I'm not sure if I've mentioned this on my blog before, but besides running my vintage clothing store, Curious Knopf, I also am a hobby photographer with my brand new spanking shop, Augenblick Photo where I sell prints of my work. I don't really expect the shop to be a big success (actually, I would be happy to sell just one photograph) but it's nice to have a place where I can gather some of the images that moved me.
I also am a classically trained singer, but my heart really lies in jazz. For the past 6 months I've been working together with a Brazilian guitarist in a duo where we perform some jazz standards, bossa nova, German cabaret and even a bit of Mexican mariachi. We recorded a few songs about six weeks ago, one of which is in the video below with photographs from my shop as well as some personal shots. The recording isn't the absolute best because the tracks were laid down separately and it's actually important we perform together. Plus I get a tiny bit off key a few times. Yikes! But modest disclaimers are for the birds. Take a look and listen for yourself and see what you think. :)
Maybe it's because I opened the new shop, Schaufensterbabe (son of my former shop, Schaufenster) but I've been lusting after vintage housewares a lot recently. Schaufensterbabe has had a pretty slow start so far. Only a handful of hearts and 1 sale (of the mask pictured here) since I opened it a couple of weeks ago. The prices are also a little high right now because the dollar is currently abysmally low against the Euro, something that definitely hurts me in both of my shops....I'm hopeful that things will look up both in sales and the strength of the dollar. When they do, I would love to buy myself each of these little vintage goodies below.
I love the colors and shapes of these 4 milk glass mugs. Just the thing to brighten up the dull gray (and long...) winter in Berlin. Available at Modish Vintage.
This melamine sugar bowl is so cute and only five dollars. Too bad the seller Retro Pops only has U.S. and Australia shipping prices (I know I can contact the sellers, but it actually kind of annoys me when they leave Europe out (how hard is it to figure out shipping prices for the EU?), so I never do...)
These mid-century hairpin stools would be just the thing for my daughter's new art table in the living room. Viva la vintage childhood! ;) Available at Hauteseatdesign.
It could be that I like the photograph here even better than the actual vintage stacking canisters, but they are pretty darn cute. Available at Tipple and Snack.
My husband would kill me if I got these because he's really not into the kitsch thing at all. But my heart will always beat for kitsch, or at least thump a little in the left ventricle. Plus these little guys are from a shop based in Guatemala which is somehow very cool. Available at Salcaja.
I've also always wanted a Le Cruset pot, although I'd probably only ever burn things in it because I'm one of the world's worst cooks. Still, at least my barely edible stew would be ruined in these lovely little retro pot. Available from the Paris based Brik a Brak.
I've been making my own business cards for my shop ever since I opened it, writing a personalized note to each customer thanking them for their purchase. I'm a hobby photographer anyway and with a little photoshop magic you can easily print words on the pictures. I get them printed at the same professional online photo lab where I have everything printed. They always have a matte finish and a vintage-esque white border. The first photograph I used was the one above (with Curious Knopf Vintage printed on it of course.) It is of a vintage cowgirl and was taken in the bathroom on the fabulous Plains Hotel in downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming.
I have relatives in Cheyenne so we stopped there for a night when we went to visit my grandma in Nebraska a little over a year ago. Cheyenne is a sort of rundown (so many empty store fronts, what a shame) but still charming old West town and the Plains is great if you're passing through (it was my second time staying there.) My second thank you/business card was also taken in the hallway of the Plains. The woman in the photograph is my sister. I ordered 30 copies, so I've been using it for a while, but I'm actually not all that crazy about the layout.
On a side note, I loved the problem-with-cowboys stories my 18 year old cousin who grew up in Cheyenne told us when we visited. Most Cheyenne teenagers grow up in suburban sprawl like the rest of the U.S., but there is a small percentage of real cowboys growing up on ranches. He said they tend to smell and spit tobacco during class which is annoying. There is also a very old law on the books that if they ride their horses to school, the school is required to give the horse shelter and brush it and feed it during lunch time, so some of them do this. What a hoot!
Anyway, my most current thank you/business card is the one pictured above. The photograph is the detail of a 1920s photograph of the German actress Lotte Lenya, most famous for her work in Kurt Weill pieces (she was also his lover for many years.) I wanted to maybe offer it as a print in my new photography shop Augenblick Photo, but it's a bit too out of focus for my taste (not that all photographs should be in focus, but if they aren't, there should be a reason...) It turned out fabulous, especially with the white border. I ordered 20 copies and the first one is going out in a package tomorrow, so if you order soon you'll have a lovely one all of your own. ;)
I really don't know what I'm going to do as far as lighting this fall and winter. Berlin's skies are dark and gray at least 6 months out of the year and those six months have just started. Our apartment also faces north (i.e. almost no direct sunlight) and is on the first floor so it's dark anyway.
I have this gorgeous vintage 1950s burgundy brocade dress I wanted to photograph today, but even in my old low-light standby, the stairwell of our building, the photographs were pretty blurry (though the color comes out beautifully....) The photograph below was taken in my "studio" in our bedroom. I could fix the crookedness easily with photoshop but restoring the color is a lost cause...
It makes me not even feel like posting things if I can't get a nice photograph. Then again, maybe I'm being too picky. My sister runs a vintage shop out of San Francisco and (she admits fully herself) can't take a photograph to save her life. And yet she totally outsells me. She's even sold things that were so blurry you could hardly even tell what they looked like. Then again, taking nice pictures and trying to create an ambiance is one of the things I love about having my shop. Sigh. Now only if the sun would come out....
I don't know if it's the crisp fall weather, lingering jet lag or the fact that it's getting dark so darn early, but I've been finding it hard these days to motivate myself to get new items posted in my shop. I have lots of fab goodies from both California and Berlin including lots more post-Oktoberfest Trachten and a black dress from the 1930s with a proper little bow. I have managed to post some things in the past week or so, thank goodness. Click here to take a closer look at them and things to come. Vintage 1980s Geometric Little Black Dress
(any one who reads my other blog Schaufensterbabe is well aware that I am no fan of this 80s revival business. Still, the 80s did geometry like no other decade and this is no doubt a great dress down to the satin covered buttons.) Vintage 1970s Tori Richard Shirt Decorated With Cranes
(a men's shirt, this retro piece designed by Tori Richard of Honolulu also looks fab on the ladies up to a 2x)
Chocolate Knot Ring Handmade From Two Vintage Stacked Buttons
(Curious Knopf has been making stuff with buttons again because Knopf=button in German. ;) Lots o' rings to come.)
Vintage Hand-Knit Cream Bolero Sweater
(words cannot even describe how plush, soft and warm this baby is!)
Vintage 1960s Cream Clutch
(Still has the original Capwell's tag before they became Emporium Capwell's and well before they eventually went out of business....)
Vintage 1960s French Angora and Lambswool Blend Cardigan
(with faux pearls and a hand screen print. What more could a vintage loving lady ask for? ;) )
I love it when a vintage find sparks a bit of mystery. Take, for example, these lovely dark navy suede shoes. I found them on a thrifting hunt several weeks ago in San Francisco and was immediately drawn to their beautiful shape and soft and supple leather. Truly a vintage gem I was thrilled to find. The style is very classic 40s and, although the shoes are in amazingly good condition, on close inspection you can tell that they are pretty darn old. I listed them as 1940s in my shop but then, on a lark, googled the name inside of them, Silvia of Fiorentina. It ends up Silvia Fiorentina (without the of) is a high fashion Italian shoe designer whose shoes currently sell for between 200 and 500 dollars at places like Nieman Marcus. I tried to find out when she started designing shoes (and when she dropped the "of" to better date them...) but all I could find was that she helped influence design in the 1960s. How long she has been designing shoes or if she was designing shoes when she still had the "of" was some information I simply couldn't find... I'm still listing them as being from the 40s with a huge disclaimer. You can take a closer look here.I would love if someone could help solve the mystery though, so if you have the answers, please let me know. As a side note, I also love the shoes still have the name of the original owner, Aida Ducata. Hmm....If I google her, who knows what I'll find. ;)
Anyone else have some vintage mystery stories? I'd love to hear them.
Most people come to San Francisco for cable cars and the Golden Gate Bridge, for fabulously fresh California cuisine, for the ocean and sunshine (though many are surprised they get mainly fog...) But when I was in the Bay Area the absolute first thing I did besides say hi to my family was hit the thrift stores.....Hard....I realize to some this would make me seem as strange as this vintage cat lady, but anyone who reads this blog knows all too well the thrill of the vintage hunt. Anyway, we've been back for three days now and all four of us have the worst jet lag of our lives. It's 1:30 in the morning and the babies are in full on toddler party mode even though I've pointed out repeatedly that the sun is "no longer awake"....What better time to do a bit of etsy vintage window shopping? If my PayPal account were full I would probably do some real shopping but, alas, it's not. But maybe some of my finds will inspire you.
Every vintage loving gal has got to have a bit of Czech pressed glass and this lovely necklace is my favorite shade of lipstick red. Actually, it reminds me of a similar necklace that got literally bought right from under my nose (had it in the shopping cart and everything...) Hmmm. Maybe I should see how much money I do have on my account.....Available here at Stiletto Girl.
Gotta love this set of children's classics (though I think The Little Lame Prince has probably gone out of fashion....) Just the thing for my daughter's oh-so-fabulous vintage childhood. Available at Little Dog Vintage. For such a Bakelite junky as myself, it really is a crime that I actually don't own a Bakelite bangle. Maybe I'll pick up this beauty once I'm more in the flush. Available at Mybooms.(I did, however, buy a lot of Bakelite jewelry supplies when in Cali, so do come by the handmade jewelry section of my shop soon to see what I've created.) Gotta love Mid-Century Danish Modern, especially when it's actually made in Japan. These lovely leaf tray are also available at Little Dog Vintage. I love these plates. They look like Fiesta Ware decided to take a long holiday in Mexico. Apparently they are part of the much sought-after Riveria collection, though I've never heard of it. Get them for a song (16 bucks) at Bird In Hand. And last but not least, these gorgoeous ruby red 1940s suede pumps which are just my size (9 M). They remind me of a pair of dark blue suede 1940s shoes I found while thrifting in San Francisco that are in near-mint condition. Can't wait to post them! These lovlies here are available at FabGabs.
p.s. as an extra little thrifting note, I found the best vintage finds were to be had at thrift stores in Oakland (and maybe Hayward) rather than in San Francisco, the exception being the Salvation Army on Mission. Vintage is big in San Francisco so, while I'm sure there are still fab pieces out there, most places are picked over and the choice items have higher prices then they would in Wayard Hayward. ;)
