I am RC Moore.  I am the protector of history and the keeper of memories. I watch over all the carefully curated pieces of vintage clothing in my shop and warehouse in Hellertown Pennsylvania. 

I am the daughter of immigrants. An Italian mother and a Roma father. My mother sewed all my clothing. She knitted all my gloves and hats, crocheted, beaded, tatted, and smocked. She made most of our clothing just by looking in a magazine, and these are all the things that I learned from her. Here at RCMoore Vintage and Millinery nothing gets thrown away. I repair and restore everything that I can to the best of our ability. Many times I send the very old things to professional vintage restorers. When something is beyond repair, I salvage as much as I can from the garment and I make something else. It gets a new life and many times turns out better than when it was first made. I also make costumes, drag, burlesque, steampunk, and cosplay. I have a line of dolls for adults called “groovy bad-ass chicks” made of all vintage materials. I make beautiful pictures out of broken jewelry, and of course, my hats are always outrageous! When I see something broken or torn, I don’t see what it is…..I see what it could be.

To find these lovely pieces, I travel the world, meet all kinds of interesting people and gather wonderful fun things for my shop. Here are where stories and memories go to lie in wait of a continuance. It’s never the end. It’s only a pause. Until the next person comes in the door and loves the garment that was waiting just for them. And then, their story, their life, their memory…gets added to all the ones that were there before.

We live in a society where we easily dispose of things and people. It is easy to throw something away and not think about it ever again. What I try to do is to teach people to cherish things…to cherish memories and to cherish each other. Please try and live your life with sustainable fashion. It could mean the world to an exploited woman or child. And in doing that, you could mean everything to the world in being your authentic self.

Rose Ellen Moore /owner