You will be introduced to a different Team member in each new post. Please check out our Team Gallery page here.
Today's featured seller is Debbie Cantrelle and you can visit her shop CatseyeVintage here.
1. When did you first get interested in vintage fashion & why?
My grandmother gave me a beautiful hand beaded 1950s cardigan sweater while I was still in high school.
I fell in love with that cardigan and began shopping at local vintage shops looking for more. I wanted them in every color and pattern.
Before long, I also began collecting colored rhinestone jewelry and ladies' suits from the 1940s and early 1950s.
After a few years of buying and collecting, I began selling on consignment at a local vintage shop and eventually rented my own booth in an antique mall.
I was thrilled when Ebay came along and opened my first online shop specializing in vintage clothes and accessories in late 1998, moving to Etsy in 2008.
Although my Grandmother is gone, I still have that cardigan sweater and treasure it.
2. Do you regularly wear vintage?
I often wear vintage cashmere sweaters and cardigans. My current daily "go to" purse is a fabulous hand-stamped leather bag made in India in the 70s.
3. Do you have a Holy Grail?
One of the hand embellished cashmere cardigan masterpieces by Helen Bond Carruthers. I would particularly like to find one with embroidered flowers taken from an antique piano shawl.
4. If you could visit the atelier of any fashion designer (dead or alive), who would it be?
It would be a tie between Helen Bond Carruthers or Alfred Shaheen.
5. What do you see as the future of vintage?
I believe that there will always be serious collectors of fine clothing and accessories from the Victorian through 1950s era.
Hopefully the young women of today who are purchasing 70s embroidered Mexican dresses and East Indian block print dresses will continue to buy vintage clothing and accessories and come to appreciate the quality and beauty of earlier clothing.
6. What is your favorite item in your shop?
I'd have to say my red Alfred Shaheen sundress.
Here are a few more items from Debbie's shop:
Vtg Pali Hand Print Cold Rayon men's Hawaiian shirt:
Vtg 80s Thierry Mugler skirt suit:
Vtg Hattie Carnegie Necklace:
Vintage Pink Cardigan Sweater:
