Street in Washington.

Street in Washington.

Susan became more and more interested in old clothing as she conducted her searches. She began wearing the clothes she found herself and that gave her the idea that other people would probably want antique clothing, too.

“The old clothing was really made to flatter women’s bodies,” Susan said. “The fabrics are beautiful and pure, and everything was hand-made with wonderful workmanship.”

The purity of the fabrics causes some problems, though, since the fabrics are affected by time and air. “My projection is to someday reproduce the styles of clothes using modern fabrics with the old buttons and lace,” Susan said. “Then someone could pick the style they’d like, and I could make it to fit them.”

Susan uses an 1870s blouse in her exhibit window that illustrates the craftsmanship that went into the clothing. Susan researches every piece of clothing that she buys to place it in time. One piece that she has not been able to find anything on is a cap she calls the Whistler’s mother’s cap. “I just called it that because I couldn’t find it anywhere, but I think that it is from the 1820s,” Susan said.

Most of the clothing hangs in the downstairs portion of the shop where Susan is also sorting out her many jewelry pieces. Some of the jewelry is arranged in a display case, also an antique, upstairs. The other pieces are spilling out of boxes and cases in a testament to Susan’s searching abilities.

“I have lots of rhinestone jewelry with some semi-precious and some antiques, but most of it is costume jewelry,” Susan said. Besides the clothing and jewelry, the shop has various old and new collectible items, toys and antique furniture. “I put my own ideas into the things I have, especially the clothing,” Susan said.

Susan said that she is optimistic about the shop and the shop will be open Wednesdays through