Welcome to the World of The Discerning Blonde!

 Welcome Everyone!

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Michael and I have many nicknames, including Mykey, Blondmyk, and Blondmykey.  I own and operate a newer store on Etsy called "The Discerning Blonde VCJ Shoppe", with VCJ standing for "Vintage Costume Jewelry".  

The Discerning Blonde VCJ is a labor of love for me.  I began collecting, researching, and selling vintage jewelry back in 2006 when a friend of mine put out some jewelry sets at a garage sale in Des Moines, Iowa that I was helping her set up.  They were beautiful sets and I couldn't believe that she was selling them for $12.50 each.  They were all signed pieces, with names like Napier, Christian Dior, Hattie Carnegie, Vendome, etc-- maybe five or six sets total.  I asked her about them and she allowed me to take them home to research them.  That following week, an addiction was born.  One page of research led to another and took me on a journey that I still enjoy to this very day. 

My goal with The Discerning Blonde is to eventually turn it into more than just a vintage jewelry shop.  I would like to include all sorts of different kinds of smalls, from vanity items to jewelry boxes and more.  These items are just so artistic and full of history that I just can't resist sharing them with others.  

I would also like the shop to have some sort of educational value, to have articles where I can share my journey and my tidbits of wisdom on jewelry identification and history.  You see, I have a bad habit of writing big, long jewelry descriptions that make people turn away when they go to check items out.  That's because I want to give lots of info on the piece that I'm selling.  People have discouraged me from doing that recently and so I have stopped.  Instead, I am going to blog about the things I learn rather than put them in my item descriptions and get an alterative stream of viewership going...with those folks who do like to read and learn about histories and jewelry research.

So folks, sit back and try to enjoy this ride with me.  It may be short lived, but then again it may be a long one.  I'll try to blog at least once a week, providing highlights of what I have done for the week complete with photos.

Thanks for joining me!