Rachel gets her own blog entry!

This is Rachel.

Rachel wins the shopper-of-the-month award.

She got a special little discount today because 

a) She bought three dresses, including the salmon pink poet-sleeved number above and the tomato red sweater-dress mini below:

b) She has a 22 and a half inch waist , making her the only person within a 100 mile radius to fit into the tulip dress everybody's been drooling over:

and 

c) She's the only customer who has ever admitted to reading this blog  (Somehow she found the blog before she found the store--but, hey-- whatever!).

Thank You, Rachel! 

Gallery of dubious trend ideas

Remember a couple months ago when I mentioned starting a Paris garter trend? ...

From Five and Diamond Vintage

Yeah, never happened.

Today, as it rained outside I managed to piss away at least an hour dredging up lame fashion trend ideas out of my iphoto library.

 Some more original than others, none worth persuing.  Play along with me anyway... 

1) Corset as outer garment:
(seen it, been there, done that)

2) Sleeves removed but cuffs saved and worn:
(I just loved the big mother-of pearl buttons)

3) Dog collars
(mine has a local dog-shaped tag, from 1911, a fantastic charm)

4) Similarly, cat collars, but worn on the ankle:
(the little bell keeps the birdies safe from harm)

5) Vintage sweater clasps worn between the lapels of an old scoop-neck vest:
(This one I think is quite viable actually)

And ...last but not least---
6) Hair Nets!:



My first attempt was very Donald Trump!

Back to School

Back to School Window, 2005:
(Sure wish I could find more crazy pants-)


Back to School, 2008:

Alan has done a beautiful job building wooden shop windows from scratch, replacing the old metal one on the Diamond Street side, and the one that was boarded up on the Fifth Street side.

Flippin' Leather and Lace

I'm stealing a moment on this rainy morning to post some pics while I do laundry.
Things have been crrrrraaazy lately -- I still haven't recovered from Labor Day weekend...

On Saturday I went on a house call here:
...a 3 million dollar estate on the Hudson that had a fantasy attic full of old stuff (not to mention a 25 foot ladder to the widows walk tower), including tons of very old clothing, lace,  and sewing notions (yum). The owners had emptied out trunk after trunk of stuff onto the floor to let me pick through.
Too fun. I made a pile, and made an offer.

Back at the store later that day, I let this customer paw through one of the boxes that I hadn't even gone through yet.  
She had her own little quiet treasure hunt going on on the floor, and dug up this stunning lace victorian dress I hadn't seen yet. I gave her a price and she bought it-I think to get married in.

The next day I sold this black lace flapper dress, also from the lot, about 2 hours after hanging it up behind the counter.It has a divine asymmetrical hemline.

On Monday I was exhausted and almost didn't open the shop. Pernille stopped in to say Hi and I asked to her model this new leather motorcycle pullover I'd just gotton on Thursday. Pretty hot, no?:
 She ended up buying it.

We also had a rare celebrity appearance at Five and Diamond... Parker Posey--and three delightful friends
who seemed to have a great time time in the shop playing dress-up. Here's Parker in the 40s rayon dress she bought, zipping up her friend in the 70s maxi.
You can hardly seem them in the pic, but Parker also tried on the tap shoes and showed us her "untapped" tap-dance talents. Shucks I didn't get that picture.
Here they all are with Gracie the dog, sitting on the newly-painted stoop (Thank You Alan!)

All told (not really, this is the super-abridged synopsis), it was Five and Diamond's best weekend ever. Thank You everyone!