Valley’s castaways help clothe Hollywood

By Karen Blackledge
The Daily Item

October 16, 2008 08:27 am

— DANVILLE — The Cat’s Pajamas’ national reputation began with a man and a small dog pulling up in a white Cadillac.
The man’s daughter, Molly Maguinness who is a famous movie costumer, ended up digging through bags of old dresses Laura Brehmer had in her shop in Iola, Columbia County, and buying them for the film “Come See the Paradise.”
Since then, Brehmer’s business, The Cat’s Pajamas, has provided vintage clothing to scores of movies, including “Titanic.”
“The first scene of the Titanic is most of my stuff and the everyday clothes were mine. I sold one dress for the ballroom scene,” Brehmer said.
The Cat’s Pajamas recently opened retail operations in Danville and Bloomsburg, featuring clothes and accessories from Victorian through the 1980s.
“I have so much stock, this will be a way to allow some of it to be sold,” she said.
The Danville location is in Terry’s Tupperware at Rudy’s Mart, which is the old Clover Leaf. The Bloomsburg store is at 212 Iron St.
Brehmer had a store in Iola for 17 years before moving her stock to a warehouse in Williamsport in 1999.
The 51-year-old, who favors clothes from the ’40s and ’70s for herself, got started while cleaning houses in 1979 in Idaho. She traded her cleaning services for hundreds of old clothes and opened a store known as Puttin’ on the Ritz in Blackfood, Idaho. After moving to Iola, she took goods to sell in New York City and New Hope. Soon after that, she opened The Cat’s Pajamas in her living room.
She has posters from many of the movies with actors and actresses wearing her clothing. Some of the more recent films include “Across the Universe” with ’70s attire, “American Gangster” and “Walk The Line.” She provided lingerie for Diane Lane in “Hollywoodland.”
Some films not out yet with her clothing include a Woodstock film and “Brothers” and “The Box.”
Brehmer got a request for a rose-beaded purse for Annette Benning to take to the Academy Awards ceremony when she was nominated for “American Beauty.” “I searched everywhere and couldn’t find it for her,” Brehmer said.
While Brehmer has not had a lot of direct contact with Hollywood stars, she does get to know a little about them.
After being given Renee Zellweger’s measurements for “Cinderella Man,” she thought “wow, she’s small.”
Her wares are also being worn by big-city mannequins.
Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City used tweed coats from The Cat’s Pajamas for a window display. In Style, NY Fashion Daily Report, USA Today and Country Living are just a few of the publications writing about the business.
Brehmer, also nicknamed Miss Kitty on her Web site at www.catspajamas.com, gets lots of calls to buy clothing from estates and has traveled across the country to buy clothing, shoes, boots and accessories.
“This area is very rich since people didn’t move a lot and stored things. I recently bought a coverlet from 1865 that they were going to throw away. I have to wash and clean it. I enjoy taking a ratty and stained dress and seeing it like new again,” she said.
“My biggest high is digging through attics and closets and finding maybe a hat that nobody has worn for 100 years,” she said.
Buying vintage clothing is a great way to recycle clothing. “You can mix and match a vintage jacket with new jeans or a vintage pencil skirt with a new sweater,” she said. “It’s not something that everyone’s wearing where you see yourself coming and going,” she said.
Her daughter-in-law, Stephanie Hauze, who manages the Bloomsburg shop, prefers to wear ’50s clothes. A Pittsburgh Art Institute special effects makeup graduate who worked in a Pittsburgh costume shop, she said many of her customers are buying boots, coats and party outfits.
The Danville shop sells clothes for men and women plus shoes, boots and jewelry. Terry Bortz manages the Danville store, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. The Bloomsburg shop is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and noon to 7 p.m.
-- E-mail comments to kblackledge@thedanvillenews.com.

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