Confession of a Dreamgirl with Cass of Painted Lady Vintage

Words by Matthew Spence:

Let us read a passage from the Book of Bling. “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend and gave Leo DiCaprio an accent, but those whose souls are in the stone need to step up their whimsy. ” Flair can leave you roaming catalogs (and regretting not reading the Garfield comics). Raiding shops for pins and jewelry that take nonverbal communication to another stylish level.

In the gumbo of fashion, you can freely roam and Rafer Alston your way to completing who you are, piece by piece. Cuz we can get spun around so much with so many trends, influences, and side quests to find what looks good versus what feels good. I’m not talking texture but spiritually. I can’t speak if “love at first sight” is real for humans, but I know damn well it is for clothing.

A subtle but overlooked form of expression is accessories, being there’s an elastic-like craftwork to them outside of the convention. VVS diamonds are cool, but have you tried paper clip earrings? Under your nose are plenty of local vendors and shops that you could add to your teen flick shopping spree montage for essential and eccentric accessories. Don’t know where to start? A wise bloke once told me, “Just follow the light.” Not a metaphorical one, that reflective light that’s beaming like the bat signal. It’s the sun beaming off of someone’s bottle cap jewelry, courtesy of Painted Lady Vintage. The Craftswomen: Cass.

A CT native who’s been using her KND-like resourcefulness and academia of pop culture/style to craft pieces made from bottle caps to add pizzazz to your wardrobe. Whether it’s a selection piece or a custom item, rock a “FUCK ICE” pin or a bracelet of The Craft Posse. Landing on the Painted Lady site will be one of the rare instances of not having regrets searching the Internet.

 

 

 

Going from a vintage clothing curator to a jewelry/piece maker, since 2022, Cass has had a battery to create that feels to be everlast, and around the way, people are getting first-hand experiences of that. And first ears and necks and even their bags too. Developing a following in the local CT scene, PLV is an idea that’s been stretching not only an audience but also the idea of a brand. Now the big 26, the once Tumblr gal is crafting pieces for the universal Internet goers (Pinteresters, Instagrammers, etc.), whether they’re online or off to appreciate.

Painted Lady is Cass’s figment turned reality, all thanks to her affinity for making the world her mood board. Putting her name on a cloud while she swags out the dope people. While it’s a character development people add to their script later in life, the stork dropped off a thespian, so to speak. Fuck a life coach; she’s a Leo. Being a dream girl and architecting her world has always been in her preface. A self-proclaimed “dramatic” child: doped up on rom-coms and a bunch of media consumption, she knew she had a fun job in her future. Working in the fashion industry, a magazine editor, or maybe as an editor for a fashion magazine. If you had a table at a career day event and she walked up to your booth, most likely you have a job that speaks to the fantasy girlies.

Ultimately, as life forged on, certain opportunities didn’t come at ease, but that didn’t slow her beat. “Like, I’m not going to work for Vogue, babe, so I’m just going to make my own Vogue.” While working retail at a mall and wanting to avoid corporate Stockholm Syndrome, she made one decision that we all feel at some point or another: GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE. “It was a thing I had to do. It was either know I had to quit or be stuck there for the rest of my life. I think because, I don’t know if you feel this with jobs, but there is a way they can put their claws in you”.

 

 

 

Born to style in 2022, PLV evolved from demo stages to a brand with an identity that can capture your attention. Like a Lana Del Rey album announcement. At first, being an outlet for selling vintage clothing, it slowly but surely morphed into a brand that not only reps Cass but also can play a role in helping you rep yourself. It is named after a butterfly, after all, and like them, they blossom into something majestic. Cass, the person, feels like the human embodiment of the IG page “velvetcoke.” Stocked with mood board quotes, studious pop culture knowledge, and a guide on how to be iconic.

 

 

The main character without the syndrome. In fact, our two-hour-plus convo was barely an interview but instead a fully loaded convo about everything and anything: Jersey Shore, childhood fears, politics, making fun of Adam Levine, fear of peaking, aging, and so much more that we needed to leave a trail of M&Ms on the ground to find our way back to the original conversation.  Without insight, Painted Lady vintage makes sense. Knowing that insight, Painted Lady vintage makes SENSE.

Its main attraction that gets the people going: One-of-a-kind DIY jewelry and accessories. Made from bottle caps / recycled material. Shopping on PLV, you’ll see necklaces, earrings, bracelets, pins, and the piece that made Cass run wild with her imagination, the bottle cap choker necklace from Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. All filled with the flavors of pop culture. Bold and pop for your eyes, razzle-dazzle to the core. The bottle cap jewelry is a different kind of flair that captures personality in the links and images. Once you see one, you want one. Once you get one, you want em’ all. Put on the bracelet, and it finally gets you to understand, “Oooh, so this is how the hot boys feel?” And, “So this is what an It Girl feels like?” With the right funds, Painted Lady will have you looking like Pharrell in ’06.

 

PLV jewelry pieces are universal: cis men, trans women, queer, or straight if you’re down to express and open to the dopeness the world offers you. Painted Lady jewelry is gender neutral for a cause; clothes don’t have a gender in her eyes, so her work can be for anyone to wear. No customer is denied (unless you’re a dick)

 

 

It ain’t just for aesthetics; culture is what Cass is about, yo. Wanting her brand to be able to wash away the dry spell of people who are looking to merge the best of both worlds. “I try to find the niche thing that people can’t find for themselves.” It’s for the culturally astute (pop and counter), if you will, and it’s fitting cuz that’s Cass’s second language (or third or fourth; I don’t know if she’s multilingual). “My friends literally call me an endless vast of references. They’ll be like, ‘You can’t hold on to any information, except you know everything about pop culture. ‘Well, yes, but that’s what just sticks with me.”

[When she said that, I felt like I was speaking to a close twin. You could probably guess that I have gotten the same comments. I mean, have you been reading this article? After three convos, you will get used to it.]

Big on media consumption, from the lowbrow to the thoughtful, Cass combines her taste with Painted Lady and expands upon it “like collage art,” as she states. But if her frame of reference isn’t necessarily your forte, customized orders are where it’s at, yo, and that’s where it’s actually at with Cass. ” Custom orders are the most orders I fulfill. A lot of people like to put their pet, son, significant other, or whatever their favorite artists or whatever they want to do, and like, that’s going to be with someone forever; that’s the goal, obviously, but when I think about it, it makes me sentimental and cool that could be a thing.” Flashy to be flashy isn’t the intent on Cass’s part; the buyer, we can’t speak for.

 

 

Ultimately, though, PLV in her current haul of bottle cap accessories zooms in closer than a superficial view. Beyond a nice piece, the intimacy that tangible items can carry. Take a look around the average home; there are a few items that cannot be misplaced, and I’m not talking about the pack of AA batteries you could have sworn you put in the cabinet. I’m talking about that special hoodie you’ve had since high school, that stuffed animal that sits on your bed, and those CDs from your parents’ home. You don’t fucking listen to Ja Rule and Counting Crows, but sentimental value gets the best of you.

Buying a PLV item is a step closer to adding another meaning to your life’s decor, and Cass is here for every bit of it and hopes she doesn’t let that fact of reality slip by her despite being her “own biggest critic.” “Whether it’s for yourself, sweetheart, your niece/nephew, a childhood friend, or even if you just want to gift it to a stranger on the street, it takes on a life of its own, and somewhere down the line it becomes a piece of someone’s or your story. The piece that people are going to cherish until they… You know. “When it happens and something comes up like at a market and somebody’s like, ‘Oh, my sister has one of your necklaces; she wears it so much’ or ‘I totally recognize your stuff,’ for stuff like that makes me feel incredibly seen, and the impact of that is crazy because I have a habit of not thinking about the reach of the community until it’s like brought to me. It’s one of my habits I’m trying to work on.”

Through custom orders, she gets a bit of your story; whether it’s a personal image or a fangirl order, there’s a sense of sondering going on. It makes it worthwhile, as right now, everything is worthwhile. From uncertainty to security, Cass finally lives the main character’s life she envisioned. HBO style, I would take a guess. Long removed from her retail job, quitting was the first big leap that needed to happen. Now it wasn’t all sunshine and sunflowers, but her payoff came in two forms: lessons and lust for life. “I was smart about it; I did it when I was okay enough to pretty much support myself, but it was really scary. I don’t think I got really comfortable in supporting myself by myself up until like 6 months ago, honestly, because this kind of sucks when you’re your own boss, but you have to work for free. Unfortunately, you have to put that fucking work in, work, work, and not get a lot of payback until you do so. That’s where I kind of feel like I am right now; it’s 1,000% rewarding, and finally, my work is paying off.”

The stress era paid off, and now the era of gentle growth is among us. Now don’t get twisted; if Charli XCX or Chloe Sevigny became PLV spokespeople, life would feel oracular spectacular. She’s not knocking more but is completely okay with the baseline of being able to do what she enjoys. She’s basically doing what she did when she was a kid.

 

 

“Maybe life isn’t about making it big but just about creating what I want to create and be supported by the people that support me. I just want to be content.” Making paper dolls and collages as a kid and running a fashion hub as an adult, Painted Lady is just the remix of her creative past. And she’s ever grown with her art. 5 years from now, Painted Lady Vintage, who knows where it’ll be: more minimal or expanded in pieces and widespread? Cass may not pin the tail on the exact location on the map, yet her feelings towards the future haven’t vanished in the mix. She’s ready for more and excited for the journey wherever it may lead, but she has a bit of a clue: “I don’t know what 2026 has planned for Painted Lady; just expect more, expect bigger!” Bigger, better, and CUNTER. Thanks, Lola.

Spoil yourself and shop at Painted Lady Vintage. Get ready for the summer and fall and winter and then summer again.

Follow: Cass & Painted Lady Vintage