Other treasures you can find at Bees Knees are antique Valentines (Beistle honeycombs, etc.), 1920s beaded handbags (Mandalian, Whiting & Davis), 1920s heavily beaded flapper dresses, antique wedding gowns and trains, vintage accessories, Titanic-era dresses, Edwardian and 20s lingerie dresses and tea gowns, pin-up swimsuits, and other vintage swimwear.
Growing up, my Mom and Grandma taught me how to embroider, knit, crochet, and sew, leading to an appreciation of classic hand work. My antique clothing collection started when Mom gave me a dress my Aunt Theresa had crocheted for herself. The light pink and burgundy yarn had a gold metallic thread running through it and the belt closed with an art deco rhinestone buckle. On the right side, you can see a photo of auntie wearing the dress. Unfortunately it’s not a full-length photo because she worked in the shoe store at JC Penney. My sister has the dress clips/shoe buckles.
The department store theme comes from a memory I have of taking the bus with my Mom or Grandma to the J. L. Hudson department store on Woodward in Detroit. There was an elevator operator that would take you to your floor, and I remember all the beautiful gloves that were on display when you got off the elevator in the women’s department. While the original and ultimate
vision is to display and offer beautiful, original Edwardian and flapper gowns, the collection expanded with the variety of accessories to make your event wardrobe complete.
Aunt Theresa
