The Story of an Item Tumblr project is flat out brilliant

There is something incredibly fascinating about the lives of vintage items before they reach us (a topic I chatted about here back in 2011), as well as and how they came to be a part of our own worlds. Add in what they mean to a vintage lover once they're in our closets, shelves, bookcases, you name it, and I can scarcely think of more enjoyable reading for a fan of days long past, yet perpetually dear to our hearts in the here and now.

Very recently I was contacted by a lovely lady named Zohar from Israel who had launched a Tumblr blog called Story of an Item. The premise behind this blogging project is that Zohar contacts vintage loving folks and asks them to share about one of their favourite vintage items or one that is otherwise of importance and/or substantial interest to that individual. It could be a piece from their shop (if they're a seller), a once in a lifetime find, a beloved family heirloom, a stellar flea market score - anything at all. Where the item came from matters less than what it means to that person.

In their own words entirely (aka, she does not, at present, interview them in the traditional interview sense), Zohar encourages folks to share about this piece and their love of the past in general. She then couples that text with one or more photographs of the item and weaves together beautiful posts for her newly launched Tumblr project.

{One of the photos of me sporting the item that I chatted about in my Story of an Item project post. This piece will always be as near and dear to my heart as any vintage item could possibly be.}

I was flat out honoured to be amongst the first people to appear on Zohar’s Tumblr blog, with the post about one of my absolute most treasured vintage items ever - and why it holds such a poignant place in my heart - appearing there last weekend. You can check out that post here.

There is such a deeply rooted sense of beauty to letting someone describe why a certain matters to them in the ways that it does, in their own words and I am nothing short of enamored with this project. Tumblr is the one uber big mainstream social media site that I've never joined (in part because there are already far too few hours in the day to be as active as I might usually like on the ones that I am on), but I tell you, her project is making me give serious thought to doing just that for the first time ever.

In addition to shining the spotlight on me, my blog, and my Etsy shop in that lovely post, Zohar has also featured two other well known vintage aficionados so far (Solanah from Vixen Vintage and Jamie Lee from Chatter Blossom). I'm nothing short of enthralled by this project and can hardly wait to see who she shines the spotlight on next. Whether I join Tumblr or not, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be following this project closely and reading each new entry in it with the deepest of interest.

If you would like to take part yourself, please contact Zohar by email. She's looking to focus solely on vintage clothing and accessories at this point in time, so please keep that in mind if you want to take part in this great project.

Thank you so much for involving me with Story of an Item, Zohar. I am touched through and through that you did. Keep up the great work. You've really hit on something memorably fantastic here!

11 questions and answers about my life as a blogger

Back when this year was still in its infancy, I wrote two detailed post on the topic of blogging (30 tips that will help you succeed as a new blogger & 10 harsh truths that will make you a better blogger, respectively), which based on the number of page views they received have proven to not only be some of the most popular of this year, but of all time here on Chronically Vintage.

As 2014 winds down, I thought it would be fun to shine the spotlight on the act of blogging again. However, in this case we’ll be chatting about the history of my blog itself and some of the elements that go into running it via a series of eleven questions that I discovered on my friend Bonita's absolutely lovely blog, Lavender & Twill, also back in January of this year.






1. When did you first start blogging and why? Chronically Vintage sprang to life on April 17, 2009. As I've recounted from time-to-time in various posts and interviews over the years, the main reason behind why I started my blog was because I needed a creative outlet in my life that wasn't focused on my health, which had been going through an especially hellish period at the time.

The name of my blog, Chronically Vintage, stems from the fact that I didn't want to simply be seen/defined as being chronically ill (or thinking of myself as such, for that matter), but rather for the focus in my world to be on something significantly more positive, my lifelong passion for vintage. I'd always loved writing and had already run some other (non-vintage related) websites and blogs before then, so one evening in April when I was feeling rather rough on the health front, I decided to start this site and doing so has turned out to be one of the best and most life changing decisions I've ever made.



{From the very earliest days, I've had a clear vision for my blog and desire to see it flourish. I'm happy to put in the long hours and hard work required to make that happen and couldn't imagine my life without vintage blogging in it at this point. Image source.}



2. Have you had any past online presence? Oh, let me count the ways... :D I have, yes, and each was very important to me unto itself at the time, but I haven't been involved with most of them for a few years now. The most substantial would be that from 2004 to 2014, I ran a peer-to-peer website that I founded for folks who shared one of my chronic illnesses (interstitial cystitis/PBS). I made the difficult choice to shut it down after it was hacked again (by completely random cyber hackers from Eastern Europe), because rebuilding it was not something I could work into my life and work schedule at that point in time. I wrote hundreds of articles and recipes for that site, which was an incredibly important part of my early years battling multiple chronic illnesses and it will always hold a deeply special place in my heart.


3. When did you become serious about your blog? I've never been the type to do things halfway, so I'd honestly say that I was serious about my blog from the very first post onward. Because I was coming from a website and professional freelance/ghost writing background, I hit the ground running, often penning lengthy, informative, highly researched posts and burning the candle at both ends to get my blog off the ground and well established in the vintage community early on.


4. What was your first blog post? It was called First Day of Life and was a simple, heartfelt introductory post (the image from which I would reuse in 2013 to celebrate my blog's 4th birthday).


5. What have been your biggest challenges blogging? From day one, my biggest challenge has been keeping my blog afloat in the face of life with more than a dozen different severe, complex chronic illnesses. Though there have been times (chiefly in 2010 and '11), when I thought I might be forced to throw in the towel, but thankfully, I held on and though that possibility is a constant in my life, I'm immensely happy to say that I've been able to weather each and every storm on that front, stick with it, and create a blog that has become not only a passionate pastime, but also in recent years, a full-time income generating career.




{Though I may have substantially less energy and "good days" (health wise) than most folks, I don't let that stop me from putting my all into my blog, day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year. I just grab a nap, take the occasional vacation, try to pace myself and start fresh again the next day, spurred on my an endless passion for what I do and the fantastic support of my online friends and readers. Image source.}



6. What is the most rewarding thing about blogging? This list could go on for miles, but I would that three top entries on it for me are: the friendships I've made with other vintage lovers around the world (an especially important point since I'm the only such person that I know in my own town), the perpetual inspiration and knowledge that I glean from my fellow bloggers (and social media friends), and the amazing feeling that comes from turning a blog on what is arguably a rather niche subject in the scope of society as a whole, and parlaying it into not just my honest to goodness job, as mentioned above, but the also catalyst for for my Etsy vintage shop (which opened its doors in May of this year).


7. What is the most discouraging thing about blogging? I'm not the type to get discouraged easily ("tenacious" might as well be my middle name) and I love to learn and thrive from what different kinds of obstacles and challenges present me with, eking out the silver lining from any situation. That said, I think that one of the most discouraging things about blogging is that when push comes to shove, you'll often quickly learn that you have quite a few fair-weather fans and friends out there. For someone like me, for whom loyalty, honesty and sincerity are exceedingly important, this point will always have the sting of a scorpion's tail.


8. What is your lasting inspiration or motivation (of blogging)? For me it has been showing my chronic illnesses that they don't have complete control of my life (try as they may!), that despite having countless more than legitimate reasons not to blog - to spare myself from the work, stress, and physical demands of running both a popular website and thriving Etsy shop - I can do just that and succeed with it. Each time I post a new entry (or list a new item in my shop), I'm reconfirming to myself that I'm still able to be a productive member of society, despite the endless challenges, crippling chronic pain, and near debilitating fatigue that comes with my medical situation.


9. What is your blogging dirty secret? I honestly don't think I have one. Definitely one of my best (positive) blogging secrets - which isn't actually all that hush-hush, given that I've written posts about it before - is that I am an ardent devotee of using a blogging schedule.


10. What is your current goal as a blogger? To continue to grow my blog's reach. The vintage blogging world has dwindled somewhat in the past two-three years, in part because of the explosion in popularity of various social media sites, such as Pinterest and Instagram, and there are only so many folks in our wonderful community that I can reach. I would like to see Chronically Vintage gain wider traction in the mainstream fashion and lifestyle blogging worlds. I'd also absolutely love to pen a book on vintage fashion (or another vintage related topic) one day, and perhaps either create my own or collaborate with an existing vintage reproduction company to produce line of clothing.




{It's a joy and an honour to be a well known part of the online vintage community. As we head towards 2015 and beyond, I would absolutely love to continue to connect with an even broader array of readers and new friends out there in the larger scope of the web and help spread the vintage lifestyle goodness near and far. Image source.}



11. Have you learned or become passionate about anything through blogging that caught you by surprise? I'd say that through blogging, my passion for earlier and later decades - not just my beloved 1940s and 50s - has deepened significantly. I've learned that you never know what amazing opportunity is coming around the corner (for example, collaborations with fantastic companies, being interviewed by print and online magazines, and getting to meet fellow vintage bloggers in person), that patience does indeed pay off, that you can never be too prepared (but that by the same token, spontaneity has its perks, too), that when you do what you truly love, it rarely feels like work, and that there is always, without a doubt, more to learn - amongst countless other things that have come about and bettered by life thanks to the act and love of blogging.

♥ ♥ ♥

If you're a blogger yourself, why not have a go at these questions? They're a great way to record where you're at in your blogging journey at this point and to reflect on how far you've already come. In little more than four months, Chronically Vintage will turn six years old and I'm very grateful that throughout that time, at various points, I've intentionally written about how things were going with my own site. Looking back on these posts - just as I'm sure I will with this one down the road - I see how far I've come, where I hope to go next, and am reminded of some of the many reasons why blogging is so phenomenally near and dear to me.

Thank you very much, Bonita, for posting about this enjoyable blogging Q&A several months ago now. I knew the moment that I saw it, I wanted to give these questions a spin myself, I just didn't know that this year would prove to be so wildly busy that I wouldn't get a chance to do so until three weeks from the very end of it. No time like the present though, especially since the holiday season itself isn't exactly famous for being the least hectic time of the year. :)

My first photo shoot with the Pacific Ocean + thoughts on being recognized in public

Outfit details

White crochet snood: Handmade gift from a dear friend loving friend ♥
Hair flowers: Assorted sources
Gold bow earrings: Payless
1950s red plaid cropped shirt: eBay Vintage red and gold anchor brooch: eBay (I think)
Red vintage style faux leather cross body bag: eBay
1940s style side button jeans: Freddies of Pinewood
Gold tone metal bangle bracelets: Payless
Red and black vintage plastic bangles: Assorted sources
Black 1940s style oxford shoes: Thrifted (from Salvation Army)
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red


Photography by Tony Cangiano  

♥ ♥ ♥

Fame is a funny thing. It can be fleeting, fickle, fantastic, funny, fabulous, and, for some, even infuriating. I don't have any firsthand (or even secondhand) experience with mainstream fame in in the slightest. As someone who is mind blowingly shy and uber introverted, I was definitely not the kind of child who longed for a career in that could project me in such a direction (say, like a singer or actress).

No, in my youngest days I wanted to be either a nurse or a doctor, then as my childhood progressed and straight on into my teens, I was 100% certain I wanted to be a chef (and I adamantly believe I would have gone on to be one had I not fallen severely chronically ill about a month after my 18th birthday).

It's theoretically possible that those career paths, particularly that of being a chef, could have led to fame, but it would not have been the driving reason behind why I wanted that job at all. My life, as you likely know, did not end up with me wearing a stethoscope nor (in a professional capacity) standing in front of a hot stove all day. It took many detours and was eerily silent some years, when I was too ill to bring home even so much as one piece of proverbial bacon.

I worked numerous jobs in my late teens, but from my 20s onward, I have been self-employed (a heading under which I include working, and drawing a wage from, being employed by the online media company that my husband and I run) for every job I've held, including during my mid-twenties when I was a part-time professional photographer (I job I loved with every fiber of my being, but unfortunately had to step back from because of the continued worsening of some of my medical conditions).

These days, on top of working for Netrich Media, I have the incredible pleasure and honour - which I do not take for granted for one tiny second - of being a professional vintage blogger and Etsy vintage shop owner. I get to spend my days writing about, photographing (thus indulging in that passion of mine in an awesome new way), wearing, discussing, shopping for, researching, and surrounding myself with vintage. It a job that I can do from home when my health permits and which I truly adore and feel grateful for.

Vintage has helped give me a career that is compatible with my circumstances and which I can hold my head up high when I tell people what I do for a living (believe me when I say that some folks, wrongly of course, judged me incredibly harshly during those periods in my life when I was chronically ill and didn't have a defined career at the time; it was as though they couldn't fathom someone in their 20s being so ill that they couldn't work, which for many stretches of time the last 12.5 years, I have been).

I mention all this to led to the point I begun this post with: fame. Over the years I have achieved a definite degree of notoriety amongst the vintage blogging world. I've being interviewed by numerous magazines, blogs and websites (and the BBC); have an active social media prescience, and blog prolifically, so it probably isn't a huge surprise that I'd stand to get recognized in public every now and then.

I think part of the reason why it always knocks my socks off when such happens is because I live in a small town in British Columbia, Canada. Penticton is beautiful and I love residing here, but it isn't exactly the sort of vintage Mecca that Portland, LA, New York, or London is and in fact, I haven't been recognized by a stranger on the street here yet. Each time it has happened, I've either been in a larger city in this province or in Alberta.

While on our stellar holiday to Vancouver Island earlier this fall, I was floored and very touched to be recognized by multiple people, both on the street and at the Victoria Vintage Expo that I attended (including, very sweetly, when I had three young ladies who were shopping together recognize, rush over to, and proceed to hang out with me for several minutes - it was the closest I think I've ever come to being on the receiving end of a fan girl experience :)).

One such encounter took place at a consignment store in the utterly charming seaside town of Sidney, which is the first place you'll see when you disembark the ferry upon reaching Vancouver Island (if you're headed to Victoria or any point in that general direction, I mean).

While sourcing a few pieces of jewelry for my Etsy shop, I was approached by a lovely lady who asked if I had a blog. I replied that I did and said who I was, and she very excitedly said that she thought it was me and had to come over and say hello. She too was in town on holiday (from Alberta) and we had a marvelous time chatting for a few minutes and latter ran into one another again on the same day when Tony and I made our way down to the wharf area in Sidney to do a shoot for the the photos that appear in today's post.

Never say never, of course, but objectively I doubt I'll ever be world famous in the context of mainstream society, and that's totally okay. Most of us will never walk that path, after all. But there is, I must tell you, something fabulously fun and rewarding about having a complete stranger know who you are and want to interact with you. I never take such experiences for granted and cherish every last one of them that happens to me - and all the more so because, again, I really don't live in a part of the world that is filled with fellow vintage lovers, wearers or bloggers.

Meeting that lady put a huge smile on my face, which was certainly a good thing when it came time to shoot photos. The fact that I finally, for the first time ever, got to a photo shoot for my blog with the majestic Pacific Ocean (others would also happen during our time on the Island, and I'll be posting about them in the near future as well), certainly helped to cement it there even further.

For a day of fun second hand shopping, sightseeing, and driving, I sported my trusty Freddies of Pinewood 1940s style side buttons jeans, a delightful 1950s cropped waist plaid shirt (if I could clone this shirt in a hundred other patterns and colours, I would in the quickest of heartbeats), a snood that I received as a gift from a dear friend last year, three hair flowers, an assortment of plastic and metal bangles, and an anchor shaped vintage brooch to tie into the nautical-ness of our location.

Though it wasn't gloriously golden, the sun was still out in full force that day, so – no surprise here - I was Squinty McSquinty again in some of these snaps, but I don't mind. I was just elated to capture the memory of that day on camera during one of the rare pauses in the rain while we were on Vancouver Island (it rained for some, or all of, nearly every day we were there).

This trip was absolutely fantastic from start to finish and I loved that it included so many fantastic experiences, very much including being recognized by several people throughout our time there. If any of you who did so should happen to be reading this post, thank you again for approaching me and saying hello. I loved getting to meet you and really appreciate your support of my blog, which, after all led you to know who I am in the first place. :)

Pacific Standard deviation

 
Over the course of my blog's life, I've had the wonderful pleasure of being interviewed by a wide array of magazines, websites, and even BBC radio, and running through those various interviews was always a common thread of sorts created by a general set of questions pertaining to my interest in history, how long I've loved vintage, why I wore old school fashions and so on. I enjoy questions like this and don't mind that sometimes I need to come up with creative ways to rephrase what is essentially the same answer time and time again (the truth is the truth after all!).
 
Change can be a good thing though and so it was with great interest and a certain sense of the unknown that I embarked on being interviewed by Pacific Standard magazine earlier this year, whose questions, by and large, were anything but run-of-the-mill.

Indeed, over the course of many emails containing a collective 8,000+ words, phone calls with two staff members, and a photo shoot (done by Tony - ahh, the perks of being married to someone who is a professional photographer on top of their busy corporate 9-5) dictated by a specific set of guidelines the magazine required, I was put through my paces when it came to a substantial array of vintage related topics.

By and large, Pacific Standard - a terrific bimonthly magazine that focuses on current American and international issues pertaining to the environment, education, economics, health, science, and society - was not interested in my favourite red lipstick, where I bought that cute 40s tilt hat, or what my first memory of liking vintage was. No, they, not surprisingly, came-a-calling to discuss my thoughts on the subculture of vintage as a whole and what it's like to live with one foot planted firmly in the past, while still being an active member of today's culture.

With the rapid fire finesse of that sort that few aside from journalists and lawyers can level at those they are addressing, the chap who was interviewing me shot thought provoking question after question at me on topics pertaining to the vintage subculture, my place within it, my views on the good and the bad (i.e., misogyny and racism) elements of the mid-twentieth century alike, and scores of other topics which few, if any, interviews I'd ever had before even so much as flirted with.

This was not a fashion or vintage lifestyle magazine interview and that point shone through in each question, most of which came with follow up queries that I felt were intended to get a precisely honed answer from of me. It was a spirited few weeks, those email filled ones with Pacific Standard, and when all was said and done, I wasn't quite sure what to expect when it came to what would actually appear in print.

{The cover of the July/August 2014 edition of Pacific Standard magazine which includes the recent interview I had with this engaging, highly modern magazine. It was, to say the least, a deviation from the the usual types of interviews that I tend to have with publications – so hence the punny wordplay in title of this post. Image from Pacific Standard’s Facebook page.}

I knew that it was to be a relatively short piece (I'd been informed of as much early on), part of an ongoing series of the magazine's which examines various subcultures and other smaller groups within the bigger mainframe of society. However, having sensed (whether such was actually the case or not) that they were looking for comments amongst my replies which might incite a touch of controversy or ruffle a few feathers, I will admit to feeling both trepidation and excitement about seeing the final article.

It wasn't until just last week when the print copy that Pacific Standard kindly sent my way arrived that I finally had a chance to do just that. In short note point form, weaving together snippets and lines from various answers I'd given, the interviewer selected a modest sized handful of my statements (amongst scores of others that didn't make it into print) and put together a fun piece that aimed to provide a quick, engaging, informative overview of what the world and daily lives of those who delight in vintage is all about it.

Would I have ideally liked to have seen certain other points that I made there, too? Yes, for sure, but I was able to at long last at least breath a certain sense of relief because my words weren't twisted so as to take what I said out of context (always a risk with any magazine, newspaper, or other media interview - not a reflection on Pacific Standard in the slightest).

It's worth nothing again that this piece wasn't meant to be just about me. I was momentarily the voice for the entire vintage adoring world as a whole, a point that I was acutely aware of when answering Pacific Standard's questions, and I hope dearly that those who read the piece from within in our yesteryear loving world will feel that I did a good job of delivering on that front (to do so, you will need to get a hold of a digital or print copy of Pacific Standard).

I am wholeheartedly grateful to Pacific Standard for this interview and that, out of all the vintage loving folks in the whole wide world, they honed in on, and wanted to talk with, me.

Doing so with them was outside of my comfort zone, unique, and laced with plenty of hard hitting questions that went considerably deeper and further towards the marrow of my passion for vintage, my view on our subculture, and why it's important to celebrate the past than any other I'd been a part of before ever had. For that reason alone, amongst many others, I will always be happy that I had a chance to be interviewed by a magazine where vintage was not at its heart in the slightest.

Comfort zones, like a cozy and much loved vintage sweater, are warm and wonderful things, but they can lull us into a sleepy stupor, so to speak, if they're all we surround ourselves with. It is important, at least every now and then, to put on a sheer blouse, tweed suit, pair of leather pants, or in this case, take part in an interview with a prestigious current affairs magazine, and show to ourselves and the world that we're able to hold on our in a wide array of situations, be they sartorial, journalistic, or darn near anything else.

Guess who Queens of Vintage crowned Vintage Queen #136!

...Hint, you're reading her blog right now. :)

Santa can skip my stockings right on by this year, because the coolest and most exciting Christmas present one could possibly hope for as a vintage blogger came my way yesterday morning when Queens of Vintage dubbed me Vintage Queen #136.

I've been a devoted fan of Queens of Vintage's stellar site ever since it launched back in 2009, and have especially enjoyed their Queens (and Kings and Couples) of Vintage series from the very beginning. Not only has it introduced me to several vintage folks I didn't previously know, but it has also warmed my heart time and time again when I saw many of my fellow old school adoring friends from around the world make it onto this venerable list.



{A screenshot of the Queens of Vintage's post from yesterday in which they very sweetly named as me Vintage Queen #136. Click here to read the outfit photo filled full interview.}



For years now (since the series started, to be exact), I've harboured a secret longing to one day wear the Queen of Vintage crown, and am pinching myself like there's no tomorrow over the fact that this incredible honour actually happened to me. I sincerely mean it when I say that this is my favourite Christmas present this year - in addition to being one of the absolute biggest highlights not only of 2013, but of all the years I've been a die-hard vintage lover.

Thank you so tremendously much, Queens of Vintage, you've made me the happiest lass in Canada!!!