In this episode, we discuss our personal top 5 essentials and we also reached out to our audience for their opinions. We also go into detail about our wonderful experience on how we indulged on our last festival on a budget.
We wanted to talk about the discourse of “nepo babies” in pop culture that has been all over the internet recently. In this episode, we discuss our opinions, trends on TikTok, and the reasons for controversy on “nepo babies”.
If your first thought after reading the title is that you would never shop second hand, this article probably isn’t what you want to read. I think that is exactly why you should continue reading.
Ventura has some of the most unique and wonderful vintage shops for being a quiet beach town. That alone is all the more reason to check them out. What is there to do for fun in a small town? Vintage and antique stores bring a lot of charm to the area, and people’s lives. If you’ve never been to a vintage shop before or are just curious, let me be your guide to the top 3 in this nook of Southern California.
My first recommendation is Poppies Vintage, located in midtown Ventura. This store carries such gorgeous pieces, and the whole spot is full of color and life. Garments, shoes, and bags that date back to the 60s and 70s! Even if you just enjoy aesthetic interior, you would likely be fond of Poppies Vintage. To top it off, there is a section dedicated to local business’ merchandise for purchase, such as handmade candles and novelties. Poppies is warm and inviting, and you wouldn’t regret a visit.
Location: Poppies Vintage
My next pick would have to be Out West Market, which seems to be growing a wider customer base through social media. This shop is special, not only for their curated one of a kind items, but the space itself. Out West has a lovely western theme, with decor of all kinds on every inch of the walls. One of the highlights being an indoor and outdoor area, which is sweet if you want to enjoy browsing on a sunny day. OW also offers bins with bargain prices, so you can shop even with just $5 in your wallet.
Last but not least, and my personal favorite choice, Olive’s Vintage. There may or may not be a hint of bias here, but I encourage you to hear me out. Olive’s Vintage is located downtown and owned by the lovely Jeannie Rollo, kind-hearted and knows a gem when she sees it. Jeannie has been collecting knickknacks, clothes, art, and everything under the sun, pretty much her whole life. I asked her why she decided to start selling vintage.
“I had so much of it. I thought I should share it with other people, and give it a new life. So that this collection can get a new home”
With such a wide range and variety of Jeannie’s collection, the space feels authentic and true to what vintage is all about. Vintage items can be best described as timeless, whimsical, and chock-full of stories. Jeannie has an eye for art, whether it’s for sale or just decor. She also has her own pieces hanging around, along with her previous studio that appeals to many visitors. For Jeannie, it’s truly not about a sale, as she keeps her prices more affordable than most and tailored to each item. I wanted to know if Jeannie had any insight for why vintage is a better alternative than fast fashion and big retail.
“It has a past life. Vintage is just made better, and made to last, even all this time. You can tell how much people have put work in to make these things. They are like pieces of art, that you just treasure more.”
Whether you have been shopping vintage for a while, or you don’t know much about it, I urge you to take a visit to a local vintage store (even if it’s not on this list). Purchasing antique and vintage items, especially clothing, helps reduce waste and promotes sustainability. By shopping vintage, you purchase with intention. You are taking home an item with a story behind it, and the quality to last you just possibly another generation. If you do it right, you may even find it saves you money long term. Instead of buying poorly made, new retail clothes that need frequent replacing, you have something that dazzles your wardrobe or home for years to come. Bring some whimsy into your life!
In this episode of the VC Social podcast, three friends, Raya, Cristian, and Devonte, share music with each other, spotlighting artists with under 500,000 monthly listeners. From musicians in the community to musicians worldwide, there is so much undiscovered talent and, together, they are here to share it with you. Hopefully, you can find some new music and new favorite artists over the next 45 minutes.
Interested in the songs played? Here is the playlist, which is not in order of discussion, but it’s all there for your listening enjoyment!
If you want to see more from this trio, you can check out their socials!
The Ventura College Art Department with Sharla Fell as Chair, continues to evolve, expand and launch more opportunities for Art students. With the support and enthusiasm of Philosophy Professor Ron Mules, Sharla and her team of professionals in the department and supportive administration have an announcement.
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Ventura College, history and inclusivity of its students, we are proud to announce a collaborative large scale Mural Project! This 20’ x 16’ painted exterior mural on the New Media wall will enhance our campus environment. The Art department is now calling on local Artists to beautify the campus by Designing a Mural!
A non-profit mural painting company,muralism.org, will be painting the large work of art with the help of our Ventura College students in fall 2024. To oversee the mural process, there will be a new class offered here as well. Mural Painting: History and Practice, ART V21. There are no prerequisites for this Mural class but any of the the following are recommended prep: ART V11A, ART V13A, ART V15A and V16A.
“This is something for everyone to enjoy, from the Art Department, that will be enjoyed for many years.” said Chair Sharla Fell.
Furthermore, this involves an AWARD of 3,000 for the Best Design!
This is a unique opportunity for Ventura County residents, students and faculty. Eligible artists must reside in Ventura County. Please join us as we participate as a local community in sharing creative visions. It’s time for a Call for Entries NOW! Get creative, design and submit your vibrant, diverse, thought provoking imagery/artwork. Entries are due by August 2nd, 2024 ~ 5:00pm
Please Email your submissions to: VCSocialSci@vcccd.edu Include your full name and cell phone.
Submission Details
File size – No larger 20mb.
Format – JPeg or PDF
Include short description of the artwork and how it meets the Mural Details section
Artists must be residing in Ventura County
Mural Details
Mural must include elements celebrating:
Ventura College and its History
Ventura Colleges 100th Anniversary
Diversity and inclusivity of our students
Projects Specs
Location: Ventura College New Media Gallery ~ Exterior Wall
Want a relaxing activity to do while drinking mimosas by a harbor? This upcoming event will be just that. I found out about this event through the visit Ventura CA website. They have lots of different events and other things to do in Ventura. If you are ever wanting to go out and find something to do in Ventura that site is a good place to start.
This event will show you a step-by-step process on how to create a beaded wire wrapped bird cage. It’s meant to be a decretive piece for your garden or even your room. It will be held in Ventura on April 26th from 1pm to 3pm. The entry will cost $35 per person and everything will be supplied. It’ll be a nice way to relax because on top of it being by a harbor they will also have complimentary mimosas.
For the location or more information about the event(s) click on the link(s) below.
Image depicts the market’s March event linked from dnfmarket
From nostalgic toys to hip hop dancing, the Dated ‘N Faded night market is not your typical pop-up event. Vendors, performers, and attendees from and around Ventura County come with eagerness looking for the next big thing. Dated ‘N Faded is a free night market open to all ages and is hosted every 3 months at Ventura’s Topa Topa Brewing Co. With about 40 vendors of all sorts, this night market builds its own cultural curation through live entertainment, fashion, music, food, drinks, and more!
Dated ‘N Faded Origins
Established in 2023 and soon approaching their one year anniversary, Dated ‘N Faded is more than just a night market. It is where one brand brings three friends closer together to serve Ventura County, all starting with the South-Oxnard based brand, Retour. Retour is a streetwear clothing brand inspired by Oxnard culture founded by clothing designer Ryan Yere, and co-founders Byron Bucao, and Steve Rivera, all of whom share the same vision for the brand: “Our story, through product, vintage curation”. This mission statement is extended onto the Dated ‘N Faded market, as Ryan Yere described during his time on the Capsul Talk podcast. Retour embodies the story of the city of Oxnard and its culture, bringing forward the talent in the community and strives to carry that purpose with Dated ‘N Faded. While all the creators are multi-hyphenates, this market heavily reflects the creators’ main influences: Ryan in clothing design, Steve in vintage clothing, and Byron in choreography and photography. They venture to showcase the community’s creativity by opening up this platform in collaboration with local talent.
The Experience
After having attended their fourth event, I can confidently say that talent from the Ventura County community reflects identity through their craft. Every event hosted comes with its own unique theme, and coincides with the Retour merch drops posted on their main Instagram accounts dnfmarket and retourco. The announcement of this recent event, which took place on March 16, 2024, featured a Chicano-esque theme along with the market’s reappearing astronaut figure. (see above image)
Navigating through the bustling crowd during the live stream on vcsocialbrand‘s Instagram account, I saw both the revival of old trends and timeless fashion. One of my favorite booths I came across was a ‘90’s/00’s photo-op with airbrushed backdrops, hosted by pdogs00snaps, showcasing this trend that is resurgent, predominantly within the Latino community.
Chiquesfc had a creative storefront display (in collaborations with serhumano.ig and apartworldwide), featuring day-to-day products found in Latino households, to represent a part of their clothing brand De un Campo a Otro. The other part is represented through their clothing designs which highlight the story of hardworking field workers from Oxnard. The word “Chiques” in the brand name refers to an Oxnard nickname coming from the city’s first established neighborhood, La Colonia. As a connection to the mexican community, “Chiques” is a term that has been recoined from being a gang related label to a positive form of identity in which Pacifica High School teacher Cesar Calderon told the VC Star journalist Wendy Leung, “Chiques means Oxnard […] it means that fighting spirit of you making it out and proving them wrong.” All this comes together as a form of empowerment where providing representation for farm workers carries that identity of a fighter who pushes through with resilience.
Of course, we also saw the partnership between the co-founder’s businesses, Retour and Stevescloset99 as they shared the same booth. Besides sharing the same brand vision, story through product, co-founders Ryan and Byron collaborated with Capsul Talk to host a Q&A panel where selected local business owners and creatives got to interact and share answers to the public’s questions.
Multiple booths displayed their best curated streetwear, vintage apparel, jewelry, toothgems, tattoos, dance and music performances, food, drinks, and much more than I could describe here in this blog. Thanks to the teams at Topa Topa Brewing Co., Retour and Dated ‘N Faded who support the mission of providing a platform for cultural curation and storytelling in collaboration with local creatives and small businesses, curating a space for all. If you’ve made it this far into the blog, follow dnfmarket on Instagram, where you can follow along to hear more about their first upcoming anniversary event in May 2024, and connect with the rest of the previous vendors, with their own resilient stories to share.
The art shown above is the work of Sunimari Madrigal, a student at Ventura College. The art was made for her small business called The Moon’s Canvas. The art was made on a canvas about 13×9, made up of different art mediums such as paint, gouache, paint markers, and acrylic paint as well. The inspiration for this piece came from the beauty of the land we are lucky to have on Earth and also the beauty of the stars in the Universe.
Below is a video of her showing us how she created their piece.
In my first blogpost for VCSocial I wrote about the future of Ventura College’s New Media Gallery. It was my vantage point looking through the windows at a gallery that had weathered the global pandemic essentially by shutting down. In this post, I get the chance to share with you the insight of Cara Lasell Bonewitz, the artist whose work hung in the gallery, in the shadows, for over a year.
Cara speaking to Ventura College students about her process in creating Current in the Shadows. Photo by Gallery Director Jesse Groves.
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to speak with Cara one on one in the gallery that has now opened its doors to the public. She was preparing to take down her exhibition after a brief but well-deserved re-opening of her collected works that embodied Current in the Shadows. Below is the audio recording of that conversation.
“(The shadows)…the most ephemeral part of this show…have ended up being the constant.” -Cara Lasell Bonewitz
As the art world grapples with the complications of a post pandemic future, the questions are many and difficult. The conversation you’re about to listen to shares Cara’s insights as an artist, reflecting on her work and her experience with an exhibition that opened as the world shut down, hung in the shadows in a closed gallery for over a year, and then reopened for a final viewing as the world reopened its doors to a reality we never expected to face.
A dive into the challenges, positives, and everything in between that come with being a full time student and an artist simultaneously, specifically in the lanes of music and fashion. Topics covered include time management, accomplishments and more. Special Guest appearance by TyeDye!Follow me on IGCheck Out my Blog
For the past 30 years William “Bill” Hendricks has been teaching photography to Ventura College students, helping them hone their skills and learn to see the world through their artist eye. His work has taken him on many adventures around the world, including Cuba, Northern India, and South Korea. His work has been published in titles such as the Cosmopolitan and People Magazine and most recently he completed PROOF, a 15 year project with Cuban writer Orlando Hernandez, set to be released in 2021.
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