Malvena Pearl’s Emporium

The Costumer’s Guild sale in August went well. Thanks to everyone who came to see us.

We have some beautiful, handmade bags by Wendy Lou in the Emporium’s Etsy.com shop. Here’s a peek:

Malvena Pearl’s Emporium will be participating in the 2011 GBACG Costumer’s Bazaar, held on Sunday, August 28th, 2011 — from 1:00pm to 5:00pm at the Veterans’ Memorial Building in Albany, CA.

Here are some samples of the treasures that will be on sale:

costume jewelry

The location of this year’s Bazaar is the Albany Veterans’ Memorial Building at 1325 Portland Ave., Albany, CA.

We hope to see you there!

Happy belated Bastille Day to one and all!

I wanted to share some photos of a unique gathering of costume enthusiasts that was recently held at the Bellevue Club in Oakland, CA. It was An Evening at the Petit Trianon, set in 1789. There is a large group of photographs via the Guild’s Flickr Photo Pool and they have a Facebook page.

The lovely and talented Claudine de Montigny brings us some great information about how she constructed her beautiful and detailed outfit for this event on her blog, Idle Hands. Lady Heather offered me a her ticket and I was able to attend the event. (I was poised to sit outside the event, on my historically correct wooden crate, wearing peasant garb, knitting) It was wonderful to see so many enthusiastic party goers and craftspeople enjoying themselves.

Vive La France!

I recently designed, produced and completed this sparkle collar for the owner of a very lucky Brittany Spaniel

Costume Academy 2011 Sunday May 22nd~ from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

ASUC MLK Student Union, 2475 Bancroft Way, University of California, Berkeley

Come find us in the Tilden Room on the 5th Floor!

Malvena Pearl

Purveyor of Millinery, Ephemera and Artful Diversions to Inspire the Costume Enthusiast

Peruse our selection of handmade & vintage hats from many eras, hair adornments, books, vintage catalogs, as well as accessories for men and women. There will also be framed Godey’s prints, ephemera and a special treat this year: vintage estate jewelry from a hobby collection. It’s all antique or vintage, unique, rare and one-of-a-kind costume jewelry made between 1850 and 1970. We will have patterns, sewing manuals from the 1920s-1950s and theatrical lobby cards. We also carry vintage ribbon, trim, buttons and other vintage notions. Bibliomania and Black Swan Books will provide assorted posters, prints and clothing, including embroidered nylons. We will feature four handmade bags by Wendy Lou in vintage fabrics.

This post is to welcome Jan Nixon to Malvena Pearl’s group of collaborators, enthusiasts and partners. I’ll be presenting her wares at Costume Academy in May. put on by the Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild. Here’s a little bit about Jan:

The line of clothing for dogs is coming together. We are drafting and designing patterns, finding recycled and re-usable fabrics, testing possible trims to make canine couture. Currently we are developing three lines of customized dog couture: warm coats for Northern California; fleece and flannel lined, water-resistent rain coats; and coats for working guide dogs. We have also found a number of dog owners who are willing to have their dogs pose for the camera of our staff photographer, Kenneth Cooper Smith, III.

Kenneth C. Smith III in Mad Hatter's hat by Lynne McMasters

Several of our clients have hairless breeds, such as the Mexican Xolo or hard-to-fit breeds such as bulldogs with wide rib cages and necks; “Heinz 57″ mixed breeds with unusual proportions and distinctively-sized  bodies, very small “teacup” breeds and very slender breeds, such as whippets.

To inquire about our offerings, please use our Contact Us page to send us your inquiries! Thanks!

If you’d like to use this little application to add your face to a photo from the 1890s, go here

I wandered around the corner to Homespun bike shop yesterday and spoke with Jesse and Ami about their upcoming classes.

They are offering classes on all sorts of interesting topics like how to do worm composting, how to make pie, how to make handcrafted herbal body care products and much more!  There may be a collaboration with Malvena Pearl’s Emporium and with the Oakland Needlers in the near future.

In the meantime, click on their photo below to check out their web site and wares!

Here’s some progress on the quilt square, which traveled with me to the home of Ms. C. yesterday. I went to help her paint a mural on her baby’s bedroom wall. The baby is due in a couple of weeks. Ms. C. is the friend who drew a bird a day for many long months in 2010 and has a nice collection of illustrations to enter into an exhibition or two. And she’s going to be a mother very soon.

Here’s the latest:

with some leaves

more flowers

This quilt square also went with me to my first meet up with four other members of the Oakland Needlers group. What a hoot! They were working on cross stitch, knitting, crochet and hand-sewing projects. I am so glad I was invited. Lovely folks, good conversation, funny stories and advice given and accepted on the “needle arts” or “fiber arts.” I feel like i made some new friends and they are all in the East Bay so that’s wonderful. We meet again in two weeks. I want to have this quilt square complete and in the mail to the project person, Abby at Skull a Day,  by next Monday.

Ninja Becky Thomas vs. Breast Cancer: Pink Warrior

I want to let my readers know about a great charity investment they can make to a great local cause. Becky Thomas, who has been teaching  role playing workshops at Dr. Comics and Mr. Games in Oakland for 20 years, needs our help. She’s fighting the good fight against breast cancer. Becky’s partner, Steve Kani, designed some very cool t-shirts to raise some funds for Becky’s medical treatments for cancer. Becky teaches math, studies Ninjitsu and works with a number of autistic and special needs kids in the role playing groups  and tutoring after school.  I feel very grateful for Becky’s work in our community. I am not sure I’d be here if I hadn’t had some wonderful teachers when I was younger. They helped me find my love of history through role playing games and I learned to sew FOR those games. If you’re so inclined, check out Becky’s blog and the t-shirts here.

If you know of other ways to help Becky, please be in touch with her or with Steve through their blog or web site. Thanks!