This week’s guest Clecktor is Tiddleywink! You might remember Wink because she has her own personal fan club.  It’s a collection of vintage and antique electric fans that we showcased here. Wink has a variety of her collections archived on her flickr account including Pyrex, dresses, and purses. Don’t forget to check out her blog, Shoes And Pie.

This Clecktion is a three-fer (not just two collections, but three.) They share an aesthetic and we thought it might be fun to see them all together as a group.

Old Gringo, Atlantic 2006. Hand cut and hand stitched, with lemon-wood pegs. Chocolate brown leather with turquoise and bone inlays. Full scallop, “exterminator” toe.

Roper shirt. Floral embroidery on front and back yokes, and shotgun cuffs. Faux smile pockets.

Sabrina: Tell us a little bit about yourself, please. What’s your name?

Tiddleywink: Wink, ma’am. They call me Wink. My website is shoesandpie.com.

Lane “Thunder Ride” 2008

Sabrina: I noticed you’re selling some vintage on etsy. How’s that going?

Wink: Oooh, you’re stalking me! Neat! Well, as you personally know, selling vintage is done for love, not money. I have a knack for finding vintage pieces in unusual places, and I feel it’s my responsibility to “liberate” them from the possibility of not reaching their full potential. However, I’m, ahem, underemployed right now so I don’t really have the money to continue to fund my rescue mission. Enter: etsy. I don’t mess around with anything that’s stained or requires mending, because I’m not skilled with those repairs. Besides, some of these items are coming out of my personal collection, and I buy only with the intent of actual use. I iron, I photograph, I measure, I write, I list… I wait. I try to price things within my own financial bracket, and I am notoriously frugal. Still, with people experiencing hard times all over, and without being able to actually touch and/or try on the items, it’s understandably difficult to get buyers to actually buy. A few of my sales have been overseas, where folks can take advantage of a weak dollar.

The Manuel Collection: Black rayon with blue piping. Roses embroidered on front and back yokes, and shotgun cuffs. Real smile pockets.(Click “Manuel” to see an unbelievable video of free motion embroidery.)

Sabrina: When last we met you were “type wrangling.” What exactly is that?

Wink: Heh. That’s my creative (and wild-west-tinged) way of saying that I’m a production artist for print work. I’m like a magician: I do the kind of things that you will never, ever notice, if I’ve done it right. In a corporate situation, it can be a lot like herding cats.

Sabrina: How long have you been collecting the things we’re showing on Clecktions!

Wink: Oh, yikes! I no longer own them, but I got my first pair of cowboy boots I think as a senior in high school. Let’s not discuss actual years.

Scully PL-643: Long Neck Lanes

Sabrina: What do you collect?

Wink: Lots! For the purposes of this interview; western boots, western snap-front shirts, and western belts.

Western Belts by tiddleywink.

From the top: 1) Santa Fe Leather Company, bridle leather with sterling conchos. Hand-beaded. 2)Guess, white leather with sky blue stitching. 3) Splaff bicycle inner tube belt with Award Design Medals buckle (gift from Erin) 4) Laredo, oil-tanned leather with silver-tone (and heavy!) conchos 4) Larry Mahan, weird-color leather belt with “German silver” buckle. 5) Jill Stewart, pattern-stamped with silver-tone floral decoration 6) Unknown maker, stamped to look like tooled red leather

Scully PL-636

Sabrina: What sparked your interest in collecting western wear?

Wink: I wish there was some clear, pivotal moment. I remember that my first pair of boots were black Dan Posts, and that even then, I wished they’d been flashier. I don’t remember where I ever saw vintage photos or drawings of majorettes, but I’d wanted majorette boots for as long as I can remember. Peewees are just a fancier extension of those, I think. Coincidentally, my stepmom and my aunt probably both have larger collections of boots and shirts than I have, but we all started collecting separately, and we don’t compare notes. (Side note: An excellent collection of vintage photos of majorettes can be found at here.)

Steve Madden? Seriously? Seriously. Emerald green leather, decorative butterfly-inspired stitching on vamp and shaft. Last pair in the store, the staff were under the impression the size was mis-marked, They were. And they happen to be a perfect fit for me. Snapped them up for TEN DOLLARS. L toe.

Sabrina: Where’d you get your first pair of boots?

Wink: They were a Christmas gift from my father. I don’t recall what happened to them, but I no longer have them. I’ve had at least three other pairs that are also no longer in my possession. One pair of Larry Mahans that were beyond repair when they were given to me (by a gen-yoo-wine Texan!), a pair of brown boots with electric blue inlays that I had resoled until they just couldn’t take it any more, and a pair of ’80s-vintage Zodiacs that I traded for the ’50s or ’60s-vintage Dan Posts in my current collection.

ca. 1960 Dan Post boots.

Sabrina: Show us the first piece you acquired for your collection?

Wink: Of my current boot collection, the pair I’ve had longest would be the black-and-red Tony Lama peewees. My sister bought them for me specifically to match my red-and-black snap-front shirt. The shirts actually came later, but what with getting rid of pieces here and there, some of my shirts now predate my boots. For instance, I bought the butter-yellow Roper shirt to go with those brown boots that I no longer have. I didn’t even realize that the belts could constitute a collection until we started discussing this post. It was never a conscious decision, it’s just my personal taste as to how I hold up my pants.

Tony Lama “Vintage Pee Wee” 2004

Sabrina: Do you have any good resources to recommend on the topic?

Wink: I swear, I didn’t move to Denver just because it’s the home of so much western-wear history. While many western-wear companies are no longer with us, we’ve been the proud home of Rockmount Ranchwear, in my opinion one of the best makers of western shirts today, since 1946. Of historical significance, Rockmount’s founder, Jack Weil, invented the snap-front western shirt. It’s a crying shame that I don’t have one (hint, hint). If you find yourself in Denver, you owe it to yourself to swing by the store, which also houses a small museum of their shirts. Jack’s grandson, Steve, co-authored Western Shirts: A Classic American Fashion, which is an excellent history of shirts from both Rockmount and some other major players. Where boots are concerned, anything written by Tyler Beard should be on your shelf. Many people credit Mr. Beard, an avid collector, with elevating Lowly Boot to Fine Art. And really, he was a thrift-store scavenger. Who among us can’t relate to that? For in-person boot fondlings, stop by a shop in Santa Fe called Back At The Ranch. Not only do they sell amazing ready-made boots by skilled bootmakers including Liberty and Rocketbuster, but they can have any design remade or customized. And, like Rockmount, they have their own “gallery” of boots inside: Owner Wendy Lane’s personal collection sits upon shelf after shelf, as retail inspiration.

Corral boots, “Vintage Lizard Overlay” This pair finished out the budget. After visits to numerous boot shops (including two stops to Back At The Ranch, my most favorite of all boot stores) looking for The Perfect Black Boots, I finally found these. I overpaid at Western Warehouse… try your luck at Sheplers (www.sheplers.com) instead. Distressed charcoal grey goatskin with black Teju lizard inlay. An interesting floral pattern etched into the leather. Double-dip scallop, X toe. Killer. I wear these ALL THE TIME.

Sabrina: Do you wear your collection or display it or both?

Wink: I display it… on my feet! Har-har. But seriously, no display cases or anything for me. The shirts hang in my closet along with everything else, and the boots are “displayed” at the foot of my bed, but just because they don’t fit in the closet.

Sabrina: What do you consider the piece de résistance of your collection and why?

Wink: Oooh, that’s a tough one. My vintage Dan Post boots are potentially the most valuable, although that doesn’t stop me from wearing them. That might change if I ever verify that they ARE valuable. The Old Gringo boots are the most well-made of my underfunded collection. Also, my most expensive purchase. Go figure. :) Of my shirts, the Scully #PL-636 is not only beautiful, but I managed to nab it at a thrift store for something like $5. FIVE dollars!!! It was at that same thrift store that I found the Larry Mahan belt for $2.50 the other day. My “best” belt, as far as quality goes, would have to be the hand-beaded, sterling silver-concho-studded bridle leather belt by Santa Fe Leather Company. I’ve had it for 9 or 10 years, bought for some ridiculously low sale price at a touristy gift shop in Santa Fe.

Roughrider shirt w/smiley pockets

Anybody can buy themselves a collection like this if they have the money to pay full price. Most of my pieces aren’t vintage, and just about all of the makers are still producing goods. For me, part of the thrill is the charge of finding these items at thrift stores or on clearance racks, when they finally get into my price range. Yippie-i-o!