0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6B Thursday, March:25, 2010 // The Fashion Issue Getting down with vintage at Thursday, March 25, 2010 // The Fas-hion Issue 36 Costume Jewelry: a timeless obsession by: LeahBurgin, Daily Fine Arts Editor Americana finds its revival surrounded by vinyl and kitsch By MIKE KUNTZ Daily Music Editor Kelly McLeod is always on the lookout. Dressed like June Carter dropped into a John Hughes movie, she eyes a small, silver owl necklace adorning the Espresso Royale cashier handing her a latte. McLeod's curiosity and enthusiasm are obvious. Compliment- ing the barista on her find, she invites her back to her store, The Getup, where, she assures, more vintage necklaces like that one can be found. The owl is barely visible, but McLeod picks it out like a long-lost friend in a crowded room. To call her an expert would be an understatement. It's this genuine love for pursuing and preserving the past that makes McLeod the ideal vintage clothing store owner. Her store, The Getup, located just north of Liberty on State Street in Ann Arbor, is home to con- stantly revolving racks of lost and found clothing from as far back as the Great Depression. In its mere six years of existence, the store has quick- ly become a hotspot for students and locals alike, attracting a followingthat rivals that of stores five times its age. "We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the same SO people I see every day," McLeod said. "It's like a Cinderella story, you gotta like it and it's gotta fit ... there are so many individuals in Ann Arbor, and bringing them some- thing that's really gonna turn them on is a lot of fun." Since its start in February 2004, in the cramped attic above its current location, The Getup has evolved into a bustlingstorefront packed to the walls with Dust Bowl-era prom dresses, rock tees from the '70s (Styx, Jeffer- son Starship and Peter Frampton tour shirts line the rafters), a kitschy Elvis painting and shelves (and shelves) of old cowboy boots. It's like walking into a time machine that got trapped somewhere between a Norman Rock- well painting and a Hunter S. Thomp- son peyote daydream. Looking around is like a history lesson, and it's hypno- tizing. "There really is this moment, this energy in the clothes," she said. "Everything in here has to have per- sonality, beauty or a story." With a quick glance around the store it's hard to disagree. Between the racks of old Western shirts, leath- er Members Only jackets and Golden Era Hollywood dresses, it's tough to imagine McLeod's collection hav- ing anything boring to say. But with such storied clothing, she contends, comes a certain sense of obligation. "When somebody prior to me owning (their clothing) has cared for it for more than fifty years, I feel there's this responsibility," she said. "It's like preserving Ame McLeod's tireless ob maintaining an old, we has been with her as lon remember. From collectii at age 12 to delving into t tage clothing to avoid wasteland of the malls in years, McLeod's distinct collection reflects decade in fashion and pop cultur "I love history, Ilove ol movies, and I love mus "Everything that I've eve to, style has been a big pa With all the vinyl on back of the store (I've hea Hank Williams and The it's clear how ferven believes music and fash tandem to re-create a pa thetic. You just know th on that Stardrive record the counter, a space-rock to fall into your lap. With a small staff of e ful and impassioned keeping the store at b spends most of her tim store searching for new her ever-changing coll traveling all over the cc turns out, finding most The Getup ricana." the store is a lot harder than one might session with imagine. ird America "It's a lot of footwork. Almost every ag as she can morning I'm at an estate sale or I'm at ng old aprons someone's home or I'm at an auction, troves of vin- And (at) out of every 10 houses I go to, the designer I might find three things that I want to her later teen bring back to the store," she said. tly American "My husband and I could be run- es of changes ning late to a wedding, and I'd see a e. garage sale and have to pull over and d Hollywood check it out, it's that bad," she added, ic," she said. laughing. r been drawn McLeod and her husband, Paul, rt of it." also a vintage fanatic, act as a team to repeat at the ensure a constantly changing lineup of rd Nazareth, old finds. A graphic designer in Troy, Yes Album), Paul acts more as a behind-the-scenes tly McLeod partner, assisting Kelly on her vintage lion work in clothing hunts. articular aes- "The majority of my collection at if she puts comes from personal buys," McLeod from behind said. When I go to their homes, they'll outfit is sure pull out photo albums and they'll show me why their prom dress from qually youth- 1962 was so special." fashionistas "There was one woman who bay, McLeod showed me this beautiful Hawaiian e outside the sundress, and her husband proposed additions to to her when she was wearing it. She ection, often wanted to make sure it ended up with ountry. As it someone new and not in the garbage." of what's in Most of McLeod's collection at The Getup reflects her personal taste, making it easy for her to connect to her customers. "For me, I love things that came out of the Great Depression. I love handmade dresses that were made from sheets, you know? It speaks 3iv volumes about their generation, because by the time I look into their clothes, it's like that love was put into this threadbare dress and it's 8109 See GETUP, Page 8B WANT TO READ MORE FASHION? CHECK OUT duTHE FILTER EVERY FRIDAY. First came the trays. I remember coming home from school and finding more and more antique serving plat- ters littered throughout the house. Some were hung on walls, some decoratively displayed on shelves and a rare few were actually used as they were intended. No corner was without a tray. Everywhere the brightly colored tin demons glared and clinked at me. It was a nightmare. After our house was stuffed with more trays than anyone could possibly use in a lifetime, my mother (the tray-aholic) turned her mania down a different avenue - antique clothing. Now all the closets were stuffed past capacity with coats, dresses, belts, shoes and God knows what else. But it didn't stop. From clothing my mom turned to purses (oy) and from purses, she turned to hats (oy vey). We were starting to get worried. Her fanaticism was terrifying. But we didn't even know what was tocome. There was no way to predict the all-out, full-throttle, complete and utter obsession that my mother was to develop next: cos- tume jewelry. My mother became possessed. She would go "junking," traveling to estate sales, antique stores or thrift shops like her life depended on it. Soon, the amount of costume jew- elry in the house eclipsed the combined number of trays and articles of antique clothing. Jewelry took over our lives. And since my mother lived and breathed it, the rest of the family did too. But now, a few years later, the crazy has finally calmed down. My mother still collects costume jewelry, but not with the same fanaticism. After the initial shock of the whirlwind of brooches, earrings, bracelets and necklaces that stormed into my life, I've now come to appreciate - but not understand - my mother's obsession. Costume jewelry is beautiful. Though the pieces were created as cheap substitutes during the first phase of mass-produced jewelry, the craftsmanship is superb. Beginning in the 1930s, there was a whole world of jewel- ry designers and each had their distinct style. There was no way you could mistake a Miriam Haskell for a Crown Trifari, and costume jewelry collectors know this - they look for "signed" pieces, or ones with the designer's mark on their backs. There is an art to collecting costume jewelry. Some vintage designs were reproduced much later by frauds and paraded as genuine pieces. It takes a trained eye (with the aid of a jeweler's loupe - which my mother car- ries with her at all times) to distinguish the frauds from the real deal. But there's more than that. As with every collection, it takes intuition to know which types of pieces should be collected. Should one try to stick to a particular era or a particular designer, or try to collect a sample from every era and all designers? The eventual destination of the collection is also a concern. Will the collection be sold to another collector, donated to the Providence Jewelry Museum, worn for fun or ultimately re-enter the cycle in the collector's estate sale? For my mother (and most other collectors) the answer is "all of the above." My mother wears her jewelry almost every day, has sold some pieces and has given some as gifts to her loving daughters and family members. And her collection mirrors its use. My mother has a little bit of everything: some rare pieces to treasure and possibly sell, some fun pieces for novelty and a whole bunch of "nor- mal" pieces for everyday wear. Having a vintage jewelry store in my house has been helpful on many occasions, providing my sister and me with beautiful, unique pieces to wear for Halloween, school dances and other fancy events. It's also fun to just look and admire - some of the pieces are hilarious (a huge, plastic, googly-eyed dog brooch comes to mind) and some are exquisite, like the set of Italian mosaic ear- rings and necklace that my mother gave me last year for my birthday. But most important, having almost a century's worth of costume jewelry at my fingertips has changed my out- look on what, exactly, is "vintage." People tend to lump the century's distinct styles and schools of art - art deco, retro, etc. - with antique jewelry from the 19th century into the all-encompassing term "vintage." Now, I'm no expert on style movements of the 20th cen- tury (or costume jewelry for that matter), but I do think it's important to know what you're wearing. It's fine to mix together different eras, just don't do so in ignorance. Don't just pin a brooch to your cardigan because it's "vin- tage." Don a pair of screw backs or clip-ons because you have an appreciation for their historical aesthetic. You don't have to be as crazy as my mother, but at leastbe cog- nizant of what jewelry you feel communicates your per- sonality. Knowledge is fashionable. Th oicy and Politics Monday, March 29, 2010 4:00-5:30 p.. 1120 Joan and Sanford Weill Hall, Annenberg Auditorium, 735 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 4 Free and open to the public. Panelists: Patricia L. Caruso - Director of the Michigan Department of Corrections Peter Luke - Lansing correspondent for Booth Newspapers Join Proos - State Representative (R-St. Joseph), Minority Vice-Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections Alma Wheeler Smith - State Representative (D-Salem Township), Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections Moderator: Jeffrey D. Padden - President of Public Policy Associates, Inc. This event is organized by Professors Jeffrey Moreroff and David Harding, and is sponsored by the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. For more information, call 734-647-4091. Watch live web streaming at www closup.umich.e Log on the Interwebs and go to michigandaily.com/section/blogs.