Customer appreciation sale 50% off all items in our shop www.modmarysvintage.com

In appreciation of our customers over the past 13 years we are having a customer appreciation sale with 50% off all items in our shop which includes vintage clothing, vintage accessories and vintage patterns. www.modmarysvintage.com

New opportunities for vintage lovers!

Mod Marys Vintage will be featuring 4 items per day in our shop with new lower prices for that day only! So make sure to check our shop out every day to see our 4 daily specials. Specials are time limited so don't miss out!

On the weather outside is frightful, but vintage shopping is so delightful!

Mod Marys Vintage has vintage for everyone, be it patterns that seamstress that favors retro looks or the man who has everything but a Woolrich hunting jacket and matching pants. Maybe you have a teen in your life that's into the hippie look such as a maxi dress or perhaps your teen is more into the 1980s and prefers a vest jacket. Regardless of what type of vintage you're looking for whether it's clothing, lingerie, accessories or vintage patterns Mod Marys Vintage has what you want and need. To sweeten the deal even further we are not offering a coupon code 20PERCENTOFFNOW so what are you waiting for? Let's go shopping!

Give the gift of memories!

Make sure to give the gift of memories with a gift from Mod Marys Vintage!

Use coupon code HOLIDAYSAVINGS2014 for 10% off any and all items in our shop.

We will continue to add items so shop early and often!

Well, we just could not stay out of the vintage business. We tried really hard but it must be in our blood so we are now open on Etsy as Mod Mary's Vintage. Here are just a few of the items we have available for you!

Is blue the new black?



Regardless of the era, blue or blue with background prints will always be a great alternative to severe black. They're classic without being staid, gloomy or severe. Here are just a few examples that are available to you from Love Train Vintage.


Vintage 1940s Lora Lenox Sculptured
Charm Navy Crepe and Satin Cocktail
Dress w Cummerbund Satin Belt
B32 W30 H36



Vintage 1940s Navy Blue
& White Polka Dot Rayon
Dress B36 W30 H40



Vintage 1960s NWT Tally-Ho
White, Blue & Black Floral
Print Dress B42 W36 H40



Vintage 1960s Mad Men Classic Navy Blue
Dress & Coat Ensemble B38 W34 H38



Vintage 1970s doing 1940s Novelty
Print Dress Petite B34 W30 H46

"That price is just too high." "I can find a coat like that in a thrift shop for $5." "I'll find a dress like that myself and pay a lot less."

These are things I've heard over the years in conversations all over the internet about vintage clothing. I've heard the wails of people saying sellers are pricing things too high. I've heard people saying they can find the same things themselves for $5.

So here's my honest opinion about buying vintage clothing and pricing. Remember this is my opinion so it does not represent anyone's opinion but my own.

Vintage clothing is not my hobby. It is my business. Like any business I have bills I incur to promote my business. That eye candy website I have has a monthly fee. The auctions I list have fees regardless of whether the item sells or not. That advertising links I have are an expense as well.

I also pay fees to PayPal and Google checkout when I sell something. I have business cards, stationary, flyers, etc. They are necessary to my business and are also an expense. Let's not forget the shelf full of fashion books that I consult when looking at styles, eras and details to make sure I am dating these vintage items correctly.

And of course there's my internet connection for how else would I be able to draw on the expertise of the Vintage Fashion Guild members when I have a question that I can't answer after researching a dress for hours on my own.

How does that vintage dress you buy from me arrive at your door all nice, clean and ironed? Well, I clean that dress with specialized products that are friendly to vintage textiles. I iron or steam that dress and check it over with a fine tooth comb before it's packaged for shipment. Those specialized products, steamer and iron, the tools of the trade so to speak, are an expense as well.

But the biggest expense of all is hunting for that perfect vintage dress that someone is going to buy from me. It means spending time in places that might have one nice piece of vintage for sale even though you've traveled 50 miles to find it.

It means spending time with a family who is selling their loved one's home and they are selling vintage clothing that may or may not have been stored properly. It means listening to the clothing's past and where it was worn (which I absolutely love!).

It means bringing home things that you hand wash only to have them disintegrate in the wash bin in front of you because they were touched by cold water and very, very mild soap for the first time in 50 years.

Let's not forget setting up the display of the dress on a mannequin, half form or model. I also have to photograph the dress in just the right light so that all the wonderful features stand out (which requires a decent camera and lighting set-up to do).

Then after editing the pictures and sometimes having to take those pictures again, hoping for better more clear results, comes writing the auction itself trying to describe in words what you've just tried to capture in a few images. You also hope that whomever decides to buy your dress has actually read what you wrote including those oh so important measurements because vintage clothing does not fit like the clothing of today.

So when you are looking at my listings or the auctions of hundreds of other vintage clothing sellers and think in your head "that dress just costs too much", I hope you'll remember the time, skill and dedication it takes to bring a vintage dress to life in an auction listing. We are your personal shoppers. We use our skills to bring you the best the past has to offer. You're not just paying for that dress. You're paying for our expertise.

Today I'm writing about how memories play into the collecting and selling of vintage items. I'm the oldest of 11 grandchildren born to my Nonna and Nonno.


Here I am at age 4 in my cream brocade and squirrel collar dress that my grandmother bought for me. Even then I was dressed in what is now vintage and boy do I wish I still had this dress!



My Nonna and Nonno lived in Garrison, New York but once a month went into the city to collect the rent on the apartment building they owned in the Village. We'd go to the apartment building and my Nonna and I would go floor by floor collecting the rents and the tenants always had a toy or orange, lime and lemon slice candies for "the little princess." My Nonno would talk to the super finding out what was going on in the building while we were doing this. Once the rents were collected and the visiting was finished off we would go.

The routine was to go to John's Pizzeria on Bleecker Street in the village for lunch. My Nonno would give me quarters to put in the juke box and I always played "Peppino the Italian Mouse" by Lou Monte. My Nonno would blacken the top of the pizza with black pepper and to this day I still blacken mine the same way. There's nothing in the world like brick oven pizza. After lunch we would head home to Garrison and I always fell asleep in the car tuckered out from too many orange candy slices and blackened pizza.

Fast forward 33 years to present day Dingmans Ferry, Pennsylvania where I run my vintage clothing store "Born Too Late Vintage." I'm out and about in my usual fashion and I stumble across this new without tags wool suit from the Elaine Starkman boutique in Greenwich Village.



Memories bombard my mind so I buy the suit and take it home to start my researching. However, I find there is very little on the internet about Elaine Starkman other than Mary Travers from the group Peter, Paul & Mary worked for Elaine Starkman at her boutique in the village. Over the next year or two I search the internet on and off for more information holding the suit until I know more about Elaine. Over time I find auctions of leather sandals that Elaine Starkman made and jewelry that she made as well. Elaine Starkman also had one of the first art galleries in Soho.

A friend named Scott was able to provide me this information, "Elaine Starkman had a boutique in the Village (149 Bleecker) in the early sixties, and she moved up to Lexington (between 64th and 65th Streets) in 1966 or so because most of her client base lived in that vicinity.

Leather goods were a Starkman specialty; the shop made leather pants to order in several styles (the most popular being the diagonally-zipped "peon" pants, which took about two weeks for delivery); they ran around $65 in the early sixties. Other Starkman offerings included such chic sportswear as velour separates in purple, ruby red, deep blue and black and pull-overs with drawstring hems. Prices were all over the board: from about $7 for simple tops to $35 for summer dresses and going all the way up to $200 or so for suede and leather sportswear ensembles."

Once I had this information I was able to list the suit I found almost 2 years prior, satisfied that I knew enough about Elaine Starkman. To my surprise the granddaughter of a friend of Ms. Starkman's contacted me in the last several months to ask me what I knew about Elaine. So I corresponded with her a few times to tell her what I had found over the last two years. She was able to tell me that Elaine Starkman is still living and doing just fine. So my adventure into the world and fashions of Elaine Starkman have come full circle.

My next foray into Greenwich Village boutique fashion will be about Fred Leighton's shop and my fashion connection with him. Until then think green and buy vintage. Save the environment one vintage outfit at a time!

Born Too Late Vintage

Today I've been thinking about high school days and what fashions were out and about back in 1977, the year I graduate from Poway High School in Poway, California.

Now I moved to Poway my senior year and thank the lord there was band and the school paper because that's where my friends were. I was a senior and my sister was a freshman that year so we hung out with the same group of kids. Band and the school paper provided instant friends and lots of fun.

I remember peasant blouses and platforms galore. I remember gauchos, maxi dresses and mini dresses in patchwork fabrics and border prints. Knits were a big deal and now my own girls are wearing a lot of these styles. I have to admit to having a certain affection for platform shoes and, although I'm in my late 40s I've gone a bit wild with some new platforms lately.

At Born Too Late Vintage we try our best to offer something for everyone and we have lots to offer in the way of 70s fashions so here are a few items that should bring back memories.

How about those maxi dresses? Now they are back and being called "patio dresses" but a maxi dress they truly are.

Try this Vintage 1970s Peggy Barker Peasant Maxi Patio Dress B 32 on for size!



or this Vintage 1970s Green Paisley Print Maxi Patio Dress B 36



Maybe this Vintage 1970s Donald Brooks Dramatic Diva Gown B 32 would be a better choice for you



or even better yet this Vintage 1970s Pheasant Border Print Maxi Patio Dress B32



Also popular at the time were caftans such as this Vintage 1960s-1970s Pomare Floral Caftan Plus Size XXXL



or zodiac dresses like this Vintage 60s-70s Zodiac Print Dress by R&K



There was something for everyone and there was even a revival of 40s style dresses in the later 1970s such as this Vintage 1970s Green, Red White Flowered Rayon Dress B 34 NOS.



So no matter what your style was then it's still all available now and waiting for you at Born Too Late Vintage!

Born Too Late Vintage

Over and over I hear there are no large size vintage items out there. What's a bodacious buxom babe to do? Well you can shop at Born Too Late Vintage for a change of pace. We're loaded to the ceiling with plus size lingerie, dresses and of course we have hats and shoes as well as jewelry.

Why not try this plus size Vintage 1940s BLUE ROSE Swing Dress B50 W42 H56 NOS



with this 1950s Asymmetric Blue&White Pancake Beret Petal Hat


or maybe this Vintage 1950s Black Rayon Cocktail Dress Plus Size B44 NOS



with this Vintage 1950s Asymmetric Pancake Beret Winged Hat


or maybe you'd like this Vintage 1960s NOS Blue Roses & Cream Dress Plus Size 20 B 44



with this Vintage 1960s Gene Doris Navy Blue Straw Hat


We have lots of things for ladies and gents of all sizes and eras so come see us at Specialist Auctions where vintage is new again!

Today I'm writing about a friend named Chris. Chris' vintage store is called Alley Cats Vintage. Now Chris has a wonderful plan. She is attempting to buy all the Fred Perlberg dresses in the world and become the Fred Perlberg queen of the universe.

So today I'm featuring Chris' Perlberg dresses. You can also find loads of other delectable dresses in Chris' stores, hats, shoes and many other great items at very reasonable prices. I say this with the utmost confidence because I've bought things from Chris and you'll never find another vintage seller who cares about her customers more.

On a personal note, Chris is retiring. Tomorrow is her last day. To my friend Chris I wish a joyful retirement full of doing the things you enjoy so much like gardening, going to the auctions on Friday and the opening of your new collectibles store. We big business women need to stick together!

So now onto the Fred Perlberg extravaganza!

First we have this breathtaking celery green liquid satin formal evening gown from the 1940's. There is gathering on the shoulders. The front has a high V neckline with a lay back collar which drapes around the back of the gown. The waist dips into a long V. There is a small bustle which lies flat just below the waist in the back. The gown closes with a side metal zipper plus hook & eye. The skirt is full and the dress can be worn with or without a crinoline. The fabric is heavy rich satin in a definite celery green color.



Next we have this stunning pink satin Fred Perlberg 1940's evening gown. The fabric is high gloss liquid pink, very true to what you see in the photographs. The construction and details are extremely beautiful, from the rear bustle treatment to the piping around the curved and pointed waistline. The inside is labeled “Fred Perlberg” who designed fabulous evening gowns starting in the 1940's. There’s a side closing metal zipper which works perfectly. The fabric is very dense and heavy.



Not to be outdone by the 1940s Perlbergs Chris also has this dazzling 70s era evening gown designed by Roger Milot for Fred Perlberg. The fabric is a sheer metallic weave with little loose strands of gold raising up, completely lined with a lime acetate blend. The sleeves are sheer and puffed with snaps on the cuffs. The waist has a double looped thick cord made on band and adorned with 4 cris-cross rhinestone pins. All the rhinestones are pink but one small stone is missing on the front. With all the glitter no one could possibly notice.



I'm very partial to champagne and what better way to fill that need than this Fred Perlberg exquisite liquid satin champagne/antique white satin evening gown. The fabric is very heavy satin. The bodice is bone with a wide cuff around the top and tiny cord shoulder straps. This can be worn without the straps. There is a side metal zipper closing. The skirt is full with a circumference of 128 inches. The condition is excellent, only having a pin hole where a corsage was pinned.



And last but not least we have this gorgeous Fred Perlberg classic pink satin party gown which was so popular in the 1940's. It is made with a fitted waist. It is
sleeveless with 21 satin covered buttons up the front. There is a little round peter pan collar and an attached matching satin belt. The gown closes with a side metal zipper. The skirt is full sweep and is shown with and without a crinoline. The inside is labeled “Dance Originals by Fred Perlberg” who designed fabulous evening gowns starting in the 1940's. The fabric is very dense, heavy and in almost perfect condition.



Chris has several store locations where you can purchase some of the best vintage items I've ever come across. She is located at:

Main Street Vintage

and

Specialist Auctions