When Ashley Rogers saw the intricately beaded Malcolm Starr cocktail dress sale process on her Sarasota vintage store’s website two years ago, she called her online manager and screamed.
The cream 1960s gown had sold to “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” the acclaimed Amazon Prime series following the journey of a 1950s Jewish housewife turned standup comic.
Because when “Maisel” buys something, you know it, said Ashley Rogers, the owner of Canned Ham Vintage, a Sarasota shop that sells vintage clothes, homewares, and tons of accessories from decades past. The curated store often sells pieces to movie sets in California, she added, but the orders don’t typically identify the show, just “Universal Set 3" or the like.
But the destination of the period dress was clear: “Costuming for ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’.”
“They’re very forward,” she said of the “Maisel” team. “And I kind of feel like they do that on purpose. Because they know that as vintage dealers, we’re so excited about the show that they want us to be excited.”
Stop by the treasure trove to hunt for the perfect pink jacket, hat, or dress.
Photo by @cannedhamvintage
The folks at the Canned Ham are “obsessed” with the show, which debuted in 2017 and has won tons of awards for its punchy, period-accurate clothes, accessories, and sets. And “Maisel” has picked up more goodies — a matching purple Leah Aiken purse and wooden heels from the 1990s. Rogers imagines the pair may be used in one of the show’s flashes to the future, perhaps on matriarch Rose Weissman.
“We’re just excited, because now we get to be a part of something that’s special to us,” she said. “We love selling vintage, like that’s the ultimate goal is to find things a new home. But it’s one of those things where you feel like you’re a little tiny part of the show.”
As for the dress, Rogers hopes Midge herself might don the glam gown for one of the show’s final episodes.
Now, the shop owner is watching closely with the rest of “Maisel” fans — and waiting for the pieces’ shining moments — in this show or another in the Amy Sherman-Palladino universe.
The first three episodes of the hit Amazon Prime series’ fifth and final season premiered Friday, April 14. Watch online.
