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Posts Tagged ‘vintage jewelry’

Fashionable Favorite Things: A Volmer Bahner Brooch

Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 13, 2023| 4 Comments »

Welcome to something new – Fashionable Favorite Things, which will alternate every other week with the ODFL traditional Fashionable Quote of the Week.

OK, so I don’t need another brooch. But need had nothing to do with this purchase.

Last fall I popped into a new-to-me consignment shop with the idea of mentioning it in one of my future fashion columns (for the Lamorinda Weekly). I was excited to see that Divine Consign in Lafayette carried quite a lot of vintage clothing and jewelry.

As I perused the jewelry (Bakelite, cameos, rhinestone necklaces, and more) this brooch caught my eye. I knew what it was immediately – a mid-century Danish enamel calla lily by Volmer Bahner.

Sure enough the brooch is marked on the back VB Sterling Silver. Bahner (1912-1995) was a Danish artist known for sculptures and modernist jewelry. After WWII he opened his own silver workshop where he created nature-inspired jewelry in silver and enamel.

This brooch is in pristine condition and when I saw the very reasonable price tag it was was mine. Since then I have worn it on sweaters, jacket lapels, a hat, and my fondness for it has only increased. Like a small piece of art, I enjoy just looking at it. The sleek design and the beautiful dark red enamel speak to me. The craftsmanship is excellent and there’s no wonder why VB brooches are very collectible.

It’s a good choice for fall and winter, so I will put it away pretty soon in favor of spring colors. I look forward to wearing it again in the fall.

It has definitely been a favorite thing!

(For local readers interested in vintage I encourage you to check out Divine Consign at 1014 Oak Hill Road, Lafayette – right off highway 24.)

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Q&A With Debbie Ferman – Volunteer Hat Maker

Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , on January 31, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I met Debbie Ferman last July at the Shadelands Vintage Market, where I was among the vendors selling vintage jewelry and other goodies. Debbie came up to my booth and made a beeline for the basket of buttons I had sitting on the table. We got talking and she mentioned that she makes hats for newborn babies, and she uses buttons as decoration. I was taken with her enthusiasm for what she does and asked if she’d be willing to do a Q&A with ODFL. “That sounds like fun,” she said.

Debbie retired as an RN just before the pandemic. She was a nurse for 43 years, the last 30 of those years at John Muir Medical Center. When she joined the Alamo Women’s Club in 2021, she started making hats and never looked back. She now averages about 40 hats a month.

And here we go with the Q&A:

Did you knit/sew before you started making hats for the Alamo Women’s Club?

I have been knitting for more than 15 years mostly doing simple sweaters and scarfs. Now that I’m retired, I’m happy to knit/loom and donate the items. 

What inspired you to get involved with making the hats? 

I wanted to do something to give back to the community and was so pleased to find I could do so with making hats!

Tell us about the hats themselves, what are they like?

The hats I make are done on a round loom which comes in multiple sizes, and I think it’s easier than knitting. I also do know how to crochet and my curls and flowers on the hats are done with crochet. 

When we met and you mentioned your volunteer work, I could see how excited you are about it – what is it about the work that brings you such joy? 

It’s very relaxing to loom and gives me a chance to be creative which I love to do. I’ve always collected antique items including buttons, which I use to decorate the hats.  

What are the rewards of volunteer work?

Recently I made over 30 hats that were sent to Ukraine. In this case I made mostly adults and a few child size hats. I used warm wool yarns as they are so cold there and in such need of these items. I also collected warm clothing for the Ukraine people. The person that sends the hats to Ukraine attaches a note to each shipment which says “Sending love from your friends in California.” How wonderful I felt knowing I could do something to help these people. 

The Alamo Women’s Club has lots of interesting events and I hear there’s a jewelry show coming up. Can you tell us more about that?

We have a huge jewelry sale multiple times each year. There are thousands of items so you can always find something.  All of it is donated and proceeds go to needy Bay Area College students and support the other Alamo Women’s club philanthropies. We have vintage, collectible, new, fine and costume items. Many antique dealers frequent the sales. Our next sale is February 1st, 10-5 and February 2nd, 10-4, at our clubhouse 1401 Danville Blvd., Alamo.

I can’t wait for that sale!

Thank you, Debbie for taking time with ODFL and for all the knitting and volunteering you do. What an inspiration you are!

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The Twelve Days of Brooches: Day Eleven

Posted in Arts, Fashion, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Fox brooch by Lea Stein.

Today we’re looking at a brooch from of my Lea Stein collection. I find these unique plastic brooches in London, usually at the Monday Antique Market in Covent Garden but they can be found in shops as well. I’m drawn to her pieces for their multi-dimensional quality, unusual textures and … her images make me smile.

Although there’s a bit of mystery surrounding Ms. Stein, we know that she is a French artist who in the 1960s, with her husband, came up with a way to layer and laminate thin sheets of plastic. This layering technique allows Ms. Stein to create texture by adding pieces of material, such as lace or metal, in between the layers. After cooling, the plastic is cut into all kinds of shapes from Art Deco women in hats (an early design) to owls, cats, and dogs. Animals seemed to be favored and today they are among the most collectible.

There are some copycats out there now, but a true Lea Stein is signed on the pinback.

My stylish fox gets a prominent place on the shoulder of a black A-line wool dress I like to wear to afternoon parties or sometimes I place him on the lapel of a coat. He gets a lot of attention whenever I take him out.

Come back tomorrow for the last of the series.

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The Twelve Days of Brooches: Day Nine

Posted in Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , , on January 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »

We’re coming close to the end of The Twelve Days of Brooches and Day Nine is a nod to the writer or pen enthusiast.

This charming brooch popped up while I was searching through a box of buttons at the Alameda Antique Faire. Since I’m a writer, of course it had to be added to my collection. It is black enamel on gold tone and it has a little rhinestone on the nib (tip). As I said, charming.

I wear this on the lapel of a blazer whenever I’m going somewhere for professional writers, like a conference.

Come back tomorrow for Day Ten and another brooch story.

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The Twelve Days of Brooches: Day Eight

Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 1, 2023| 2 Comments »

Mid-century copper brooch.

Hello to Day Eight and a copper brooch. I found this at an outdoor antique market in Philadelphia for $5. It’s not marked but I know from the design and the fact that it’s copper that it dates to the 1950s.

Although sparkly chunky pieces with colored rhinestones are the iconic jewelry look of the 1950s, a more subtle Arts & Crafts style was also popular and copper was the perfect metal for that. There were two companies at the time making copper jewelry – Francisco Rebajes of New York and Jerry Fels, founder of both Renoir of California and Matisse Ltd., based in Southern California. Rebajes sold his pieces out of his store in NYC and Fel sold his work to department stores. Some of Fel’s pieces were enameled, the most recognizable is the painter’s palette. After much success, both companies closed in 1964.

I really like the atomic shape of this brooch as well as the texture. It lives permanently on the lapel of my wool blazer.

It’s January 1, 2023. Here’s to a new year with more opportunities for creativity and growth!

The Twelve Days of Brooches continues tomorrow. Day Nine … what will it be?

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The Twelve Days of Brooches: Day Six

Posted in Arts, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , , on December 30, 2022| 1 Comment »

Watch face brooch.

It’s Day Six and we’re looking at a watch face brooch that I made.

When I was in college I had a small business making and selling jewelry (I called it Personal Fixtures). I worked with found objects, mostly vintage buttons and as we see here, watch faces. The watch faces came to me from a friend who collected all kinds of strange odds and ends. He gave me boxes of faces and parts and I made brooches out of them. They were popular with customers, but I had a big problem – adhesive. I just couldn’t find anything that would bind the smooth enamel surfaces or even the metal parts. I had the same issue with buttons. So eventually I gave up my jewelry making business, but I hung on to whatever I had left in stock.

I still love this business card.

I learned a lot running my own little business including the fact that wearing what you make is the best advertisement. I wore these brooches mostly on sweaters and coats. I remember sporting one to a job interview just after I graduated from college. It was a position at a university and the nice woman in HR went crazy for my brooch and ordered one for herself and one for her daughter. Plus, I got the job!

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The Twelve Days of Brooches: Day Five

Posted in Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , on December 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

That’s my Bakelite picture hat (upper left) on top of a page of picture hats in The Bakelite Jewelry Book, by Corinne Davidov (Schiffer Books).

For Day Five of the Twelve Days of Brooches we have a red Bakelite picture hat. Part of my Bakelite collection, this hat was an incredible find.

Bakelite is a type of plastic popular in the 1930s and early 1940s for making jewelry. By the end of WWII other materials replaced Bakelite and it fell out of use. In the 1980s there was a craze for collecting Bakelite and the prices soared into the thousands of dollars for some of the more unique pieces.

I have been collecting Bakelite ever since I first learned about it as a teenager. I found this hat at an antique store in Norman, OK for a mere $15. The hat brooches are very collectable and still hold their value even though in general prices had gone way down.

This piece is large and I wear it alone on the shoulder of a dress or a coat. It packs a punch and gets attention.

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The Twelve Days of Brooches: Day Four

Posted in Arts, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , , on December 28, 2022| 1 Comment »

Tweeting vintage bird brooch signed Boucher.

Welcome to Day Four of The Twelve Days of Brooches. Today we have a special vintage piece signed Boucher. As in – French born Marcel Boucher, jewelry designer for Cartier.

Mr. Boucher was moved from Paris to the US by Cartier in the 1930s. He later took a job with another jewelry company and then in 1937 he founded his own company. He created bold pieces of jewelry often of animals and birds. His “fantasy birds” of the 1940s are particularly sought after. Achieving much success, he continued designing and manufacturing until his death in 1965. After that his wife took over the business until she sold the company in 1972.

My charming bird dates sometime after 1955 and I’m not sure where I got him, but a good guess would be that he was a Christmas stocking stuffer from my mother. She continued to give me a Christmas stocking long into my adulthood and often tucked in one or two pieces of vintage jewelry.

Boucher Bird is just the guy to add a little whimsy to a summer tote bag.

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Fashionable Quote of the Week by Alicia Healey

Posted in Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 19, 2022| 1 Comment »

There is undeniably an old-fashioned air around brooches, but there are ways of wearing them to look more up-to-date. Wearing with knitwear rather than formal day dress can jazz up a plain jumper, or go big and bold a la Lady Gaga in Schiaparelli at the US inauguration, for a modern take on this most regal of accessories.

Alicia Healey – Former employee of Queen Elizabeth, regular contributor to The Spectator and author of Wardrobe Wisdom From a Royal Lady’s Maid (National Trust).

This quote is from The Art of the Brooch published in The Spectator magazine, July 25, 2022.

A collection of vintage crown brooches from Collectible Costume Jewelry (Collector Books). Wear one of these on a headband or pin it to a fabric handbag.

It does seem that brooches have slipped into obscurity. But not with some of us. I’m a big fan and I like to place my brooches in unexpected places. For example I wear a bee brooch on the cuff of my denim jacket. I have a big black and white butterfly brooch that sits atop a black beret. Any brooch placed on the shoulder of a sweater adds more interest that if worn elsewhere. Also, a collection of small brooches worn together on a lapel will catch the eye. Brooches offer a lot of style and can perk up any outfit. I think the key for a more modern look is to not to take them too seriously and just have fun. Think outside the brooch box.

Collection of whimsical insect brooches pictured in Collectible Costume Jewelry (Collector Books).

Brooches make excellent holiday gifts and interesting vintage brooches can be found at thrift stores for a reasonable price. There’s still time to hit your local thrift store and find a unique gift for some lucky person in your life, or you!

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Repurposed Jewelry With Baribault Jewelers

Posted in Arts, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , on September 27, 2022| 1 Comment »

Fabulous jewelry transformation. Image courtesy of Baribault Jewelers.

I wrote a short story last year in which one of my characters took her engagement ring and had it repurposed into what she called her “disengagement ring.” I was inspired by my mother who did that very same thing years ago after her divorce. Turns out my mother was ahead of her time.

Repurposing jewelry is a trend and we’re not talking just engagement rings – Grandma’s diamond brooch? Mon’s sapphire dinner ring? Dad’s cufflinks? All of these family heirlooms could come out of the dark and live a new life and Baribault Jewelers can make it happen!

Based in Glastonbury, Connecticut, Baribault Jewelers is a family owned business and since 1948 they have been offering their customers quality fine jewelry as well as repair. In 2015 they added Repurposing to their options. “It’s time for people to take those family heirlooms out of the vault and transform them into jewelry they’ll want to wear every day,” said Christina Baribault-Ortiz, co-owner of Baribault Jewelers.  “Whether its rings, bracelets, pins, medals, necklaces or earrings, our team is up for the challenge of taking your most meaningful piece and reimaging it to be meaningfully you.”

It doesn’t matter if you’re on the East Coast, West Coast or in-between, the staff at Baribault can work with you. Got something sitting in a safe-deposit box? Give it a new life and yourself a piece of jewelry you will wear every day. Set up a time online for Baribault to give you a call and make that transformation!

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