Sunday nite Oscars and LEAP DAY!

So......Sunday nite,.....

 I had the extreme pleasure of going to the LGBT Pride in the Valley Oscar Party. The proceeds benefit the LGBT community center in Allentown PA. Why do I love this event? Why is it when they come to tell me, "what would you like to donate to the party?" I tell them,...take what you want. Seriously...that's how strongly I want to support this center. Why? My son is a gay male....and I watched him struggle through his teens with no one to talk to and feeling so utterly alone. Nothing hurts a parent more than to watch their child hurting mentally or physically. I wish we had a center where he could have gone to talk to other teens like himself. To feel comfortable. To feel accepted. No matter how many times Clayton and I told him we loved him...he couldn't love himself. He felt 'wrong'. So kudos to Stephen Libby for putting this event together. It's so nice to feel so much love in one room. If anyone missed it, please put it on your calendar for next year.

And the Oscars.....well......I'm sure that every fashionista is out their saying their opinions and of course you all know mine. Wear what you want to wear...be who you want to be. There were so many classy and beautiful gowns....and the tuxes this year were outstanding. But what I loved most of all, was that Chris Rock did an excellent job addressing the racism in Hollywood. Lady Gaga did an excellent job of representing victims of sexual abuse. Although I love fashion and colorful clothes...I love people that will take the bull by the horns and speak out about uncomfortable things. Only with dialogue can things start to move in a different direction.

and now here we are on Leap Day. It's more like Drag-my-butt day. I'm not used to staying out late and getting up at 3:30AM. Not anymore. Those days are done for me. But here I am. I won't even post a photo. When I took my husband to work this morning and I dropped him off, he ran like hell to the bus. He didn't even look back. Because he was afraid he would turn into a pillar of salt!  I have to speak to him about getting the windows darkened on the truck. I'm sure the people standing in line for tickets wanted to wash their eyes out with bleach. And even with hair up and alittle make up on, I still look like an old drag queen. Well, that's ok...............I guess I'm ready for next years' Oscar party!!!!!!!

Rose Ellen Moore

www.rcmooreunique.com

1729 W Tilghman Street

Allentown PA 18104

610-740-3820

Sadness

Everyone always sees me with a happy face. I always try to be positive and uplifting especially when there is always so much hate and sadness in the world.  But everyone has a bad day. Yesterday was mine. 

I won't go into all the horrifics, it's really not necessary. Just a brief rundown of the day started with a phone call from my mother, a torn contact lens in my eye, a friendship gone sour, a pulled shoulder muscle, a lost shipment of feathers, an 'encounter' with the heater man in my shop, among a few other things that unnerved me yesterday.  I felt like I was walking in the ocean and wave after wave kept knocking me down. As soon as there was a lull in the day, another problem came and it was beyond my control to fix it. 

And that is what we have to remember. Some things just cannot be controlled. They come and we must take them.  I used meditation, prayer and the support of my wonderful husband  and a great friend to get through the day.  It's now a memory that won't be forgotten, but the pain is lessened. A bad day is like a woman going through childbirth. We have to go through the pain. We take them, as bad as they are, and then at the end, we have this beautiful child. In a bad day, we take all the lashes, and on the next day, it's only a memory and everything starts to heal. 

So when you look at me with this big smile, remember, some days that smile is not there. And some days I cry my eyelashes off and some days it's just SHIT! But as long as the sun comes up in the morning, we can start over. I start my diet again. (HAHA!) I call my mom again.....I just start again. And everything turns out exactly the way it's supposed to. 

Rose Ellen Moore

www.rcmooreunique.com

RCMoore for the Unique Individual Millinery and Vintage Shop

1729 W Tilghman Street

Allentown PA 18104

610-740-3820

I want pretty fingernails........................

When I share something in my blogs, it's only because I want other women to know that they are not alone in their struggle. The struggle to shave your legs with 3 kids bangin on the door...the struggle to color your hair without making a mess of the bathroom or have it run down your bathrobe. The struggle to put on a spanx/girdle of any kind. The struggle of finding the right pair of panty hose. I read and read so many blogs about fashion...what looks good on what figure etc etc. But I want women to know that I am you....I AM THE WOMAN that is REAL. I don't get out of bed and look fresh as a daisy. Honey, my daisy wilted  years ago. I have weathered heart valve issues, thyroid issues (still going through that) which made my hair-fall-out issues,I have glued my eyes shut trying to figure out how to put on eyelashes, I have gained weight, lost weight and gained weight again. I have 6 children doing all kinds of things and some talk to me and some not at one time or another. I have 2 granddaughters that are beautiful, and a boutique where I work constantly.

This morning, I would like to talk about fingernails. Can we just talk about how much I want my hands to look nice? I really do. But I have found after 6 years of being a milliner, my hands have suffered extreme trauma. On my right hand I have a nodule on my thumb which I believe is a ganglion cyst. It is sore and it is lessening as time goes on, but it is bothersome. I have a lump on my pinky on my right hand because I jammed this finger stretching buckram so tight around a pizza pan. Yes...don't ask me my methods of doing things..they are very avant garde. I also caught my thumb under the sewing machine, thus sticking the needle in it. This is just on my right hand. On my left hand, I had a catastrophe with a screwdriver the other day trying to pry an old watch open. So the ball of my hand is very swollen. I looked at my hands yesterday and thought that even though I am 53 years old, my hands look so old and ugly. So, on my journey to the grocery I bought KISS press on nails. For 5.00 you can have the hands that every man would want to touch! YES, LADIES! For 5.00!!!!!  These nails are already painted, and ready to go...all you do, is glue, press and GOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I bought the flaming red ones. Because I'm a flaming red kind of gal. I measured each one to my finger. They gave me a choice of super glue, or gel tabs. I wanted the easiest, I chose the gel tabs. So..without further adieu, I started gel tabbing and sticking the nails one by one. I didn't read the fine print that said I had to wait for 30 min for the gel tabs to set. So I went about my business of going to work. I stopped at \Produce Junction for veggies. ( a little fruit and veggie outlet in Allentown PA) After paying for my stuff, I picked up my bag only to have my index finger pop off and hit the poor man in the forehead. He picked my nail off the counter and handed it to me. No exchange of words. What could he say?  I looked down at my hands and saw that I had lost 3 nails. Where were the other 2?  I started to panic? I hope no one finds them in the vegetables!  When I got in the car, I looked in the rear view to put on my lipstick. Only to find my other 2 nails dangling from my bangs! I came to work and patiently put all three back on. I'm persistent. I want my hands to look pretty today, DAMMIT!  It's 10:35AM......my goal today is keeping all 10 of my nails on until 6PM...at which time I am ripping all of them off!!!!!


Tomorrow I'm wearing gloves.....................

www.rcmooreunique.com

Rose Ellen A Moore

RCMoore for the Unique Millinery and Vintage

1729 W Tilghman Street

Allentown PA 18104

610-740-3820

it's you I like..............

You know...Clayton and I are blessed. We say it every day. We are amazed at how many wonderful and kind people we have met since we opened our business. We have had some jerks too...but they are few and far between.

We have been blessed with a store that has drawn many different types of people together. People that would not normally know each other. I won't even begin to label all the different people. Because I hate labels so much. But I will say that every single one of them is different, beautiful and fabulous in their own way.

As I was scrolling through my YouTube List of favorites the other day, I came across this song by Mr. Rogers. He was a big part of my growing up. In a home full of loud people and an often chaotic atmosphere, he was a calming voice. And I was convinced he never said an unkind word about or to anyone. He sang this song many years ago....something I always remembered and it applies to every one of my customers. Look...he's not a rap guy....he's not anywhere near Justin Timberlake....but these words.......these words are so true.....so remember our dear friends......it's you we like............

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai9-r1Op8TE

It's you I like,
It's not the things you wear,
It's not the way you do your hair
But it's you I like
The way you are right now,
The way down deep inside you
Not the things that hide you,
Not your toys
They're just beside you.

But it's you I like
Every part of you.
Your skin, your eyes, your feelings
Whether old or new.
I hope that you'll remember
Even when you're feeling blue
That it's you I like,
It's you yourself
It's you.
It's you I like.

My life with my husband

I miss my husband working in our shop with me. He had to go back to NYC because we needed health insurance. (I have some issues)  I am grateful that he is making the sacrifice for me. Today is our anniversary. When people ask us how long we have been together, I feel like telling them, forever. I feel as though this man was created just for me.

I went through a bitter divorce. I will say nothing of X number 1....only to say that we were children when we got married. And when we grew up neither of us liked the other. I quickly married another man because I felt my children needed a 'father'. Well I married someone that I will only say was a 'mistake'. and it didn't last long. I was resigned to living my life alone with my 4 children. I was sad and I was lonely. People tried to fix me up with dates...and one by one I discarded all of them after 1 date. I thought....is this what is left in the world for me? how sad. I thought, I have my own house, 3 cars, I can provide for my children...so I'll just stay by myself. I did...but I wasn't happy about it.

I enjoyed playing 'Trivia Chat' on America Online. I love jeopardy...I love trivial pursuit..and I would put my children to bed at night, sit at the computer with a glass of wine and play Trivia. Because  Clayton couldn't spell Mississippi, I won the game. And he was upset. I told him he was stupid....and  so started the relationship of RCMoore. We talked on the phone for 6 months. I was afraid. REALLY afraid. Little did I know...so was he. But after months of talking on the phone, I felt I knew this man better than I knew myself. I fell in love with him on a Thursday.....at 4PM. He said something...I don't remember what...and the words tumbled out of my mouth. "I really love you...as a person"...and I felt stupid, but it was true. Even if nothing came of this, I felt he was a beautiful person...and I had to tell him so.  He said he was coming to see me...and I was petrified...but when he came, he never left. It was if he came home. He fit in.....

Has it always been perfect? OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!   we have had some serious fights, we had children problems and ex mate problems....all kinds of stupidness. But at the end of the day...I got his back and he has mine. We have been poor, and we have had money, we have been so sad, and we have rejoiced together. The most important thing is that we were always FOR each other. Always backed each other up......that's the key. And so on this anniversary I would like to say to my dear husband and mate and friend...Clayton..I would do it all again. I would suffer all the problems we did again, just to have all the beautiful joys again....because our good times totally outweighed our bad times. And if anyone reads this, and you are married.....hang on to each other. This world is tough. Learn to laugh and to weather the storm. It's soooooooo worth it!  

The sad task of choosing vintage clothing....................

I know all of you are wondering about this title. The SAD task of choosing vintage clothing? Why would it be sad? Well.....let me tell you about last week...

My husband Clayton and I were called to a home about 4 hours away...we got there very late and very tired. (it was after work) The gentleman that called was in his 90's and his wife had just passed away 1 month previous. He invited us to his home to look at her things, hopefully make a few dollars as he had incurred many expenses to keep her at home in her last years.

When we walked in, I noticed that the home was very sparse. He told me he had been selling off his antique furniture and wall hangings to pay medical bills. As he took me to the room that had a large cedar closet I was reminded of going through my great aunts things after she had passed. Going through my grandmother's things when she had passed...going through my father's things.....and remembering all the wonderful memories and all the happiness and all the pain.

He sat in a chair and Clayton was standing there ready to receive the things that I chose. I looked at the man, (I'll call him T)....and I asked him, where did she wear this funky skirt? and his eyes lit up..and he told a story. And we laughed.  And so began the ritual. I asked the question and he told the story. All of a sudden the pain was gone and laughter made it go away. This went on for about an hour and a half. We became bonded. Bound by the stories of his wife who was talented, smart and funny. She died simply of old age. He was talking to her and she was belly laughing and then all of a sudden she died. What a great way to go! But we are NEVER ready to lose our spouses, or anyone that we love. When we left there, I hugged him really hard. I told him to keep in touch. Call me, or write a letter ( I love to write letters) But I don't think that will happen. As I said, he is in his 90's, bad eyesight, poor walking ability, doesn't drive. He gave me one of her knick knacks.

On the way home, I looked at my husband and I said...'if you got sick, I want to be the one to take care of you, because I love you so, and no one will take care of you like me.'   He said the same...and we held hands and drove home in silence. At the end of our life, what is left? A few pieces of clothing and some knick knacks. Everything you own doesn't mean anything, only the love remains. Clayton and I are blessed that we have the task of reviving antique clothing...we also revive the stories that are passed with them. Because in passing the story that T told us, his wife remains alive in memory. So, whoever buys that funky skirt, will be told the story of a woman in 1960 who wore it to a house party and pigged out on the fondue pot and got horribly sick.  Now someone else can go to a party in that cool skirt....and have fun, just like T's wife.... and now SHE will create a new memory. And life goes on.....................................

Rose Ellen Moore

www.rcmooreunique.com

1729 W Tilghman Street

Allentown PA 18104

610-740-3820

First day at the gym........................

Ok...so everybody knows that I gained about 60 pounds since I purchased my brick and mortar business in 2013. I'm chained to the machine or I'm always at my worktable pressing hats, decorating hats, sewing.....I haven't been taking care of myself.   Of course it doesn't help that I eat ice cream all the time, and I eat pasta and carbs....so today...today was the day. September 28, 2015.  I decided today was the day, so help me God. So...down the street from my house is Planet Fitness. It is 5.00 to join and  10.00 per month. GREAT!   I signed up and they gave me a free T shirt and a tour and I decided today was THE day!

So I dropped my hubby off at the bus at 4:10 and went right to Planet Fitness. Four people were using the facilities. Not bad. Not intimidating.  So I jumped on the treadmill and I thought...well...I'll just start with a 30 min  cardio and then do some machines for 30 min. Well...my 20 year old mind thought that, but my 53 year old body wasn't agreeing.  So I jumped on the treadmill with gusto ...headphones in place to listen to all the great music that I prepared to motivate me. Eye of the Tiger, , some old rap stuff and of course, Earth Wind and Fire. Midway through Eye of the Tiger, my eyes were popping OUT!. I was on the stupid machine for all of 2 minutes and I thought I was going to die! I persevered.....I was determined to stay on for 30 minutes, dammit!!!!  I was walking at 3.5 very brisk at an incline of 4.0 and I burned 414 calories. It took me 39 minutes to walk 2 miles. I feel very bad about it, but very good at the same time. It's really not about the losing weight part...it's about the feeling better part. I do feel better. After it was over, I thought...I can't wait until tomorrow! Tomorrow I will do better! and the day after that! with my new T shirt! YAY! The first cut is the deepest, right? and the first day at the gym is the hardest. Looking at myself in the mirror with my workout clothes on, hanging on to the handles of the treadmill for dear life......I said, "screw the machines, I'm going home."....but tomorrow...yes......tomorrow......as Scarlett O'Hara says, "Tomorrow is another day!" 

Fashion Week? more like EGO week

  As a creative person, I would like to express my sadness to see a wonderful tradition like Fashion Week lose it's luster.  It seems that everyone is entitled to have a 'fashion line' and everyone with enough money can be a designer. You know that I have written about this before...but it's becoming more evident as years go on, ( and I am in my mid 50's, so I have seen a few years) that the respect and class for the art is gone.

There are good and bad things about fashion week. One of them is, we don't always see emaciated models like we did in previous years. We are now celebrating the curves of a woman's body and because of that, 'real' women are now fashionable and accepted. Also, there is more diversity in culture and that's wonderful as well.

But it seems that anyone who has some bucks, can put their name on something and call it their fashion line. A musician, a tennis player, a basketball player, an actress and just this morning, Wendy Williams is announcing that she is dipping her toe into the fashion world. It pains me, because I see many many very wonderful designers, who pin, sew, cut and cry over many creations. Yet they can't seem to catch a break because their wallets are light. But anyone who is famous , can now put their name on something that they haven't even had a hand in making. They chose a design...that's nice. They chose a zipper and button. Congratulations. Do you know what it's like to be so tired that you sew something to your own pants? Do you know what it's like to have a deadline and yet you can't get that dart quite right?

I have a couple tailors that help me here in the shop. Their opinion, artistic view and concept matter just as much as mine.  And I won't be ashamed to say, that many of them who are academically trained, sew much better than me. I am self taught. I watched my mother and my grandmothers and I am determined, which makes my life a living hell sometimes. If I can't do it, I keep at it until I can.


This blog is dedicated to every person who created something from scratch. Whether it turned out or not. For the people who try. For every pin you put into your garment for every stitch that you had to rip out and do over.  We at RCMoore appreciate you...we appreciate your art and your love that you have for it.

Drink a glass of wine for me tonight and toast all of these designers that we will never see..........

Rose Ellen A. Moore

RCMoore for the Unique Millinery and Vintage

1729 W Tilghman Street

Allentown PA 18104

610-740-3820

www.rcmooreunique.com

https://www.facebook.com/rc.moore.7

The Children are back to school.....HALLELUJER!

As we head back to school today, I thought about all the teachers that I had growing up. I must have been a little (*&%#$.....  and I would like to publicly apologize. :)   Not that I was a bad kid...I was mischievous..  always bubbly and full of fun.   Usually I was in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing...  I hated to study and I hated to do homework.  I always did my homework 10 minutes before class, and that's if I did it at all. I had other things to do...I played in a band, I played my instruments all the time and I was all about music.

I had some great teachers. Teachers that I have passed away, and some still living.  Miss McClure, Mrs. Phillips, Miss Stahl, Mrs Smith, Mrs Davis, Miss Campbell, Mrs Warhurst, Mr Eddinger, Mrs Fowler, Mrs Blake, Mrs Dry, they were just in my grade school, Salem Elementary.

Then I went to Middle school which was Third Street in Berwick PA....now that building is the YMCA. I remember Mr Learn who taught me Algebra...I know he thought I was hopeless...but " HEY MR LEARN...I WAS AN ACCOUNTANT FOR 20+ YEARS!!)  I just want to let him know that all of his headaches were not in vain!  I had Mr Dunn for science, ...he forgave me when I wrote TESTICLES instead of TENTACLES on my science test.

In high school I had,  I think, THE BEST of the best....why? because they prepared me for life. It wasn't just about the subjects they taught. It was about encouragement. It was about learning to deal with failure...it was about persistence and determination. Thank you to Mr. Krothe and Mrs Krothe, ...he taught me Geometry...of which I failed miserably...but kept trying. She taught me the love of books and creative writing. To Mr Maneval...again my trigonometry teacher. Thanks for teaching me a bunch of stuff I never used, but you taught me to  be determined and to challenge myself. And all the while, you never got mad, or if you did, you never showed it. Mr Harwood Rhoades....ahhh....a genius. I can't say enough about him, so I won't even try.  and my music teachers.....where would we be without music?   Mr Scott, Mr and Mrs Bohl, Miss Voveris, Miss Geheart and Mrs Hindman....love love love them!

I know all of the kids that are heading to school today think that the teachers are the bad guys. But as you get older, like me, you realize that life is hard, and they are just preparing you for what you have to deal with on the outside.

Best wishes on this school year. I hope that it's wonderfully challenging, and I hope that things will be learned far beyond the academic curriculum.

www.rcmooreunique.com

Rose Ellen Moore

1729 W Tilghman Street

Allentown PA 18104

610-740-3820

Steampunk Fashion Show Kemerer Museum August 20,2015

The year was 1892. A very important year in history. Ellis Island opened it's gates to the first 700 immigrants. This small ship and close quarters made it a breeding ground for disease.  Typhoid and Influenza was the new pestilence.  At this time, an aristocratic mother struggles to raise her 5 children alone.  Larkin, a beautiful child, although sickly, was the youngest of these children.  She was the pride and joy of her mother, Lady Rebecca Cuthbert.  Larkin loved to play with her doll in the garden.  As she grew, she became increasingly ill.  Chills crawled like spiders up her spine.  Fever, and fatigue weighed down her slight frame.

After months of fighting this dreaded disease, she sadly gave in to her demise.  After she passed away, her doll was abandoned, along with the dead child's hopes and dreams.  All the loneliness, neglect and bitterness began to manifest itself in human form.  The soul of Larkin took form in the doll that she loved so.  The doll became evil and assembled a band of broken and forgotten dolls who roam the night, searching for someone to care for them.  

Lady Cuthbert, did not want the disease to spread to her remaining beloved children.  She locked them far away from the world, and each other.  Hoping and praying to keep them alive.  Oh...they stayed alive....by any means necessary.......................................................................................

Delva, her most beautiful and mysterious daughter.  She was locked away in a tall stone tower on the edge of the sea.  She stares longingly

 at the horizon as the spray mists her face.  Word spread to the local town of her undeniable beauty, of which no one has ever seen.............................

Men have flocked to her lair, but not a single man has returned.  There have been rumors of strange magic, even stranger creatures...the townspeople hear the cries of torment, but fear keeps them away from the mysterious tower and the beautiful woman who lives there........................

Then there is Eula, a stunning beauty but very angry. Eula was shut away in a small dark cave against the tallest cliff. Far away from human contact.  Her eyes grew accustomed to the dark. Her skin has now become sensitive to light and became hard and scaly.  As her  skin became hardened, so did her cold reptile-like heart... for she knew she would never hold a newborn in her arms.  That version of Eula was now lost. So now she attempts to satisfy her longing by leaving her cave at night in the hopes to find abandoned children to care for.  She snatches them with her claw, but it's always in vain..........................................

lady Cuthbert had run out of places to hide her children.  Her son, Vlad was locked away in the cellar, slowly aging like the wine around him.  His mother kept him there for fear of losing yet another child.  He slowly became accustomed to his dark, cold surroundings.  Not knowing his father, Vlad always knew he was different.  he could feel it in his blood- or lack thereof....He wondered why his skin burned in the light of day and why his mother never spoke of his father.  But Vlad left the basement without his mother's knowledge under his thick black cloak to experience life unhindered so as to ease his loneliness.  If you see Vlad, and he offers you a drink from his goblet, I advise you not to take it.  It may not be what you think......................

The townspeople gathered a band of their most reputable warriors.  They asked pirates, wizards, soldiers, fairies and tanyone with the courage to uphold the safety of the commonwealth..  These are the protectors of the good and upholders of righteousness......

General Osnofla, leader of the mercenary band of integrity.  Walks the darkened streets under the soft glow of the lamp posts.  Years ago, his wife and child snatched from him by a dragon-like creature.  He fought to save them, but he failed.  Because of this, he assembled the best soldiers he could find.  Now, they join together to safeguard the people of this town, especially women and children. 

Shaa the Catowman-with her whip and claws of steel and her cat like prowess, she slinks about the roof tops...chimney to chimney.  Her eyes accustomed to nightfall.............................

Captain Guss Monihan and Captain Jen Melody...this pair of gunslingers have no mercy as they round up scum and villains. Both have a story to tell.....ahhhhh...but that is for another time......

Pirates Amelia Guiness, Hettie Harrington and Betty Seabury..these are a band of kind hearted pirates.  They protect the ports and inlets of the town, Nothing gets by these tough buccaneers. You  ,ay look at them and say, what beautiful ladies, but they could lay you out flat, and knock you out cold, if they had to. 

Petty Officer Tupper Jacq

ue- guards the skies in his latest invention, the grand aero-dirigible....powered by steam of course. He is also a chemist and engineer. If he can't find the right weapon to fight off evil, he will create it.

Our fairy, Aurora...works her magic and watches over the protectors of the good and the innocent hearts of this fair town. She casts her spells and weaves her magic.  She also assists the soldiers and tells them when evil is close by.  

The Wizard Caleet and her Raven Raziel......She was once Lady Cuthberts counselor  and confidant, but she has now realized the wickedness of her, and devotes her life now to hindering the evil in which she assisted Lady Cuthbert in bringing to this town.  Caleet sees the future, and aids the soldiers in changing it.  

Lady Cuthbert has become demented as time went on.  She watched her children become wicked as she was in her own heart.  Her attempts to keep them safe were successful, but at a price.  For now, these grown children are evil and the most hunted beings on the planet.  She has one last try.  Elizabeth her last daughter......................

The aristocrats of the town, Lady Jasmin, Grand duchess Lettice, Barroness Eve Quail, Duchess Hogerty Dodd, and Lady Safronia, have gathered for her wedding.  Please join the town aristocrats, as they celebrate the union of these two, Elizabeth, and her husband Lord Charles Winthrop....

We hope that you have enjoyed our little macabre tale.  We invite you to talk to our cast of characters and get to know them better.  For now, we say good night, and when you go home, be sure to lock your doors...................................................

Rose Ellen  Moore

RCMoore for the Unique

1729 W Tilghman Street

Allentown PA 18104

610-740-3820