In society today there is an artistic desire to express who you are as an individual. With so many fashion trends being mass produced it is hard to find something that is uniquely ‘you’. And then there is vintage fashion…
Going to a Thrift Store
Oscar Wilde in all his wit said, ‘Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.’ As funny as this quote may be, it contains a truth that we as consumers try to ignore – fashion trends come and go… and then come again. If you look at it like that, then vintage is always ‘in’.
Those skinny jeans that you are rocking right now could be identical to the ones in your mother’s wardrobe 20 years ago. Except yours have been mass produced, sold to thousands of people and, let’s be honest, they are probably ridiculously overpriced.
Why not waltz down to your local thrift store and take a peek at what is on offer. Unlike department stores, where clothes have been mass produced on an incredible scale, where identical items are sold to innumerable people, your local thrift store may have something that is uniquely you and will be yours and yours alone.
Vintage Style
The initiative to wear old garments as a new and innovative style developed around the early 70s. After 1945, when clothes became mass produced, creative individuals became tired of looking the same as everyone else without spending wads of cash on a personal tailor, and thus vintage fashion was born.
In the 60s, styles from different eras became popular and people began to shop at yard sales and at thrift stores. The first vintage stores began opening their doors in the 1970s and a fashion revolution began.
Today it is obvious to see how vintage fashion has taken over youth culture. There are the ‘Rockabilly’ girls who dress like 50s pin-ups in their high waist pencil skirts, with tucked in shirt, kitten heels, red lips and curled hair. There are the Indie Kids who dress like beatniks out of Jack Kerouac’s novel, On the Road, and the Nu Rave Kids who dress straight out of the 80s.
These may just be small youth cultures, but this fashion phenomenon is bleeding into mainstream culture. With celebrities now shopping in thrift stores and more expensive vintage stores, it has become trendy to be seen in ‘old’ clothes.
Accepting More Trends
It has now actually become difficult to tell the difference between a contemporary versus a vintage design, therefore making it easier to wear vintage without seeming as if you are trying too hard. For example the shift dress, the simple suit and the twin set are all vintage looks sold in contemporary stores at a higher price on a mass scale.
Now, if you find your way into a thrift store you could probably find any of these items at a lower price and no one else will have the same item of clothing as you. It will be yours and yours alone, uniquely you. And if you want to add an edge to your wardrobe, create your own unique style, then shopping vintage is without a doubt the way forward. You are not buying clothes that are OUT of fashion, you are just buying ‘old fashion’ and making it new to you.
Making Old Fashion, New Fashion.
My mother saved a few items of clothing from her youth and now they reside in my cupboard ready to be worn again. From my mother I have six leather high waist skirts all in a different colour that are incredibly beautiful. When the high waist trend came back into fashion I found myself scouring countless stores to find the perfect pencil skirt.
The prices were ridiculous. I was not going to spend a grand on a skirt I would only wear a few times and that everyone else I knew owned. Then it dawned on me – I have a cupboard filled with skirts that are of a better quality, will last for years, cost me nothing and are completely individual.
They may not be cut to the exact style that came off the runways, but they are unique and if I paired them with the right shirt and accessories I could create a look that was fashion forward, sexy and completely my own. That is exactly what I did.
My vintage skirts from the 80s always garner compliments from people wanting to know where to buy them. Just go to a thrift store and look around, because I can guarantee you you will not find something as beautiful and individual anywhere else.
Chloe Sevigny: Vintage Queen
Chloe Sevigny is a renowned actress and quirky fashionista whose entire style is based on her love of vintage fashion. She grew up without even the smallest of luxuries and found herself scouring thrift stores for cheap yet beautiful clothes. Today, even though she can afford to buy the best of the best, she prefers buying vintage.
Obviously she can now buy from high end vintage stores, which of course she does, but she is also known to shop in standard charity stores and thrift stores.
Her style is unique and all her own, almost impossible to imitate. Just like Chloe you could find your way into a vintage or thrift store, because there you are most likely to find something that is more ‘you’ than in any department store selling to the mass market. You will never leave a thrift store looking like someone else, but you will always leave looking a little bit more like you.
Go for it!
So, if you find yourself sick and tired of constantly looking at the same cookie cutter styles in shopping centres and department stores, take a step out of your comfort zone and make your way to your local vintage, thrift or charity store.
For all you know, you could step into a new stylish you… one that nobody can imitate… even if they tried.
