Margaret Giloth loves two things: vintage clothing and travel.

At any given time she might be carrying a vintage handbag from Portugal, wearing a dress from Arizona and shoes from Brazil.

One of her favourite coats is black and falls just below the waist. The lower part of the coat has dark sequins. “This coat is so beautiful,” she said. “I don’t know the period, maybe the late 1800s? I could see someone going to the theatre in it.”

She found the coat in a retro clothing store in Prague, in the Czech Republic. “I went nuts in that store,” she said.

On the day she spoke with The Royal Gazette, she was wearing an elegant crocheted black dress, elbow-length gloves, a hat and a mink cape. “The dress is probably from the 1950s,” she said. “I knew I had to have it the moment I walked into a shop in Laguna Beach, California.”

The crocheted dress was quite slim fitting. “This is a check on me that I always stay fit and well,” she said. “If I couldn’t fit in the clothes, I would have to work at it until I could fit into them again.”

She said it’s likely she finds the vintage clothing fun as she wears a functional uniform every day for her job in the government after school programme.

Her interest in vintage clothing was inspired by her late grandmother, Margaret Louise Burrows.

“She was such an elegant lady, always well coiffed and dressed,” said Mrs Giloth.

“She was a very special lady. She always looked very nice and always wore a hat. I am a real diva with hats. I have had to stop buying them because of a lack of space. ”

She often finds items for her collection on the many trips she and her husband Michael take. An item will often catch her fancy as soon as she walks into a store.

“I might walk around looking at other things, but I usually come back to that one item that caught my eye,” she said.

At fancy dress parties, she never has trouble putting together an outfit.

“My husband works for Argus Insurance and every year they do a fabulous themed summer party,” she said.

Let’s just say the Giloths have won the best dressed couple prize more than once.

“I have so much fun, because I love wearing all these girlie things,” she said.

She has an extensive collection of clothing and accessories. If there was a house fire, she would probably risk her life to save two items given to her by her late mother-in-law, Loretta.

The first item she would save would be a mink cape.

“She was originally from Chicago,” said Mrs Giloth.

“She got the cape around the time that she was married, 1931. It has her name sewn into it. We have gone through this period where people don’t like real furs. It is nice and warm, and I can’t help that people, years ago, killed this little one.”

The second item she’d save also came from her mother-in-law. It’s a 1960s dress with a colourful southwestern theme and a fringed leather belt.

“I love it,” said Mrs Giloth. “She gave it to me when she went into a nursing home in Arizona.”

She often mixes vintage with modern.

“I don’t really limit my clothes to a certain time period,” she said. “It is just visual. I like the old mixed with the new. I love Victorian pieces and costume pieces. I love pieces with a bit of drama to them.”

Mrs Giloth said you don’t really have to spend a lot of money or travel the world to find vintage treasures. She often discovers “gems” at yard sales, church bazaars and thrift stores.

She found a 1920s cloche style hat made by the Detroit fashion house Himelhoch’s at a thrift store. It cost a couple dollars.

“It had the Himelhoch’s label,” she said.

“I researched the name. Designer hats from that time period still with the label are actually worth quite a bit of money.

“This style of hat is coming back, and so are hats in general. I love it when I see the young kids sporting all kinds of hats.”

She stores most of her vintage clothing in plastic bags.

“They do quite well that way,” she said. “Sometimes I pull out my shoes or glove bag and find they are all mildewed. I tried moth balls but that smells and you need ventilation.”

Mrs Giloth runs a personal empowerment charity called Phenomenal People which often holds fashion shows and vintage boutique sales to raise money.

For more information about Phenomenal People call her at 734-4034 or e-mail margaretrose07@yahoo.com.