Wear scarves - Bianca Jagger edition

Yesterday I was inspired by Grace Kelly’s iconic wrap, today I am tying my scarf à la Bianca Jagger.

I know you will recognize her white jacket, but she also wore a lovely choker made of a scarf with a pin front and center.

To emulate this, I took a small square scarf, folded it in half diagonally and rolled it to make a band. Because the fabric is on the bias, it has some flexibility and makes a comfortable choker. I added a pin to the front and tied the scarf in back. 

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June resolution: Wear scarves


I have been looking forward to this. Since I-don’t-know-when I have loved and collected scarves.

At the beginning of 2014, I made a list of vintage resolutions, one per month. June is Wear Scarves.

Today? The Grace Kelly wrap...just add sunglasses and convertible!



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Flowers for my mother

This is a repost from a few years ago. My mother means still more to me today.

I know a lot of people say this, but sorry, I really am the one who had the best mother ever

...at least that’s how it seems to me. She was different from me in many ways, and in so many ways I learned and got to be a better person because of her. Not a single day goes by that I don’t think of her. I strive to do things as she would do them. Most every day I miss her and wish I had new times with her.

Marian Enid L. was born September 28, 1920 in the small town of Grimes, Iowa. Her father was a banker during The Depression, and it had to have had quite an impact on Mama that her father worked to keep farmers in business, and keep their farms operating. Eventually he was let go for not foreclosing as expected by his overseers.

Mama at age six

Mama at age six

My mother always looked out for the less fortunate. She was the most open- and fair-minded person I have known personally. She did not apparently see race, class or gender as anything other than man-made obstacle or advantage, although she always looked after the underdog. Many mothers are naturally nurturing to their own children, but my mother had nurturing feelings—and took action on those feelings—for the entire world.

At Mama’s memorial service in 1988, there were many young people of all races and walks of life who considered my mother their honorary mother. She counseled, she listened, she advised, she taught, she made people feel welcome and special. She found people who needed her, and they found her.

Mama baked bread. She baked literally dozens of loaves per week and gave away much of it to neighbors, friends, and fellow office workers. The entire neighborhood smelled like a bakery on Saturdays. When she went to work on Mondays, she carried two big shopping bags full of bread on the bus. (My mother didn’t drive and was an intrepid mass transit user in Seattle where I grew up.)

Mama devised a recipe for bread that would offer as much protein as an egg in just one slice. She wanted to see this recipe be used to help feed people in need, as she figured it was about 7 cents per loaf to make. Her bread, and all her cooking, was unbelievably delicious.

Serving dinner to my father and his mother

Serving dinner to my father and his mother

My mother was adventuresome in her cooking, trying all kinds of new, good things. She remembered vividly the evening in the 1940s when she first ate garlic, and she was the first person to try many things at home. She read, watched and experimented with what Julia Child recommended. She was friends with the fish monger. She made a huge assortment of Christmas cookies each year, and made the most spectacular dinners any person could be privileged to eat. I created a cookbook of her recipes when she died, as I knew this aspect of my mother’s life was most tangible and cherished, and would be greatly missed.

Serving food at a friend's wedding in 1981

Serving food at a friend's wedding in 1981

I learned to do so many practical things because my mother took the time to teach me to do them: I learned to cook of course, and to sew, and to garden. With her college degree in romance languages she helped me learn French, and as a top math and science student...well I needed all the help I could get! My mother was extremely smart.

Knitting... (ca. 1950)

Knitting... (ca. 1950)

...and gardening (1961)

...and gardening (1961)

She didn’t have fancy taste in many things, but she had refined taste in music and literature. She played cello through college. She was a devoted reader and history was her favorite subject. Lincoln and Jefferson were her favorite historical figures, and she read and re-read Churchill’s writings. My mother avidly recycled, but before she let a single newspaper go she made sure she had read every word of it. She was unafraid to be political, and caucused for her candidates, went door-to-door for causes and talked to friends, as well as those in disagreement with her. She insisted I take issues to heart, to others and to the street. She was brave and strong in her convictions.

My mother didn’t swat bees, but carried them out of the house by their wings. She once went a few days with a broken arm without going to a doctor, because “it just didn’t hurt that much.”

My mother loved to have fun too. She loved movies, games, laughing. Her laughter took over her entire body, with tears streaming down her reddening face. Even though she was older (40 when I was born) she was a lot of fun for me and my brother, always taking us to parades, the zoo, the park, movies—she put up with seven showings of Mary Poppins for me. She always bought us balloons and cotton candy.

After my father died in 1974, my mother had to go back to work, and reentering the work force at the age of 54 could not have been easy. She not only found work at a law office, but became invaluable, a paralegal in all but title and salary. During the last year of her life, when she could no longer make it to work, office staff came to her home to get help managing the business. She didn’t make a lot of money, but when I was choosing a college she said to go where I most wanted to go, and we would make it work. My mother said “money isn’t the only currency.”

On the last Mother’s Day Mama was alive, we went to a garden center where I bought the annuals she picked out, later to put them in the dirt around her duplex. If it weren’t for the shopping cart, she couldn’t have walked, as she had some serious health issues. Still, as usual, she didn’t complain at all, and spent the time telling strangers what great children she had. She said what she always said, “Mother’s Day is the day that I am most thankful for having such wonderful children.”

The feeling is mutual Mama! I love you so much.

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Vintage with messages


I have heard from some of you how much you like the background stories of vintage items of clothing. Lots of times I’m asked about the history of a particular dress and can’t say, but personal encounters make the clothes come alive in a great way.

In the past few weeks I have found a couple items with notes. I didn’t meet the original owners but their notes are such lovely links to the past.

This hat, in my Etsy shop, was wrapped with tissue:



This dress came from another woman with a note pinned inside the neckline. It is in my web store now:



One of the more interesting time capsules I’ve seen in my vintage business is this linen clutch with its contents, from the years 1940 and 41, intact.





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My vintage sources


I sometimes get to know something of the women from whom I acquire vintage clothing.

I’ve written about Jacqueline, the mother of a very good friend of mine (I love my vintage clothing sources)



Juana, who worked as a model for one of Spokane’s department stores (Another favorite source)



Helen, a philanthropist (An ode to Helen South Alexander and A tiny fraction of Mrs. Alexander’s clothing)



I woman I only know through her grand niece (The suitcase lot)



Mrs. Gordon, whose husband was blinded in WWII yet she dressed to the nines (You’re a sight to see, Mrs. Gordon!)



Alice, about to be married for the second time at the wonderful age of 85+ (Lovely lady lot)



Betty, who was a manager at one of Spokane’s department stores (She’s a Betty)


There are more, and they have been so gracious to me. I have many unofficial grandparents!

I think of Ruby, who made her own clothes with impeccable skill and cried when I offered her money for the clothing, which she was just going to “put out on the curb.” All 100+ pieces of it!



Mrs. Walls, who had “forgotten she had all these clothes” in her basement


Shirley, who let me come to her garage sale way out in the country a day early because she figured no one would care about the clothes (there were enough to open a store)


There was the gentleman whose wife had passed away and he was finally ready to let go of some of her clothing. He gave me a fantastic set of highballs he bought at the 1963 Seattle World’s Fair when he found out I’d grown up in Seattle.


One man I met had just purchased and laid down a load of stones to make his driveway a little smoother for my visit. His wife had been a manager of better sportswear at a department store in Spokane. We talked quite a bit because my father played jazz trombone and he had a boatload of jazz albums and played jazz himself. He asked me where I thought he got his accent and I guessed New York. He said Chicago, which is his nickname. He came to Spokane when he was 12 and he is now 105. 


Then there was Elaine who was sweeping her walk when I first met her. She is African American and came to Spokane on V-J Day, September 2, 1945. Her clothes were so precisely cared for and pristine that they were as if new.


There are many more. One that truly haunts me was an Italian-American model whose daughter offered me her mother’s clothing. She had wonderful items, including this Howard Greer dress. I happened to see her photo and she was one of the most beautiful women you could possibly imagine. She had died estranged from her family and had a very hard life, including alcoholism. Her clothing was very well kept and of spectacular design.



I like to think that we perpetuate these people through carrying their stories—and their clothing—forward.

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Fabric of the week: Gabardine


It is my 50th fabric of the week entry, and I can’t believe I’m just getting around to this one! Gabardine is a revered fabric—I’ve had many an older woman confess to me it is her favorite. I just wish younger people had a chance to know it better.

Gabardine 

Gabardine is characterized by either steep or sometimes regular twill, tightly woven, with fine, distinct diagonal ribs on the surface and a smooth back. Wools are right-hand twill, cotton may be left-hand. The warp generally has twice as many threads per inch as the weft. Made of worsted, cotton, manufactured fibers, blends, and (rarely) silk. 
Because gabardine is tightly woven (particularly in a steep twill weave) the fabric is hard-wearing and rain resistant. Its name derives from the Medieval Spanish word gabardina which means protection from the elements. 

The name was originally used for a cloak worn in the Middle Ages.
Uses: Suits, coats, rainwear, slacks, skirts, uniforms, dresses, sportswear, shirts, hats
See also:
Covert cloth

Worsted wool gabardine

Rayon gabardine
©Vintage Fashion Guild - Text by Margaret Wilds/denisebrain,  photos by Hoyt Carter

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Fabric term of the week: 2/1, 3/1, 2/2 etc.            


Before you think this week’s fabric term is a math problem: These fraction-like numbers are a way of quickly describing how many yarns cross each other in a fabric’s construction.

2/1, 3/1, 2/2 etc. 
Woven fabric consists of warp and weft yarns crossing each other one at a time or in groups. Plain weave always consists of one warp yarn crossing one weft yarn, a 1/1 weave. When two warp yarns cross a weft yarn, this can be indicated as 2/1 weave. 2/2 weave has two warp yarns crossing two weft yarns. 
These fractions are read, for example, “three up, one down” for 3/1, indicating that three weaving harnesses are raised, then one is lowered for three warp yarns on the face, then one weft yarn. 
See also
 Weaving

A satin weave is most commonly 4/1 with warp yarns floating over weft yarns in numbers of 4 to 1, but can be 7/1 and even 11/1, and the interlacings do not occur in rows, giving the most uninterrupted gloss possible.

One of the more jaw-dropping satin dresses I’ve had a chance to see up close is this Ceil Chapman ball gown currently in my web store. The fabric really defines “pour of satin.”


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Fabric term of the week: Nylon


The very first synthetic fiber? It was a revolutionary creation at its invention.

Nylon
The invention of nylon is credited to the chemist Wallace Carothers, working at DuPont in the 1930s. It was the first successful synthetic fiber, rayon and acetate being plant-based manufactured fibers. This first nylon was polyamide 6,6—made from hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid (the 6,6 designates the two stretches of six carbon atoms that are repeated in the polymer chain). The fiber proved strong, elastic, quick to dry, and insect- and rot-resistant. The first application was in toothbrushes in 1938, but in the next year women’s hosiery became nylon’s first big success. One might even have called it a raging success, the clamor for nylons (as they came to be called) was so great. 
During WWII the new fiber was used in the war effort, taking the place of Japanese silk for parachutes. After the war, the clamor for nylons took up where it left off, and soon nylon was used for other garments—and in many household products—as it is to this day.
Publicity photo for nylon, New York World’s Fair, 1939
1960s nylon tricot knit flapper-look nightgown in my Etsy shop


If you haven’t seen already, I made a handy-dandy (if I do say so) timeline of manufactured fabrics in the VFG Fabric Resource, and here on my blog.

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Fabric of the week: Wool flannel

I can sympathize with people who say they can’t wear wool. I feel I am sensitive to it, but realized early on that there is a wide range of wool grades and fabric constructions, to which my skin has a wide range of reactions. Worsted flannel is a wool that I feel immune to, soft and smooth as it is. It is a sheep in sheep’s clothing!
Flannel, wool 
A warm fabric with a soft, close nap, flannel may be in a plain or twill weave. It is brushed to create the nap, and this may be on one or both sides. If woolen, it can be in a plain or twill weave, while worsted flannels are right-hand twills, finer and appreciably more substantial.

Flannel was originally always wool (the name is derived from the Welsh word for flannel, gwlânen, which is derived from gwlân, “wool”). It is now found in wool blends, often with cotton.

Uses: Jackets, suits (men’s particularly of worsted flannel), dresses, shirts, skirts

See also:
Flannel, cotton
Wool flannel
Worsted flannel
©Vintage Fashion Guild - Text by Margaret Wilds/denisebrain,  photos by Hoyt Carter
1950s worsted flannel skirt by Evan-Picone in my Etsy shop



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Fabric of the week: Duvetyn, blanket cloth


Thinking about a winter coat yet? I know just the fabric for a soft and warm coat; and it’s much more likely to be a vintage coat because such finely-finished wools are not so common now. 

Duvetyn, blanket cloth

The name duvetyn comes from the French word duvet, meaning down. Wool or wool-blend commonly, the finish is napped, sheared and fulled. This creates a downy nap which covers its weave which is usually right-hand twill. It is softer and more lustrous, though its nap isn’t quite as long as that of fleece. 
Cotton duvetyn is usually called suede cloth. 
Uses: Coats, uniforms, suits; the heavier blanket cloth for blankets and Hudson’s Bay “point” blanket coats 
See also:
 Doeskin, 
Fleece
Wool duvetyn
©Vintage Fashion Guild - Text by Margaret Wilds/denisebrain,  photo by Hoyt Carter

This cashmere duvetyn coat is new to my Etsy shop. I wish you could feel the softness of this elegant fabric!



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