Save 60% in my shop through Heartsy

My shop will be on heartsy for the next couple of days. If you don't know what heartsy is, it's a platform where you can buy vouchers for store credit an various online shops. My voucher costs $22 and will give you $55 in credit. You can use it to buy any of the fabulous vintage European clothing and dirndls I sell as well as my handmade jewelry. There are also special perks if you get a friend to buy, so spread the word!

The vouchers are also valid for 3 months, so if you'd like to buy one now and shop later that's also no problem. But you better act fast. The offer is only for a few days and only 100 vouchers are available, so once they're gone, they're gone. To take a closer look, click here: Curious Knopf on Heartsy

Happy Anniversary!

So it’s been exactly a year since I first opened my shop, though not since I’ve been selling.

I had a shop called Schaufenster before this one where I sold a little bit of vintage and a little bit of art and a little bit jewelry. That shop branched off in Curious Knopf, Schaufensterbabe and Augenblick Photo.

But then again, even this shop has changed a lot since I first opened it. Originally I intended to sell vintage buttons, hence the name Curious Knopf, Knopf being the German word for button.

I’ve gone from selling vintage clothing to vintage clothing and housewares to vintage clothing and jewelry.

I like where I am now, focusing mainly on vintage Trachten and other folkloric clothing as well as my own handmade jewelry.

To celebrate I’m offering 15% off of everything storewide until the end of March. Just apply the coupon code oneyearetsy at the time of purchase and the discount will come off automatically. Xoxo :)

Baubles for Babes

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on my blog, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy. My shop has undergone a bit of a over-haul because I’ve decided to specialize more in vintage trachten clothing like sweet and sassy dirndls, as well as other folkloric clothing. The pieces I choose are always very wearable and won’t give anyone that costume-y feel. Nothing can make you feel more like a woman that a curve-hugging dirndl. What other clothing can make you into a sex bomb and a sweet innocent girl all in one stroke? But I digress. The main reason for this post is to introduce you to my ever-expanding jewelry section. So here goes:

1. Vintage Photo Jewelry

These pieces are made from high quality copies of vintage photographs out of my own collection. I have only a handful of styles right now, but will be adding a lot more soon. To take a closer look, click here.

2. Berlin Cemetery Series

I’ve always been a sucker for a “vintage” weathered graveyard. Luckily, there are two fabulous ones within walking distance of my apartment filled with rusted wrought iron fences, crumbling angels, dilapidated art deco crypts, the works. They inspired this new series of jewelry made from polymer faux clay marble I used to make an imprint of the beautiful engravings there. To take a closer look, click here.

3. Bakelite and Celluloid Jewelry

This is my “oldest” jewelry section featuring pieces made with vintage goodies like celluloid gumball charms and Bakelite. Each piece is entirely one of a kind. To take a closer look, click here.

4. Natural History Series

Minimalist series featuring pieces inspired by my frequent jaunts in the Naturkunde Museum here in Berlin. To take a closer look, click here.

5. Lace Imprint Series

Modern style meets vintage inspired. I make these simple, geometric jewelry designs out of hand-mixed polymer clay which I then imprint with vintage lace. To take a closer look please click here.

Viva la Vintage AND handmade!!

Sale, Glorious Sale!

I’ve never really been the kind of person who longed for a house with a garden, but right about now one would come in rather handy. Not for the house or for the garden, but for the garage. I store all of my vintage clothing behind two doors of a vintage 1930s wardrobe (my own clothes go in the middle). Although the wardrobe is big enough to serve as a great hiding place for the entire Brady Bunch, it is getting pretty darn full. And before you know it spring will be here and I’ll want to offer up oh-so-many more lovely vintage garments….Guess it’s time for a sale. Here is just a taste of what you can get for a song and a dance right now in my shop. To see the full sale selection, you can click right here.

The Deutsche Post Partied Like It Was 1999

The CEO of the German Postal Service must have done some serious champagne guzzling over New Year’s because International shipping has just gotten a whole heck of a lot cheaper (and it was never all that expensive to begin with!) To ship a small package outside the EU it now costs around 4 Euros (6 dollars) for anything under 500 grams and 7 Euros (9 dollars) for anything up to a kilo. Packages over a kilo are still pretty pricey to send, but everything in my shop falls under the weight limit, so it’s party time, especially since I have a coupon code for 10% off until the end of January. Just enter frohesneuesjahr into the coupon code slot at check-out and the savings will come off automatically. To tempt you, here are some recent additions to my shop.

1. Vintage Handmade Blue and White Plaid Dirndl

Ok, so this has actually been in my shop for a while, but it really is so adorable and well made. And let’s face it: Every lass needs a well-made dirndl, especially one that isn’t too “costume-y” like this one. If it fit me, I would keep it in a heart beat, but it doesn’t. Sigh…

2. Three is Company Brooch made with vintage photograph

This is one of my recent jewelry pieces made from copies of vintage photographs from my own private collection. I’ve also started making pieces from my own photographs which are available here at my photography shop Augenblickphoto. I have lots of new ideas and photographs for new jewelry, so stay tuned.

3. Vintage Picnic Matroshka Dolls Dress

This one has also been around for a while now though I don’t know why because it’s cute, cute, cute!

4. Swirled Butterscotch Bakelite Simple Cocktail Ring

The photograph was taken with in my fabulous new lightbox. Ok, so it’s a cardboard box with the top and sides cut out and a silk white scarf draped across the holes but hey, it does the trick. ;)

5. Vintage Embroidered Russian Dress

This one hasn’t yet been posted, but it was a cool find. I thought it was handmade until I found some tags all in Russian at the bottom of the dress. They practically wrote an essay about it and the tags look pretty Soviet. It’s been a bit too long since I took that language course in Moscow, so I can’t really understand a word of it, but I do love the dress.

6. Vintage 1980s Black and White Animal Print Dress

I think I’ve expressed often enough that I’m not a fan of 80s style, but I am, have been and most likely will always be crazy about animal prints. This dress certainly has plenty to offer in that category.

7. Vintage 1950s Sleeveless Eyelet Sky Blue Blouse

Another beaut that I haven’t yet managed to post, but will sometime later this week.

Happy 2011 everyone. 2011, most definitely a year with good vintage. ;)

Dolled Out In Dolly Kei

I've known for a long time how outlandish Japanese Street Fashion can be, but I never imagined my shop would ever have anything to do with it.

I learned from a treasury on etsy tonight that there is a new craze called Dolly Kei which is basically pimped-up Trachten.

At least I know now why I sold the skirt with the Bavarian hat to someone in Japan.

I am so going to put out an ad on FB right now about my fabulous Dolly Kei fashion.

And yes, there's lots more to come. :)

Vintage Photo Jewelry

I've been collecting vintage photographs ever since I was a teenager. I used to spend hours at this junk shop in Bancroft Avenue in Berkeley looking through the boxes of old photos they had there until one caught my attention or moved me in such a way that I couldn't leave the shop without it.

This photograph was one I bought there. It's been with me for over 16 years and has moved in and out of at least eight different apartments (before I had kids, moving was a sort of hobby of mine. I still get the itch sometimes, but our apartment is really great and it would be a shame to leave it....)

Recently I decided to start making jewelry with some of the photographs in my collection. I use a laminated high quality copy of the original photograph like this one of a sexy 60s woman. I bought a set of photographs on ebay, the other one with her in the same pose but with her button closed and the skirt down (the more modest position.) I had them nicely framed and am giving them to my husband for Christmas.

Ebay (at least in Germany) is great for vintage photographs. You can get almost everything for only a Euro, I guess because there aren't many collectors out there. I paid a little more for this set of photographs, but they still definitely weren't expensive.

I'm planning on making a lot more of this jewelry after the holidays. Some of the photographs used will be from my own family, like these of my Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam was the black sheep of my mother's very protestant German-Russian family. You can read more about him here.

Happy holidays everyone, and happy vintage hunting! :)