I need a title for my vintage guidebook

I am working on a little book about vintage clothing. [Brief pause while I hyperventilate—Don’t mind me!]

To be specific, I’m writing a short guide to choosing and wearing women’s vintage fashion for the newcomer.

My hope is to ease the intimidation some women feel about buying and wearing vintage fashion through simple steps, concrete examples, and encouraging ideas. Purchasing vintage online is the focus. I’m writing about some of the things I am asked the most about, including fit, quality/value, and how and what to wear.

I believe that the ideal reader is a woman new (or newish) to wearing vintage or one who has felt left out by the tribal or hipster wings of the vintage-wearing scene. It’s kind of Vintage for Newbies—and Don’t Worry You Do Not Have to Look Like Anyone Else ...but that is a little long!

I truly could use your help with a title for this book! My original idea and the working title is: Getting Started with Vintage. This is too vague because some people could take that to mean getting started selling, among other possible misinterpretations.

I am contemplating a couple of really thoughtful suggestions from friends, but would love to hear your thoughts. It could be something short and sweet with a more explanatory subtitle.

Please let me know what you think!

Announcing 10% of sales to save endangered manatees

Some of you know I often raise money for causes, including the protection of endangered species. In fact, I do enough fundraising for the manatee that some people think of me as “The Manatee Lady”...which is OK by me!

(Check out Manatees are in Fashion a feature in the Save the Manatee Club newsletter)

Today, on International Manatee Day, I am announcing that from now on 10% of denisebrain sales (not profits, but sales) will go to Save the Manatee Club for the important work they do.

Look for the Union Label

Thanks to legions of union garment workers, we once had a thriving clothing industry in the United States, now mostly off-shored. In the 1950s for instance, most of what was available to wear in the U.S. was made in the U.S., from the raw materials to the textiles, designs and finally to the finished products. Union tags will let you know that fairly-paid garment workers (primarily women) made the items.

By comparison: Green America’s Retailer Scorecard gives Wal-Mart an F, J.C. Penney a D-, and Target a D+ for their use of sweatshops and forced child labor. In choosing a vintage article you not only recycle it for current use, but you can be fairly confident that it was made with better values in its day.

The delivery may be outdated in this 1978 ad, but the message sounds right on now:



Look for the union label

When you are buying a coat, dress or blouse.

Remember somewhere our union’s sewing

our wages going to feed the kids and run the house,

We work hard but who’s complaining.

Thanks to the I.L.G. we’re paying our way.

So, always look for the union label,

it says we’re able
to make it in the U.S.A.

You can still look for those union labels in vintage clothing.

Just a few of the choices at denisebrain this week (click any photo for more on the item):

Don’t forget the benefit of a union label in narrowing down the date of your vintage item. Visit the Vintage Fashion Guild’s ILGWU page for the scoop on a number of union labels and their dates.