your cool aunt vintage

11/26/2024

Mood. For about 20 days or so. But I know we’re in this together.

Fun stuff dropping this week, at the very least?

05/02/2024

Two style icons strolling Beverley Road in Brooklyn, patterns perfectly mixed, souls in sync.

I just met Cameron (he/him) and his beautiful baby, - their lewks caught my eye and oh my fu***ng god, their story will steal! your heart!

visited to adopt a dog who needed him most. That turned out to be Hannah, a Staffy who’d waited three years for her family. Today, this duo- bound by love and a fresh start, teaching us all a lesson in compassion + fashion (comfashion?)- continued their generosity by stopping to talk and connect.

You know this little business believes in the magic of style that can’t be faked and the power of second chances. Cameron and Hannah, thank you for reminding me how lucky I am to share sidewalks and stories with the funkiest, most giving, and realest folks in the world.

🐾 today, I’m giving 50% of any sales I make to the Babylon Animal Shelter as a thank you for loving Hannah till she found her family. Follow them and !! 🐾

04/03/2024

AHHHHHHH new spring haul!! Florals and culottes and velvet and swishy skirts and peplum and big blousey and denim and and and

01/10/2024

Oh god I have a whole new batch of garments to share this weekend, from femme 60s to “Free to Be You and Me” 70s prairie to 80s Memphis design to 90s Winona. Up sooooooooonnnnnn

12/08/2023

Personal lil post-
December is, as for everyone, a bit wild around here. And melancholy and overwhelming for a million reasons. But this moved me so much I had to share.

My 6 year old Ozzie did his self portrait at art class last Saturday and his technique blew me away- like I’m not delusional, this is fu***ng GOOD- but it resonates in a more powerful way as his mom. He’s developing, so fast, a sense of self in every way. His values, interests, ethics, how he relates to the world. How he sees himself.

For friends new here, Ozzie was born with an extremely rare craniofacial condition called Goldenhar Syndrome, and that early time was my lowest. My worst thoughts. Making his condition - his entire birth- only about me, what I did wrong, how I stole his chances at a “normal” life. Ugh, I’m wincing.

It was selfish and shameful, but also important. It made me untangle my own internalized ableism, something that had been built up since I myself was the child of a disabled mother- someone who refused to see herself or her beauty and potential. In that process, I did find a mission: to eradicate systemic and everyday ableism, to advocate for not just my child but all children with disabilities, to break barriers that discriminate and harm. But more than that, it hit me- because I’m a fu***ng idiot- that’s Ozzie’s divinity, his wholeness, has nothing to do with me. He’s got his own story. I get to appreciate it from afar, and sometimes (like this week) I get a peek of what he sees. It’s enchanting. That beautiful little ear, his arresting asymmetry. He’s beautiful.

Through this platform , we celebrate representation and highlight the work of disability activists much better than me. We donate funds. We have a good time and sometimes learn s**t! We appreciate the beauty of each individual journey, whether it’s unique threads or the story of the person who wore them decades ago. This art (and his school photos which I ALSO received yesterday- I die) reaffirm how important those journeys are. Give yourself a look this weekend. You don’t have to draw it, or even love it, but I hope you see how vital all the pieces are.

09/06/2023

I finished out the last of the summer camping at in Montauk- the most bucolic and magical patch of grass, over by the sea, at the tip of the world. Bundles of stars. Cliffs and crickets. And, unexpectedly, LOOKS.

We stopped into to get the kids ice cream and I met this quartet who were absolutely fu***ng serving without even trying.

They - , .stella , and .ggarcia -indulged me to take a clumsy photo and hear a little of their stories. I didn’t worry about composition or lighting or intrigue for this one; these young folks were enough art, and generosity, and creativity and I am lucky to have met them.

When your world is momentarily brightened, by someone else’s tie dye or 90’s tropical print or designer bralette gone punk, or just their energy, say hi. Remain open to goodness. Remember sunscreen.

Devon, send your mother my appreciation for her work and Sophie, enjoy Bushwick in autumn!

07/26/2023

07/15/2023

🦌Mood board tonight:🦌 the cousins come to Brooklyn for a week and get into my shoes- niece in my bespoke spiked wedding heels 😭, my baby boy in those jaw dropping, “how is nobody else seeing this” thrifted , and my nibling in some seasons -old . With a little mom in the background.

They put everything back on the shoe rack wrong and we thought they were all going to die when they tried on the heels and my god, this is why I got into auntie-ing.

07/01/2023

🦌A little advocacy for all the little neighborhood highlights we (me) enjoy everyday but rarely wonder what it takes to create and sustain them! 🦌

Our friend handcrafted this fabulous bench at , engaging young neighbors (cheers to Remsen for the colorful flourishes he added to his outfit, ) while he’s at it. But the DOT is trying to dismantle it- so let’s ! This thing is fu***ng beautiful and testament to what makes Newkirk Plaza (and Ditmas Park/ West Midwood) so special!

This kind of effort reminds me to always ask my neighbors what they’re working on- there’s always ways to help and build more connections around the corner.

06/22/2023

🦌If you’re a new cool aunt around here, you may not know that with every purchase, I send along a sparkly and/or shiny and/or gilded and/or quirky and/and totally delicious extra somethin’ with it- they come to me in all sorts of ways and are a little surprising wink, whether you keep it or continue its journey by passing it to someone else you love.
Thank you for this incredible new collection- each piece is so special. And ready to get loved. Version 2.0. Maybe 3? 🦌

06/09/2023

A lil personal project and confession, about my growth around crafting- more generally, trying new things with my hands+brain but even more generally, being open to learning and failing.

I got this dresser on —> had a crafty idea for it—> started the idea—> got frustrated when it sucked —>stopped. The usual process! But Ozzie, who was helping me, reminded me that “everything takes a try, mom, don’t get upset.” So I reset—> tried a new approach—> we finished it together (he was really good at this!).

My insufficiency with anything involving my hands was soooo magnified when I had a kid (“I can’t make these SPIDER LEGS, I’m an INADEQUATE MOTHER, of COURSE I’d f**k up his Halloween”) . And I did get stuck for a moment on this dresser. But it looks great, it not varsity level craftsmanship. I fixed a few things on it, too, with help.

Ozzie’s cute little voice did help me reset, but also, I’ve got more courage after learning new skills for my little hustle here. All the things I thought I couldn’t do 2 years ago; rather, refused to try and fail. But I actually CAN sew! I I CAN restore things, understand new approaches to restoration and fabrics. I CAN f**k up a garment and get over it and learn from it. I DID make those spider legs (eventually, with crying)! More broadly:I’m not too old to learn and overcome fear of things that seem exhausting and embarrassing and expensive to fail at.

But I’n still sure I can’t learn an instrument. Like never.

06/02/2023

So many new aunts here (on my feed, I mean, not the table)!

If you’re new here, I’m sharing a tradition that started two years ago when I opened my lil shop. Anytime I send a package out, I include a vintage photo I’ve either found on my travels or received through donations, luck, or just folks who get what I’m doing here. I am always sidting through at least 200 photos to be sure to match the energy of the piece, or the city it’s headed to, or my mood or politics that afternoon- I take a lot of time deciding which photo goes to you.
Sometimes there’s a story written on that back ( fr fr I remember the pinup photo that was supposed to go to Tom, then the OTHER one that went to the other guy - David- making him promise not to tell Tom!!) but even when there isn’t, they’re incredible moments that have disappeared but can be passed along now. They can be sentimental, beautiful, unexplainably sad, moving, mysterious, bizarre, unsettling or so evocative you gasp; at best, they’re all of those at once.

Hang it on your fridge, put it in a box for someone else to find one day, pass it along to a friend. Keep the stories going!