Lisa Nichols Expert Guru

Lisa Nichols is a freelance writer and marketing and PR strategy consultant. Based in Covington, Kentucky (also known as greater Cincinnati, Ohio), Lisa designs marketing and PR plans and writes feature articles, press releases, executive communications, collateral materials, direct mail and optimized Web site pages, articles and blogs for clients around the world through her company, rubyhoneymarketing. Lisa Nichols is also the author of the popular Northern Kentucky News Blog. Industries and clients include SEO agencies, newspaper, insurance, retail, advertising, financial services, industrial equipment and medical supplies. Lisa was recently published in Credit Union Business magazine and is currently at work on a comic book. In addition, Lisa Nichols is the chairperson for the marketing committee for the Ohio Valley Multiple Sclerosis Society. Lisa received her B.A. in English and Political Science from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She's the youngest of eight kids, and her family resides in Oregon and California. When she's not railing against customer service breakdowns, she's usually at a Reds game, attending one of Cincinnati's many outdoor festivals (including a half dozen Oktoberfests every fall) or buying and selling (and collecting) vintage clothing and antique art pottery.

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Using Auctions to Buy Vintage and Antiques

Use an online auction to find some of the best deals on vintage clothing, antiques and art.

Auction tools that will bid auction and snipe auction items for you are often your best bet, especially if the items you want are in a different time zone. Many auction tools that snipe auction items actually lengthen the time of the online auction by a few seconds to put in your online bid at the end of the auction.

You can find vintage clothing, coin collections and antique sports memorabilia among other items at local auction houses.

Locally, find auctions online or in the newspaper. Often I find that no one else bids on a vintage clothing lot, so I can get a rack of clothes for pennies on the dollar. You may end up with items at a vintage clothing auction that you can’t wear or re-sell due to condition. Toss or donate vintage clothing that doesn’t meet your standards, you’ll still make a killing on the items you keep. I have bid on and won an entire vintage clothing lot just to get one item. More and more local auction houses are offering their auctions online, so you can watch the auction and bid online from home.

Best Vintage Jewelry for 2007 Style

Colored strands of vintage beads look like oversized faux pearls but come in every color of the rainbow.



Find vintage strands of beads in colors ranging from blue to yellow to red to green. Also, keep your eyes open for vintage beads in unusual shapes, or mixed in graduating sizes with crystal beads inserted for interest. Varying lengths and metallic vintage beads in silver and gold make this a favorite for at least one more season.



A vintage brooch that incorporates a cameo, vintage rhinestones, bunches of flowers or styled like a flower shape vintage pin looks great year after year.



Wear your vintage brooch creatively. A vintage pin looks great on your winter coat, but also stands out when grouped with other vintage brooches on a denim jacket or on the hem of your blouse. Vintage pins also cluster effectively on a scarf, a headband or vintage cardigan sweater.



Wear your real vintage gold or your faux vintage gold with panache.


Real gold, or fake vintage gold (either will work) works best when piled on in vintage necklaces, vintage bracelets and vintage lockets and worn at the same time. Mix vintage gold jewelry with faux vintage gold pieces, and definitely incorporate your vintage pins and faux vintage pearls into the mix, too.



A vintage watch is a good investment that’s, well, timeless.




Men should look for vintage watch looks that have a heavy silver or silver and gold band. Women need to find oversized vintage men’s diver watches with 70’s era black rubber bands. Wear your big vintage watch fearlessly with your gold jewelry, latest designer handbag and trendy wide leg jeans for a look that’s all your own, with great vintage style!

Mix and Match Your Favorite Vintage Clothing with New Fashion Finds

Best ways to mix your favorite vintage clothing items with your new designer finds.




Mixing vintage clothing from your closet with new designer finds is a must for most vintage clothing collectors. A neighbor was just telling me how hard it is to find plus-size vintage clothing; I told her that anyone larger than a size 5 will have a hard time finding vintage clothing in larger sizes. So, a lot of us are confined to buying vintage coats and jackets, vintage sweaters and blouses and vintage jewelry and accessories, and then buying brand new designer jeans, pants and skirts. So, how do you mix your love of vintage clothing with new clothes that you buy off the rack?



Blend vintage clothing from your closet with new designer pieces to get a look that’s all your own.



One rule of thumb to follow when mixing vintage clothing with new mall finds: Don’t over think color-coordinating your outfits. That’s not vintage- that’s just old hat. Instead, look for a balance of color, mixing a vintage brown jacket with a new designer handbag in dark red.



Ideas for mixing vintage clothes with new clothing include:



Wear a vintage cardigan over a new button-down blouse with French cuffs and a pencil skirt. Accessorize with loads of vintage fake pearls and a vintage brooch, too. In cold weather, load a vintage velvet blazer or corduroy vintage blazer on top of the blouse and sweater.



Try a vintage trench coat over your everyday workweek suit. For added oomph, find a vintage overcoat in a pastel blue, peach or pink; you don’t see those colors in today’s raincoats.



Wear a vintage tee with your designer jeans, or with wide legged cuffed pants and heels for a fun look. Just remember, the wider the pants, the skinnier the tee! An oversized vintage men’s diver watch and some vintage gold jewelry completes the look.

Travel to Cincinnati for Oktoberfest This Year

Visit Cincinnati, Ohio for the country’s largest Oktoberfest; arrive in town early to attend one of the city’s half-dozen other Oktoberfests!



Oktoberfest Cincinnati now vies with Oktoberfest Munich, with 700,000 people attending Oktoberfest Zinzinnati each fall. The Oktoberfest Cincinnati is celebrated annually because the city enjoys a diverse German heritage- and a great love for Oktoberfest music, beer and food!



In addition to the “main” Oktoberfest Cincinnati residents and visitors look forward to all year, several Cincinnati suburbs and local German societies throw their hats in with their own Oktoberfest parties, too.



Enjoy Oktoberfest food, including schnitzels, pretzels and wursts with your light or dark Oktoberfest beer at the annual fall celebrations. You’ll find Oktoberfest music at the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Oktoberfests too, with polka bands, singing crowds and plenty of authentic Germans-in Oktoberfest costumes- in for the weekend.



Oktoberfest Cincinnati 2007 dates are Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007, 11 a.m.-midnight; Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; and the Opening Ceremony is Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007, at 10:30 a.m. For more information about some of the other Oktoberfest Cincinnati celebrations, check out the Kolping Society, Donauschwaben Cincinnati and Covington Main Strasse Web sites.

Wide Leg Jeans Replace Skinny Designer Jeans in 2007

Learn to love designer jeans again- and your body, too- with 2007’s most popular designer jeans trend- wide leg jeans!




Stovepipe jeans are going to be bigger than ever in 2007- the skinny designer jeans look is on its way out (thank heaven!). Wide-leg denim jeans look best on very body, and hide a lot of body “issues” that are right out in front with the skinny jeans fad.



Wear wide leg jeans with a smaller top to balance out the look. You don’t want a big oversized blouse with wide leg jeans, because you’ll look big all over. A fitted sweater or tee looks great with stovepipe jeans and gives the chance to flaunt your rhinestone vintage belt, too, all the rage with wide leg jeans.



Wide leg jeans look great with vintage clogs or vintage cut-out wedge shoes. Vintage sneakers are a fun alternative to a dressy shoe and look great with all styles of designer jeans.



Wide-leg jeans and oversized straight leg jeans will be in every store by fall.