​On THIS day, March 20th, I am celebrating two things:

International Storytellers Day AND the opening of my Instagram Shop  @thepewterthimble.

The Pewter Thimble is my collection of vintage and secondhand finds, sourced the world over and shipping from Rome, Italy .  

Clothing is my preferred form of storytelling.  
I like wearing pieces that hold a memory, have lived a life, have been loved before.
I value old things, love researching old labels and believe imperfections deserve mending or appreciating.  

Currently, I am refinishing a wooden handle on a vintage parasol.  Cleaning, sanding and varnishing this piece will help it last through, generations of use.  As I work, I wonder; where has this parasol been, who carried it and when.  Whoever it was, I am sure they would want someone else to enjoy it again.

The Pewter Thimble logo is a reminder that mending is an art form, one that I myself practice.  I am thrilled to be bringing beautiful pieces back out into the world, to people that will love and care for them for years to come.
Swing by @thepewterthimble and say hello .... I promise to have a story to share.

When Covid shut down our lives, I was hustling daily with private styling clients: Cleaning closets, donating and rehousing discarded items, sourcing wardrobe staples. Being a stylist is 90% carrying products back and forth from client to retailer; it’s physically demanding. I was ignoring my sciatica and popping Tylenol like Tic-Tacs.

In addition, I had begun collaborations with a few local secondhand shops, wholesaling vintage to curate their collections. I was really excited about spending my time treasure hunting -- more time using my skills and less time selling my skills.

​On my best days, I was designing and creating one-of-a-kind wearable pieces with local artisans. A recent showing of my work at an art gallery in Rome had encouraged my confidence and highlighted my ability to make.

The description may sound glamorous, but the reality was that the majority of my time was spent on public transportation in Rome (if you know, then you know), catching a quick coffee between appointments, and donating my time hosting clothing exchanges for my community. A normal day was 10 hours away from my house, with minimal financial return. I worked 7 days a week. Always.

I’m also an Immigrant in Italy, torn between two lives and was only half a person in each. To my family and friends in the US, I was hard to reach in another time zone, living a life they could hardly imagine, but that they assume was something close to La Dolce Vita. To my community in Rome, I was constantly in a phone call with family in the US and “too busy” to meet for an aperitivo. They were eager to attend my clothing exchanges, but didn't know what I 'did for a living'.

I was tired. I had been hustling for years, investing in opportunities and collaborations that weren't fruitful or fulfilling. I spent more time and energy volunteering or collaborating in unpaid work than I could afford to do. I was so busy making each day work that I was without energy to look at the year. The life. The world.

All of that stopped in 2020.

When the world is on fire and millions of people are dying, your ETHICS become clear. I have had a lot of time to reevaluate my business and every other aspect of my life. Time to remember what I want and where I have come from. Time to reassess my own value has been priceless.

My work has always been in dressing people. I began as a costumer, moved onto an eBay shop, and eventually went into peoples’ homes to develop rituals that serve their own lifestyle. I love helping people create a new relationship with consumerism that improves their lives, style, and efficiency.

I see the world before me as a pair of discarded jeans: worth mending, even at a cost. We cannot just throw it all out. We have to mend, repair, and learn the value behind the price tag -- for ourselves, each other, and our Levi's. Every pair has a story.

The story of me can be reduced to this:
I find wonder in the forgotten.
I value the lives of makers and crafts people the world over.
Everything for me is political - because policies affect humans, and humans deserve justice and equality.
I am working on my allyship as an intersectional feminist and believe that Black Lives Matter. I want this to be a part of my daily life. I want to have the energy to be helpful to the causes I believe in. Hustling burns us out and holds us back.

Everything stopped in 2020, and it gave me the opportunity to refocus my energy in to things I believe in. For THIS I am grateful.
Saturday, I open my new Instagram shop and I have hope:
I hope I bring pieces of beauty into peoples’ lives, the world over.
I hope I show my value and ethics in the time i spend repairing forgotten things.

I hope I continue to find the courage to tell real stories, because La Dolce Vita is just a movie, and our realities are bitter sweet.

May the clarity brought in 2020 stay with me forever.
May we all shop with our hearts in the coming years.

As an avid second-hand shopper for more than 20 years, I have found my fair share of amazing pieces.  Still, I have my favorites. This silk-cashmere, Hermés shawl is one of my greatest buys of all time. 
I found it at a secondhand, warehouse sale, where everything was in chaos and the bins were overflowing.  This particular warehouse (which is now unfortunately closed) was near my hometown in Oregon.  I went there 2x a week during college, to wander and clear my brain and hunt for additions to my costume and vintage collection.  I knew the in's and out's of this shop.  I reached into the scarf section and knew to look underneath- because the heaviest and highest quality fabrics often sink to the bottom.  I could feel the cashmere before I saw the Hermés symbol.
The Hermés Marine Naive scarf depicts the life of Henry F. Smith, an English sailor in 1880, was created in 1992 and never re-issued. Big ships sail an Impressionistic sea in lovely colors. Jet black border adds drama to these beautiful scenes.
It is 65% Cashmere and 35% silk, and an absolute pleasure to touch.  
This shawl is 140 cm x 140 cm and is the perfect wrap to take on flights and road trips.  A little research on the item revealed its $1,200 original price tag .This  Marin Naive pattern was designed by Philippe Dumas and is mainly khaki and black in color with painterly depictions of ships to the center. It is marked, “Henry F. Smith Sailor” on a banner within the pattern, “Hermès” on the upper right and “PhD”as the designers signature. The edges are rolled and hand-stitched.
Recently, I have framed this massive piece, and it is now on display at Sala1
in Rome, Italy.  From the floor of a warehouse, to the wall of an art gallery .... a fabulous find deserves to be celebrated.

Born in Peru, Renata was just a few months old, when Rosa, her Great-Aunt (and namesake) passed away.  This woman was to be her ghost, her Fairy Godmother, her Muse.  Rosa was a designer, tailor and seamstress who knew of her connection with Renata before anyone else.  And so, bestowed an entire handmade wardrobe to Renata, with special instructions to change her clothes three times a day.  

When Rosa died she left behind two sisters who invested enormous amount of time and energy in teaching Renata (and her two younger sisters)  the mythologies and skills that had characterized her Aunt's creations. Renata grew up feeling her Great Aunt's presence as a source of strength and inspiration, giving her an extra armor in her daily life, and an eye for beauty.  

The legend of her Aunt's life was a frequently told tale.
When Rosa was a young girl, her own Aunt, a shaman arrived spontaneously to there home, predicting 'challenging times ahead'.  It seemed a move to the city of Lima would soon displace the family and the inquisitive Rosa wanted to know if she would be happy in their new city.
“Do not worry little Rosita, take this sewing needle, it will bring you luck”, her Aunt had said.   

The family did in fact leave their home to relocate in Lima, and began all over again.
Despite the uprooting and the difficulties of immigration, by the 1960's Rosa had become a tailor and also proved herself quite useful in handling the families finances.  So, after many years of building and rebuilding, the family was able to live out the dream of buying a home in the city center of Lima. The family home and Rosa's atelier would be located on the same street of Cornelio Borda.  It was in her atelier where she sold her handmade crafts (including Peruvian sewing, cross stitching and embroidery) that Rosa would create beautiful things until her very last day.

This house on Cornelio Borda Street is where Renata would spend her childhood, and every detail of it permeates her memories:  Northern Peruvian cooking in the kitchen, family stories and Moche and Inca Warrior legends were told within it's walls.  Rosa's personal style was impossible to escape. Gold and silver detailing was imperative, which in Peruvian culture represents the sweat of the sun and the tears of the moon.  The mythology of condors for their size, jaguars for their strength, and spiders for their cleverness were tightly woven into the tales and the tapestries. There were monograms on every textile, handmade carpets and colorful uniforms for every staff member. Each detail held meaning, every textile was of the utmost quality.  The sharing of common threads had created a close knit sanctuary for the entire family.

While her hours at Cornelio Borda involved falling in love with her heritage, Renata's time at school and with her parents, exposed her to the world at large. Her Mother and Father were opposites in many ways, but their ultimate mindset was the same: they wanted their children to love their home country and also see the big world beyond it.  When they traveled, her mother would dress her up and take her for tea and her father would take her to museums.  This exposed Renata to culture and wanderlust.  Further curiousness resulted from her schooling, which incorporated an exchange program with Germany, sending Renata abroad for 2-3 months each school year. 

She carefully and patiently cultivated her skills and curiosity throughout her young life.  All the while, imagining that her 18th birthday would be especially significant, her time of transformation.  In fact she spent her 18th birthday on an airplane headed to Germany. The idea was to spend just 5 years, finishing her studies (economics and politics) and then return home.  However, after her schooling, she began working as an International Banking Consultant throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Sporadically, she would take the time to dip her toe into artistic classes she saw as merely a 'hobby'.

Fortuitously, a banking project brought Renata back to Lima just a few years ago.  Knowing that her family intended to sell her Great Aunt's home on Cornelio Borda, she wanted to stay there, one last time.  In her dreams that night, Renata was visited by Rosa, who was simply smiling at her from the patio. The next morning Rosa's sister gave Renata her Great-Aunt's diary with her lucky needle inside, her sewing machine and a piece of luggage filled with beautiful fabric and leather samples.  It was if Rosa was saying, " Do not worry Renata, take this sewing needle.  It will bring you luck". This auspicious coming home was the sign that Renata needed to take a leap of faith.  It was time to dedicate herself fully to the craftsmanship that she had inherited, to design the accessories her muse had inspired.

Renata focused on perfecting her skills through a variety of courses in London and  Hamburg and finally received her Masters Degree in Fashion Design in Rome. In 2016, 50 years after her great Aunt had opened her Atelier in Lima, Peru, Renata restarted the company in Rome, Italy under the same name: Cornelio Borda.  

Renata's passion and patience have weaved a beautiful web. The magic of Peru and the glamour of Italy seem to be intertwining as the horizontal and vertical threads of a fascinating tapestry.  Her shoes and bags are produced in the Marché region of Italy by some of the finest crafts people in the world.  And Renata is there to manage each and every detail with the help of Rosa's eye for quality. The brand continues to grow and in 2018 will have additional projects with Latin American artisans.

Holding Renata's creations in my hand, the mythologies become indispensable. Decorated with the sweat of the sun and the tears of the moon, we see her heritage and hard work come to life.  Furthermore, if you look closely there is often a common theme of a tiny spider added to many of her designs.  The symbol of the spider seems perfectly fitting for Renata and her products.  In the magic of Peruvian mythology the spider is a clever creature, knowing when to hide and when to appear,  when to work and when to play.  Coupled with persistence and impeccable timing this Spider Woman is finally living her purpose.

*http://cornelioborda.com/

If you happen to be in Rome, Italy, come in and see some of Renata's beautiful work in person.   My exhibition 'La Bella Figura' is open at Sala1 through November 8th (recently extended), Tuesday through Saturday 4:30-7:30 and features shoes from Cornelio Borda.

1,556 days ago (on May 2, 2014) I lost my fitted bedsheet to the playful winds of Rome.
I have:
- tried to wrestle the elastic edge from the metal torture chamber  with a cornucopia of objects, including a broom
- watched various wildlife communities take temporary sanctuary within the delicate folds
- bubbled-over with anxiety during every thunderstorm that would inevitably transform my sheet into a weapon, threatening the lives of the elderly pedestrians , six levels below

Month by month, year by year no matter how hard the Roman winds blow, they merely tighten the grip of my defiant sheet.

I only wish I could remember where I purchased THE UNBREAKABLE BROWN BED SHEET, whose stubborn nature inspires.

Each time I host the event I think to myself ' I hope everyone else had as much fun as me'.  Have you ever found an amazing treasure at a clothing swap?  DO TELL!

I have never been able to find mugs, toothbrushes or mini license plates wielding my name in souvenir shops. I had to travel internationally to discover something even better. In Paris in 2013 I discovered a street (near Pére Lachaise Cemetery) with my name.... then in Venice, Italy (near Basilica San Marco) I found a beautiful shop, and in Rome, Italy (close to the Colosseum) I found a Beauty Spa.... all of my namesake. How easy is it for you to find your name around the world?