A few blogs back, I talked about the vintage clothing store in Denton, Texas called Circa 77. We always find something without which we cannot live (That sentence seems stilted, but I had a high school English teacher who got furious if I put a preposition at the end of the sentence. It was something up with which she would not put.).

Where was I? Oh yes, Circa 77. We found a jacket for my husband there which turned out to be an amazing deal. It was light tan leather, and it fit my husband amazingly well. I nearly passed on it because of the price. It was around $75, and Janie (the shopkeeper that day) couldn’t come down in the price because it was a consignment piece.

But, as he stood looking at himself in the mirror in that jacket, I just melted. My instincts told me that jacket was made for him. I couldn’t help myself and I bought it. That turned out to be a smart move.

A few days later, my husband was wearing that jacket when we exited a local coffee shop. A scruffy looking man at a table outside called out, “That’s a great jacket. It’s elk skin, you know. “

We didn’t know. The man asked if he could look at the jacket more closely. With an unkempt beard and several layers of clothing, he resembled one of the homeless folk who hang around downtown asking for handouts and we weren’t sure if that’s what he wanted. But, we let him examine it.

He pointed out the hand stitching, the elk horn buttons, and the fine craftsmanship. He told us how to care for the leather (we could hand wash the jacket if it got dirty). “I wouldn’t ask less than $1500 for that in my shop,” he said. He wasn’t homeless. He was just a “free spirit.”

Jim Matheson was his name, and he gave us a card so we could visit his web site. He is a maker of “leather hats, gloves, and more.” He’s also an author and quite a character.

We visited his website, and later that afternoon felt compelled to visit his “shop,” which is in a tiny booth at the Mini-Mall II on the Square. He showed us some amazing hand stitched hats that would sell for over $1000 in a high end shop. He doesn’t ask a third of that, but it was still out of our price range.

On New Year’s Eve, my husband wore his jacket to a party at a friend’s house. Two of the women there squealed when they looked at this jacket and they asked to touch it. For some reason they looked at me for permission. I shrugged and told them they could touch it if they could keep their hands off my husband. The women “oohed” and “aahed” over the workmanship and couldn’t believe I could ever have thought that $75 was too much to pay for it.

Sometimes my instincts are right. My husband got an excellent addition to his wardrobe (which I might borrow now and again). We also got to meet a craftsman we might never have discovered if my husband wasn’t wearing an elk skin jacket.

I’ve heard people complain about small town life. I don’t mind it much anymore, but I confess that when I first moved to Denton, Texas I wasn’t crazy about it. I missed living in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex where I could shop and eat. It’s been a slow process of discovery, but I’m finding that Denton has several things to recommend it.

One of my favorite places to shop is a vintage clothing store called Circa 77
(225 W. Oak Denton, TX 76201 Phone: 940-483-1977). It’s a tiny hole in the wall off the square crammed full of treasures.

Christine and her mother Janie, the proprietors, are friendly souls who will just let you browse. Or, they will bend over backwards to help you find what you want. Once they know what types of clothing and accessories interest you, they will call you on the phone whenever similar items come in stock.

From antique kimonos to bowling shirts to belly dancing costumes and accessories…you never know what treasures you might find. They have designer evening wear and dresses from the 50’s that will make any woman look like Beaver Cleaver’s mom.

If an item doesn’t fit, they will alter it to suit your tastes. I had seen one dress made of double knit with a pattern I thought was delightful. The fabric was a cream colored background with a very 60’s retro chocolate print. The dress had a Nehru collar and zipped down the back. Unfortunately, the dress was too snug on me, so I put it back on the rack. A few days later when I visited the shop, another woman had bought the dress and had the shop alter it. They took out the back zipper and closed the seam, opened the front and installed buttons to make it into a coat. It was awesome…but it still wouldn’t have fit me.

Circa 77 doesn’t just have women’s clothing. My husband and son love to shop there, too. I’ll blog about a jacket we found for my husband later. It deserves a blog of it’s own.

You can also find shoes, belts, hats, and jewelry. The pricing at the story is very reasonable. Even though you have to search through the racks, which is something I despise, it’s well worth the hunt when you find something you love.