Jill Mooney's vintage collection was getting so big that she had little choice but to rehome it.
"I've always liked to dress up, and I still do," she said.
The fashion fan from Melbourne grew up mostly in Sydney, working at iconic fashion houses in the '70s like John and Merivale, Daily Planet and In Shoppe.
"I used to work for a place called Cash Palace which sold a lot of vintage clothes and there was a cape in there that was French-cut velvet that I bought," Ms Mooney said.
"It was so expensive that I lay-buyed it for months.
"I used to wear it wrapped around as a dress and I still have it."
It was pink and black and matched her stilettos in the same colours perfectly.
In love with her collection but not too protective of it, she has spent the past 12 years intentionally rehoming these outfits to the many varied people who wander in to her shop.
Starting the shop
Ms Mooney had hardly visited Penola before moving there in 1989.
Her husband Simon, who she met in Sydney, comes from the South Australian town and it was his great-grandparents who built the old cottage which Jill's Vintage started out of in 2008.
When the cottage became available, so did Ms Mooney's dream of opening a vintage boutique.
But not everything in her collection moved into the shop.
Some of the items she has worn, many of them she just bought out of pure admiration.
"It's always good to have a few classics in the wardrobe that you can dress up or down, things like velvet coats," Ms Mooney said.
Everything's vintage
Most things in Jill's life come pre-loved.
"I do buy a few things [new], but mostly it's vintage," Ms Mooney said.
For Ms Mooney it's not just how vintage things look and feel, it's the sense of life that comes with them.
Not just clothes but books, ornaments and other bric-a-brac too.
Not a new concept, Ms Mooney said vintage has always been popular.
"In the 70s and 80s people would buy beaded dresses from the 40s and wear them," Ms Mooney said.
"I used to sell them in Paddington Market in Sydney."
Although now the interest is about much more than just fashion.
Where she finds stuff
Jill Mooney does not have to look too hard to find new stock.
"I travel around a fair bit and I just have an ear for finding things and people find me," Ms Mooney said.
"I meet a lot of great people in the shop, people that have the same interest."
As far as finding an item's era goes, Ms Mooney has her ways of uncovering material ancestry.
"I can tell by labels usually, they have different sizing also," she said.
"But just by the look, whether it has shoulder pads or no shoulder pads, what fabric was used.
While an appreciator of trends, some she just doesn't have time for.
"[I'm] not really a fan of shoulder pads," Ms Mooney said.
A silk morning cape over 100-years-old however, that's a different story.
Country clients
In the 12 years she has been open Ms Mooney has slowly built rapport with her customers, many of them local.
"If I know them well I know what they like and it's easy to find something for them.
"Usually I just let them browse and if they want my help it's always there."
It is not only the customers that are local, but the clothes too.
"There was a Miss Australia in Coonawarra, Tricia Reschke, in the 60s — [a dress] came from her family," Ms Mooney said.
"I think it might have been hers."
Although she can't determine a story for every dress and cape that comes through the door, she has a lot of fun trying.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiX2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTEyLTEyL2luY3JlZGlibGUtdmludGFnZS1jbG90aGVzLWNvbGxlY3Rpb24taW4tcGVub2xhLzEyOTM1MDg00gEnaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEyOTM1MDg0?oc=5
2020-12-11 20:00:00Z
CAIiEN-wb4HECCTmOVJUFGoA9XUqFggEKg4IACoGCAow3vI9MPeaCDDD9QQ
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