Who am I?

claireshaeffer

claireshaeffer

VFG Member
When I joined I was much too shy to describe myself and what I do. I'm now a continuing member for several years and I'm really not at all shy once I know you.

I'm a professional writer and my expertise is garment construction. I collect high-end ready to wear and haute couture which have construction techniques that I can write about. I write for Threads Magazine and Vogue Pattern Magazine. My in-current project is a textbook on couture tailoring.

My membership in VFG is invaluable; I learn a lot from other members and they've helped me to see things I had missed.

If you are new, please add a short bio and what your interests are. If you are not new (notice I didn't use "old"), tell us again.

Claire B. Shaeffer
Author, Couture Sewing Techniques
 
When things calm down in my world, I'll share. I'm new too.

But have I seen your work before? Tell me, have you written for Vogue Knitting too?
 
Claire,

You are much too modest! We know you have written at least 2 (or more) fabulous sewing books thus far, so please mention those here also. Your expertise is legendary, my dear.

Since it is the holidays, many members are not around as much to see this new thread. Maybe we need to start a new thread with a title like "Member Bios" or similar? I love this idea as even though I have been a VFG member for over 7 years I still know very little about most of our members.

After Jan 1st I will write a bio on myself and post it here.
 
I am a Respiratory Therapist. I began selling my daughter's outgrown dresses on eBay in 1999, having realized I could afford to dress her in higher-end pretties if I re-sold them after use. Soon I began to scour the many local thrift stores for higher quality children's clothes that I could immediately turn into cash on eBay (that was the good ol' days!) About 15 years ago, I came across two lovely 1950's women's dresses in one of the thrifts. I thought, "There must be a market for this stuff". I bought them and looked up the labels on my computer when I got home (pre-smartphone days). Ceil Chapman and Irene Lentz... what a surprise! Well, I was addicted after that!
 
I have worked for a family run (not mine :) ) Haberdashery that has been going some 40 years now. Since I was 15, although I've done other jobs I continue to work in haberdashery as I enjoy it so much. Today (thanks to another VFG member - Liza!) I also work as an actress and supporting artiste/extra in feature films and corporate videos (I studied drama at school until I prolapsed a disc at 17).
In my spare time I sing in Opera - I have my first leading role as Oscar in A Masked Ball this coming spring :D and I also make costumes for the company's period productions (doubly fun this time as I will get to tackle the menswear!)
I sell vintage clothing and accessories online and I specialise in vintage footwear. My love of vintage stems from the dressing up box of vintage clothing my mother kept in the attic - lots of nightwear and huge fur coats (The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe was a big hit when I was young :D ). I have an identical twin sister with whom I share my passion for all the above.
 
For me I guess, vintage fashion was just bound to happen. My mom has always been sewing her own clothing, as well as knitting and other handicrafts. She made me things too when I was a kid (every now and then she still does when I have a challenge for her... like recreating Schiaparelli's famous tromple-l'oeil sweater :hysterical:). I learned all of this too, and enjoyed it, though I rarely had the patience to make something for myself. I've been collecting Barbie and other fashion dolls ever since I outgrew playing with them, so I sewed and knitted for them, and also customised dolls - which became a big thing when I found a fashion doll collector's club, of which I was a very active member for some time. Of course vintage dolls and fashions were a big thing for us collectors! Around the same time, my mom started to collect vintage American costume jewelry and vintage powder compacts. Hunting for vintage jewelry in London on a trip together introduced me to my first vintage shops and to the idea that the fashions I enjoyed in seeing in old Hollywood movies, could actually still be found - and worn! My best friend introduced me to thrifting. She was buying the conservative kind of clothes she needed for work and that she'd never wear privately, whilst I was hunting for vintage and just generally exciting stuff - I have always dressed as I like, and not cared overly much for current fashions - which earned me a lot of snarky comments at school. Mostly I bought evening wear at first - because of the glamour, and who doesn't want to feel like a princess? I started looking for flea markets, thrifts and vintage shops on trips abroad and I started thrifting here at home too, more and more finding things that were unique and cool and still practical to wear every day, and starting to incorporate vintage into my everyday wardrobe. I came to the VFG forums whilst researching a label and started to visit here on and off, till I found that they were so much more friendly than all the doll collector forums I was on! The more time I spent here, the more my interest in vintage grew and soon I opened my first Etsy shop. Now I have two - my main one is for vintage patterns, the other is for vintage jewelry, which I of course love as well, and vintage clothes too occasionally.
The vintage patterns started with some old Burda magazines, and my making a dress from a 50s magazine pattern - something I'd never attempted before in sewing, but it worked. My mom now collects vintage Burda magazines from the 50s to the 70s, but also older sewing magazines with patterns, and uses mostly those patterns to sew her clothes from. When I have time to sew, I sew things for myself from vintage patterns, and I use vintage knitting patterns too. So we have inspired eachother to a lot over the years - I have a small collection of vintage compacts too...
I have worked in the travel industry since I was 16 - and still love it. I'm a product manager now, and for occasions that call for business wear, I proudly wear vintage or secondhand clothes. I barely buy new-new clothes as I find enough nice things in thrift or vintage shops - or make things I need myself from vintage patterns. When I travel, no matter if for business or pleasure, I always look out for vintage and thrift shops or flea markets (I once managed to go to a vintage shop and buy something between two business appointments in Sydney :hysterical: - there's always an opportunity!), and a special pleasure of course is to meet fellow VFG members on those trips! And of course I also still hunt for vintage Barbie things too for my collection!
 
This is a fantastic thread!

I am 34 and live with my lovely husband, two darling cats and one sassy cocker spaniel in balmy Buffalo, New York. As well as a serious obsession with old clothing, I am a glassblower and enjoy making old time music (Slow Boat to China, anyone?) with my husband. We both sing and he plays the banjo. I make and collect miniatures and have two dollhouses full of vintage tinies. I also wait tables at a small diner, and love it. I am not on social media, and this is the first forum I have ever participated in. I feel super lucky to be able to learn and share with so many wise vintage lovers! My first vintage dress that wasn't a dress-up box mess was my Bat Mitzvah dress. I wore a navy and white polka dot 50's party dress and felt like a star! I also learned immediately how vintage textiles must often be worn with care, as the underarm of my dress split during the dancing at the party! In junior high, I thrifted an embarrassing number of those polyester old lady elastic waist pants in very shocking color combos and patterns. First day of seventh grade I wore a turquoise and bright yellow plaid pair and painted my fingernails to match (and was very proud of myself omg...) I continued thrifting throughout high school, wearing a 70's wedding dress to my senior prom. I also worked in a thrift when I was a teenager. I worked in the back room sorting, and the ladies who had worked there for decades showed me that we could pick through stuff before it got onto the floor (heaven!). I began collecting vintage to sell just a couple of years ago, and have realized that I enjoy collecting, learning and sharing more than I do selling. As my closet is not an infinite dimension, I've started to slow down on the collecting until I can make some room for more.

Hope others chime in, this was fun!
 
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