We recently connected with Mary Panzarino and have shared our conversation below.

Mary, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I grew up in a Big Italian Family In The Bronx. In the 70’s , my 3 Older sisters ( who were 13, 11 and 9?years older than me) would make absolute ART out of their jeans. I remember them taking me to the beach, and they would be Embroidering all kinds of flowers and rainbows, and adding fabric to the butts while lounging under our umbrella. It was the 1970’s and Hippies were all around me and I just soaked it all up!! When I went to St. Catherine’s Academy for high school , uniform and all, I started the trend of wearing bandanas on my head. The Nuns didn’t like it but soon all the other girls were wearing them too. Well the “make love , not war” days are over but it seems they were still somewhere inside me all along becsuse I now have a Vintage Shop called Tigby Hill Vintage in the most gorgeous Historical town in Northern California called Sutter Creek. It started out as a vintage /antique shop but changed direction in 2020. During Covid , when the shop was closed for 3 months, I decided to design/sew a “capsule collection” of garments that I told my husband “I’ll debut my collection in a few weeks and I’m gonna present it to you like you’re my client” You see um a huge fan of Project Runway and the idea of doing a “ capsule collection” was just a fun silly way to pass the time, I didn’t know how to use a sewing machine and I had to use trims and fabrics and fabric thst I had at my house. Well I embellished the shit out of stuff that was already in my closet. And I just happened to have some vintage patches hanging around And….. most of all I channeled my hippie sisters ( who are all in their 70’s now and think I’m crazy 😆) Thsts how clothing came to my shop, i upcycle every piece of clothing in my shop. I patch Levi’s and Overalls so they look like they were just found in your Grandfather’s trunk. I only use vintage patches and fabric and my clothes really do bring you back in time when life wasn’t such a throwaway society and holes in clothes were mended instead of being thrown away

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have started a Brand of One of a Kind Clothing called Tigby Hill Vintage . ( Also the name of my Brick and Mortar shop in Sutter Creek,ca.
I specialize is patching Used Levis to make them look like they’ve been around for a very long time. I only use 100% cotton and all the fabric and patches I use are vintage. I take unexpected things like embroidered pillow covers , wall hangings, and tablecloths to make my fabric patches and Pippi Longstocking ( my sister took me to the movies in 1972 to see the movie and it made an impression on me that has lasted to this day) has also always been my inspiration. My motto is “ nothing matches but everything goes together”

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

The only social media is my IG
Tigbyhillvintage

I started to post reels of my Levis and because I am a bit “ extra” with my large personality and NY accent I’ve managed to get to 83,000 followers.
I don’t re do videos and I post mistakes and all and I think people identify with that. My studio is messy but beautiful things come out of it

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My Business Partner is my Husband Peter A.Torres. We met at the Pasadena City Flea Market. When we were dating, he took me on a Road Trip to visit some friends of his who lived in a far away town called Sutter Creek. The minute we drove through Main Street ( completely lost in time, old western gold mining town) I knew this was gonna be my new home. 6 months later, we bought an 1880s house and opened a shop in that very town. Oh and we eloped and got married in the old turn of the century Monteverdi General Store. There are so many chapters in everyone’s life and the older you get the more chapters are written. Peter started the Old Sutter Creek Flea Market in town. Every 3rd Sunday. We literally had no idea what we were gonna do in our new town but the Universe already had the wheels in motion for us
We now offer Custom Levi’s where a customer can come to the shop and design their Own !!!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Tigbyhillvintage.com
• Instagram: Tigbyhillvintage