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Life through the eyes of a fashion guru
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This past summer I discovered one of my true loves – vintage. What a novel concept: making something old new again. My mother went through what I termed “the-get-rid-of-everything-you-possibly-can phase” a few months ago, and my sister and I reaped the benefits.
My sister inherited couches, tables and various home items to furnish her first apartment. I was given an assortment of random things. My favorite of which was a pair of aviator-style sunglasses left over from the early 80s.
Maybe the glasses attained such a high level of awesomeness because they weren’t brand new and purchased at the sunglass kiosk in the mall.
Vintage items have more history (if only they could talk!) and since they are no longer mass-produced, they’re unique and somewhat of a rarity.
Hollywood has caught on to this trend.
Jennifer Aniston rocked the red carpet of the 55th Emmy Awards in a Halston cocktail dress from the 70s. Besides looking absolutely fabulous, Aniston could be sure that her dress wouldn’t be seen on anyone else.
Thus, the greatest quality of vintage: besides creating your own pieces, vintage items are the most unique items in the fashion world.
For the untalented sewers like myself, vintage clothing is the crème de la crème of one-of-a-kind fashion. The store that she purchased her dress from (The Paper Bag Princess) is a hotspot for fashion-lovers with money and Hollywood starlets.
The store boasts a vast array of “vintage couture and contemporary collectible clothing” which exemplify the fact that vintage doesn’t mean “out of style” it means “old but still hot.”
Vintage clothing is the fashion equivalent of Michelle Pfeiffer.
Sadly, the idea of “vintage” can often times be misconstrued as an excuse to resurrect fashion trends that should never have existed in the first place. I recently saw a man wearing a pair of M.C. Hammer pants.
Yes, they’re from another decade. No, they should not come back to plague those that appreciate and adore clothing. Some trends are just fabric nightmares that shouldn’t have been sewn together at all, let alone pulled out of boxes in the attic and worn in public again. However, searching through old clothes that have been stored away can yield results.
My Mom’s vintage glasses were tucked away in a box for a couple decades and not found until she moved. Antique shops are vintage treasure troves. I once found a string of pearls for $5 from the 60s.
Another lovely feature of vintage clothing is that it can be found for a lot less than today’s fashions.
Thrift stores and second-hand boutiques often have large selections of vintage apparel. Searching through racks is like fashion treasure hunting. Sure it takes some time, and you have to sort through a lot of rubble, but finding the perfect, inexpensive vintage piece is well worth the search.
Who knows why it’s so fun to bring back old fashions. Maybe it’s the uniqueness, or maybe we feel younger when we dress in clothes older than ourselves. Whatever the reason, vintage is definitely worthy of our affections.
Sheree Whiteley