Vintage Couture Meets Bret Michaels At JDRF Dream Gala

As you know, the cause near and dear to our hearts is JDRF - Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. JDRF hosted their "DREAM GALA" Saturday night at the Hilton Anatole. JDRF honored Bret Michaels with the 2011 Dream Gala Contagious Inspiration Award. Bret was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age six.

Vintage Couture Inc. is committed to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and their goal of finding a cure for this awful disease. A percentage of profits from our sales are donated to JDRF. In addition, at every opportunity, either product collateral or interviews of Vintage Couture celebrity spokesperson Trista Sutter, we are raising awareness of the disease and the need for others to get involved in finding a cure.

The evening was fantastic, but the photos... not so much! There we were, with the winner of last year's Celebrity Apprentice and Rock of Love reality star (and a rock star that most of our employees were listening to in high school...) and all we had were our cell phone cameras.

Now that our catalog is out, we wanted to share the photos with you showcasing some of the props we used in the shoot. From Vintage airplanes and army gear to antique motorcycles and tricycle, we want to thank our friends at Willie and Francis at De Ridder Antiques for making it all possible.

You just have to check this place out. You can literally spend an entire day walking through their 55,000 square ft store and never see the same thing twice. It’s vintage paradise on steroids!!!

De Ridder is located in Forney at 10462 West US Highway 80. They are open Monday-Saturday 9am-5pm and open Sundays from Noon-5pm. Check out their website at www.deridderantiques.com and tell them your friends from My Vintage Baby sent you!

Family Spirit Orphanage

Last December, an amazing woman named Mandie Joy reached out to us about donating clothing for the children in the Family Spirit Orphanage where she volunteers in Uganda.

Mandie is a nurse there and lives near the orphanage, where the babies go naked because they don’t have clothes. The orphanage is mostly filled with HIV+ children whose parents have died of AIDS or were killed in the violent war going on in the northern part of Uganda.

After looking at their website, we decided we needed to help every way we could and sent the children at the orphanage several cases of clothing. Mandie was kind enough to share photos and a video of the children in their new clothes. We were moved beyond words. The smiles on their faces provided a heartwarming appreciation and gratitude words could never convey.

There are 10 girls ages 10-15 who need to go to middle school this year and they are in need of sponsors. There are also needs for practical small things like soap, beans, sugar, and chalk. If you feel as compelled as we did to help, please reach out to Mandie on her blog at www.mandiejoy.com and she’ll give you the information on what they need and how you can help.

Look Who Just Joined Our Team!

We are so excited to have Kimberly Gambale join the My Vintage Baby team as a Direct Sales Representative. She is one incredible woman who is goal oriented and dedicated to success. Everything she does – she does it to the extreme (reminds me of Jessica). She juggles being a wife, mommy, running a busy home and business and designing. She’s also a Radio Talk Show Host on Heartbeat Radio USA and now she’s adding designer children's clothing from My Vintage Baby to the mix.

Some of you know her from her boutique Diane & Co, others will identify with her from her reality television show Jersey Couture.

Her mother started in the fashion industry over 30 years ago. Over those years she created an amazing company where time, dedication and customer service turned into success. Kimberly and her sister Christina joined their mother at her boutique Diane & Co and together they continue to grow the business.

The business may be large, but they run it in a family oriented manner. Relationships and partnerships are what make you successful. After years of working together their lives changed when a woman walked into their boutique looking for a Mother of the Bride dress and left the store with not only a dress but a Reality TV show idea. Thus, Jersey Couture was born.

The show, which airs on Oxygen is a tribute to their fans and allows them to take an inside look at what running a family business is all about. In the midst of the business, and filming of her show, she had an amazing baby girl, Francesca. She is truly a DIVA- Come on- her grandmother is considered a Fashion Diva!

Once her clientele and fans saw Francesca in the adorable MVB outfits, they demanded to know where she bought them. With so many of her fans crazy about the fashions, the decision to join the team was an easy one. Kimberly wanted to represent a company with strong values, a dedicated partnership and above all quality. On the show and on any given day you can find Francesca outfitted in these amazing, cute, quirky, colorful outfits!!

Kimberly will be announcing the line on Monday, January 3rd at 9:30amET on HeartbeatRadio USA. Listeners can listen one of the following ways:

1. Download the HeartbeatRadio USA app on the iphone-It's FREE
2. Go to www.dianeandcoonline.com and click on the Classy & Flashy Banner/Link on homepage
3. http://www.heartbeatradiousa.com/ and go to LIVE STREAM

You won’t want to miss it! Welcome aboard Kimberly. We are thrilled beyond words to have you as part of our team!