Member Spotlight: Catseye Vintage

Whenever we want to drool over vintage clothing (and who doesn’t now and then), Catseye Vintage is one of our favorite shops. We recently talked with shop owner Debbie Cantrelle about her love of vintage fashion.

 

1950s Hand-beaded Chantilly lace over cashmere sweater

Q. When did you develop your love for vintage clothing and accessories?

My love affair with vintage clothes and accessories started when my always chic and stylish Grandmother McDaniel gave me a beautiful hand beaded 1950s white on white cardigan sweater while I was still in high school. I fell in love with that cardigan and started shopping at local vintage shops and antique fairs. Soon I was buying more sweaters and began collecting colored rhinestone jewelry and ladies suits from the 1940s and early 1950s. 

After a few years of buying and collecting, I started 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. 

And yes, although my Grandmother is gone, I still have that cardigan sweater and treasure it. 

World War II Era Rayon Crepe Cocktail Dress

Q. If you could live in a different era, would you? And which one? 

I would love to have been an adult in the 1940s and early 1950s. Everything about that era appeals to me.   

Q. For your personal collection, do you like to have a lot of the same type of thing or same era? 

As far as vintage clothes and accessories go, I still collect vintage cardigan sweaters in all color and trim combinations, colored rhinestone jewelry, and 1940s suits and rayon dresses.  I also collect vintage handbags, 40s platform shoes, and jadeite and Depression glass in green and pink.  

60s Simon Wicker box purse