the breaks

I'm bad enough at keeping up with the blog on a good day, but these days are not so good. So heads up...the power that be behind Dorothea's is broken. I broke both bones in my lower left leg May 11, requiring surgery to insert (hammer, actually) a rod into the tibia...a cast, walker, the whole 9. I have help at my shop 3 days a week and a lovely assistant learning how to locate things to ship (and do the shipping!). Things are getting smoother by the day and the bones are healing as best they can, requiring much rest and consistent physical therapy in the hopes that one day soon I *will* walk again. Meanwhile, things will appear a little slower on the website and a few things may be screwy from those days spent on (lovely, lovely) pain meds....but all will be ok in the end. I'm still able to do buys and have some wonderful things coming up! Meanwhile, I'll be on a search for a very glamorous vintage cane to use by mid-summer!

~Ang

Shop Shots

While the website is probably better known by followers of the blog, I do run a real-world vintage shop right here in Des Moines, Iowa! The shop offers a huge range of vintage apparell and accessories with price points as low as a few dollars on up to a few thousand.....a perfect fit for any budget and any style! You can find a full on period-correct look, pieces to mix with a current wardrobe to get a cutting edge, runway look or accessories to glam up any ensemble! And with vintage you know you're getting one of a kind (let everyone else shop the mall!) for a completely unique look. Some images from inside....

Even menswear! Cool tops, jackets, robes, denim...

And hats...

Pics link to shop info...we're open Wed-Fri 10-5:30 and Saturdays noon to 4. Currently running a HUGE $10 vintage sale as well as select hats at 50% off and summer vintage half off as well! Stop by and say hi!

~Ang

Design_Sponge!

DOROTHEA'S CLOSET is in the Guide to Des Moines, Iowa highlighted on today's DESIGN_SPONGE!. A fantastic blog, most honored by both the writer of the guide and the blog to be mentioned! Many thanks.

~Ang

Dressing Betty Draper's Mom

Recently I had the pleasure of being the go-to person for vintage wear for the real life Mom of one of the vintage world's biggest screen stars...Betty Draper from AMC's MAD MEN! Betty, aka January Jones, will be taping an episode of THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW this week to be aired the week of September 21st, which of course is the date of the Emmy Awards Show. Mad Men is nominated for 16 awards, and the cast will be making an appearance on the Oprah show along with an entire audience wearing early 60s vintage! Betty & Don decked for cocktails (as an aside, Karen shared that January loves wearing vintage too!)...

January's Mom, Karen, lives here in the Des Moines area and had decided to drive out to Chicago with her sister to attend the show to support her lovely daughter. She contacted me here at the shop about help finding the perfect dress and was gracious enough to let me shoot some pics of some of the pieces she tried on but decided against. Her first choices were to go the Betty Draper route (both dresses available on my website)...

However, we were concerned about the dresses being too pale to be picked up in the studio audience. These were two more options, more along the lines of Joan....

But neither of those was the final choice....you'll have to tune in to the Oprah Show in September to see what Karen finally ended up in! A big thank you to Karen and her family who were along for the second visit and photo shoot. She looks as great in vintage as her daughter!

~Ang

515Magazine Video Interview at Dorothea's on Vintage!

Check out the new 515Magazine available here in Des Moines (at my shop among other places!) for a fantastic photo essay on wearing vintage clothing and click the link above to see a video interview with the models! From the home page scroll to the pic of the wedding cake and click the text link to the vintage fashion video. A pdf file of the print story is linked from the bottom of the page as well!

Thanks to Nikki Omundson from Drake University for using clothing from Dorothea's Closet to do her article and to the models for making it look so damn good. The vintage....it sparkles!

~Ang

Teh Crafty. I Haz It.

Its my birthday, yes, yes....I know, you're all so excited you're celebrating with large feasts of turkey & all the trimmings, spending time with loved ones because I can't possibly be with you all. I appreciate the gesture. Eat lots, do some shots this evening, I won't be so keep me in mind. 39! Oy.

Yesterday I finished trimming the shop for Christmas and got a little crafty doing so, which as it is not remotely my style to actually make stuff, is saying something. Something like, hey, this isn't so hard.....its faster than ordering stuff and cheaper too! But mostly its a testimony to my aversion to Christmas decor overkill (which at home, has to happen to a degree with the kid and all, but in the shop I'm boss). I hate too much. Too much is called too much for a reason. Be-tinseled & be-ribboned, faux snow covered, twinkling multi-colored light wrapped, seizure inducing moving parts.....ugh, no thanks, not for me. After doing display in a department store for 10 years and spending a quarter of each of those years decking the store for the holidays (and then taking it down), I have developed a serious loathing for fuss.

So I took some vellum paper, in red and silver glitter floral scroll design, and made a template on cardboard of the bird used in my logo. Trace, cut (tedious, check) and voila.....bird ornaments lit by the light of nature (and at night, the light of electricty).....

Crafty, yes? Silver "ornaments" courtesy of Home Depot....roll of sheet metal flashing, a hat box lid and sharp scissors. A little spiraled ribbon to give it a wee flourish and its a go!

Got these lit up white branches at World Bazaar, again, a little Christmas lighting goes a loooong way...

Just a touch of holiday inside the shop and its all set, classy yet Christmas-ey, low fuss and easy to take down. Sweet!

Happy My-Birthday aka Thanksgiving to you all....

~Ang