Sock It To Me: Discovering A Drawer Filled With Forgotten Socks

Do You Forget What Clothes you Have ?

Do you save clothes? For how long? Are you like me, stuffing away clothes in extra dressers  to get them out of sight and out of mind?  And one last question....do you forget what clothes or accessories you have and where you put them?

Secret Stash Of Socks  

Case in point, I just discovered a dresser drawer packed with plastic zip lock bags filled with knee high slack socks  sorted by color. I actually divided these socks into colors and weights. I have no idea when I did this, but I feel like I just hit the lottery finding this drawer stuffed with bags of knee high slack socks. The scary part is that I had no idea these socks were even missing from my  daily life.
My question to you is what have you found lately that you forgot about?


C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of I Antique Online an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café. To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link: C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com Dianne is a member of: The American Society of Journalists and Authors The Society of Professional Journalists

Fashionable Sixties Tent Dresses Are Back...But Shorter

Hip Mini Moos Moos Have Returned

Are you sitting down? The Tent style dress is hot this season. But let me be frank with you... today's loose fitting Moo Moo styles are more "top" and not so much "bottom". They are dress-ettes! There is very little "dress" in the "dress". Today's retro chicks look a lot different than your mom looked in the 50s when she wore her Tent Style Moo Moo. Or back in the sixties when the style was still blousy but shorter. Young gals today have added a new twist to comfortable......Mini Moo Moos with a lot of leg showing. Guess that leaves me OUT this fashion season.

Mini Moo Moo Dresses Are Fashionable

Unlike the Mid-century housewife who covered up everything she had to offer with her "tent style" Moo Moo dress...... today's hipsters actually show off everything they have to offer with a very skimpy version of the Moo Moo or Tent Style

"Schmatta" Means "Rags" And More......

Back in the day, I remember my father calling some of my mom's Moo Moo Dresses..."schmatta dresses". Schmatta is a Yiddish word which mean's "rag" but also was the term many Jewish immigrants used to refer to the textile industry in New York City during the 40s and 50s and earlier. And "schmatta" referred to all textiles which could be curtains, clothing, dish towels etc.

While the word "schmatta" implies "junk", "cheap" , "garbage" it became a term used to describe the entire textile or fashion industry and was used warmly not as an insult. It was a phrase that those of us that were raised by Yiddish speaking grandparents understood.

"Schmatta": From Rags To Riches

"Schmatta" was more than a simple word...it was a concept that implied how penniless immigrants came to America and were able to turn"rags" to "riches". Recently a friend explained to me that his dad's company dyed the materials that were used to make drapes. He said "my father was in the schmatta business" !

House Dress Or Fashion Statement ?

But "schmatta" was a word also used when women dressed more casually in styles that bordered on "house dress" or were considered "bargain" clothes, not meant for outside the home. Today, young gals are quite "fashionable' when they are wearing the latest Mini Moo Moos in neon colors and psychedelic patterns associated with the Hippie Generation of the 1960s.

Garment Industry Flourishes During the 1940s and 1950s

The Garment industry (district) which flourished during the 1940s and 1950s was centered between Fifth Avenue and Ninth Avenue between 34th to 42nd Street in New York City and now has almost completely vanished. Once 95 per cent of clothing was made in America. Now 95 per cent of what we wear is made abroad. Many young designers and others are trying to Save The Garment Center .

Learn More About The Garment Industry: Rags to Riches To Rags, HBO Documentary

For more information about "schmattas" and the history of The Garment Center watch this wonderful HBO documentary "Schmattas: From Rags To Riches To Rags" ( now on cable). Or read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garment_District,_Manhattan

Photos courtesy of http://www.kaboodle.com/

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link: C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.comVisit my website, CDianneZweig.comDianne is a member of:The American Society of Journalists and AuthorsThe Authors Guild, Inc.

Hip Retro Chicks Flock to Vintage Shops for Their Frocks and Vintage Accessories

Young Gals Returning to Vintage Shops

The buzz out there in the vintage world is that young gals are returning to making their own clothes, buying vintage clothing, accessorizing with with older costume jewelry and decorating their apartments with hand me downs, thrift shop specials and flea market finds.

Antique Malls Making Room For Clothing

Vintage is hotter than ever and you will see this trend blossoming in many established antique malls. At Old Carriage Shop Antiques in Litchfield, CT , there has been a "take-over" of booths
by vintage clothing dealers catering to young retro chic chicks .

Hello Platform Shoes

Some of my favorite booths are gone in this terrific multi-dealer shop, replaced with fur coats, platform shoes, cocktail dresses, pocketbooks, scarves, belts, robes, hats, jewelry and more.

Remember Old Fashioned Rummage Sales

I do remember once upon a time that "vintage" clothing (aka old stuff) was the kind of item you would find at grandma's holiday bazaar or annual rummage sale. Now the piles and piles of unwanted clothing that I would help grandma "bag" at the fair are carefully sorted and displayed
at antique and collectible shops everywhere.

Suburban School Gals Dressing For The Prom in Vintage

While free standing "Vintage Clothing Shops" have always been around, they tended to be found in offbeat sections of cities and towns catering to yesterday's hippies or artsy types. Today,
suburban school gals and their moms flock to shops for their prom frocks. The twenty or thirty something crowd can be found picking out formal wear in vintage shops, while baby boomers walk out with coats, chunky bracelets, handbags, accessories etc.

Many antique shop owners have caught on and know to even promote their beads and bangles at holiday time or showcase their formals during the weeks before proms.

In many group shops, owners are renting to vintage clothing dealers with a lot less reservation than they did in past years. And one clothing dealer attracts others forming "mini-malls" within a multi-dealer shop.

So if you are holding onto boxes of "stuff" from mom, grandma or your Aunt Sadie, now is the time to unpack these garments, air them out and get them ready for the hip chicks.

Tips for Sellers

1. Old racks of all kinds, as well as a variety of glass jewelry cabinets are of interest to vintage clothing dealers. So are vintage jewelry boxes. (Used for display).

2. Don't throw out old wooden hangars and closet accessories, vintage gals and dealers want them.

3. Everything sells, so don't be afraid to display your old scarves, belts etc. Group them together.
Stuff may seem weird to you, but buyers come in all types.

4. Set up attractive vignettes or groupings of clothing from the same period. (fifties belt, pocketbook, gloves). Keep plastic with plastic, flower power with flower power etc.

5. Don't over stuff your booth so you can't rummage through areas.

6. Try to keep vintage clothing and accessories in their own section, so you have a vintage area.

7. Clothing makes great window displays, but watch out for fading. Don't put your precious stuff in the window.

8. Mannequins of all types are HOT.

7. Vintage remnants, torn clothing, embellishments sell to crafters and those who like to sew.


C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.

To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link:
C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff

Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com

Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com

Dianne is a member of:
The American Society of Journalists and Authors
The Authors Guild, Inc.