The Cat’s Meow Antique Shop, in Midland, Texas is a historic clothing shop that sells vintage and antique clothing to the general public, but also privately to Hollywood movie producers. Historic clothing and accessories are a unique specialty of owner Steven Porterfield who is a native Midlander. He travels 50,000 miles per year on buying trips all over the United States.
The Cat’s Meow shop features more than 2,000 pieces of costume jewelry, some estate and some sterling jewelry, china, glass, furniture, toys, hats, books, a kitchen area, a jewelry section, clothing, and numerous general antique items. Shop for thousands of Christmas vintage pieces from mid-September through the end of the year The Cat’s Meow Christmas Room
“I love it, but it’s a ton of work,” Steven said. “I work 14 hour days and I restore and repair antique clothing and accessories. The Cat’s Meow has been in business for more than 31 years.
Antique and Vintage Clothing, Hats, Purses, Jewelry Popular
Steven’s biggest business is clothing, and clothing accessories such as hats, 1970s vintage handbags, and jewelry are popular. He said all of these items are selling well in the store. The Cat’s Meow Vintage Clothing and Accessories
Steven also has a huge business selling historic clothing to the movie industry.
We sell to collectors and museums as well as a lot of modern clothing to the movie industry.
Steven said they are working on several movies right now. Costume designers will send me a grid which will have sizes, color schemes, winter, spring, summer, or fall, whether it’s formal, whether it’s wealthy people, whether it’s farmers,” Steven said. “Sometimes they want clothing with stains on them because they want the clothing portrayed in the movie to be realistic. Many times I can sell damaged clothing simply because they can utilize them in a movie.”
The Cat’s Meow has Civil war gowns with unusual color combinations. Plaid fabrics were popular in the 1860s and they did not always use colors we would perceive as going together in today’s society, Steven said.
Historic Clothing Shop Sells to American National Costume, Motion Picture Costumes
He works with two major movie industries: American National Costume and Motion Picture Costumes. The first major movie to feature his clothing was “The Titanic” and more recently his clothing was worn by characters in the movie “Hidden Figures” which won multiple Oscar nominations last year.
“Three or four times a year, I drive to Hollywood to sell costumes to the movie industry,” He said. “They buy a lot of stuff, but you do not know what they will actually use in the movie.”
“We got a call from Timothy Wonsik, assistant to Colleen Atwood (Timothy helps her accumulate things for her shows because she buys from all over the world).
Colleen is one of the most important customers for historic costumes in the world and she has won numerous nominations for her clothing.
Top Designers Consult with Historic Clothing Shop for Design Inspiration
Steven was able to see all of the costumes that were nominated for awards and then featured in museums when he traveled to Los Angeles to visit FIDM, Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in downtown Los Angeles, California.
He works with Museums and also sells clothing that dates back to the 1700s. These garments are very fragile and expensive so potential buyers must make appointments with him to see them. History of Clothing
Top designers in New York such as Vera Wang, Jay Peterman, Ralph Lauren, Oscar De La Renta, and Victoria’s Secret purchase historic clothing to use for design inspiration.
