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Winter 2020 Edition
For serious fashion fans, vintage shopping can be one of life’s greatest joys. Often all about the thrill of the hunt, there are few things as satisfying as unearthing a truly incredible piece (or five) from another era. However, learning how to buy vintage clothing can also be tricky and, frankly, overwhelming. What’s the difference between real-deal vintage garments and simply used clothing? What pieces are worth shelling out for if you’re new to buying pre-owned? To answer these questions and more, we enlisted Doris Raymond, who has been buying and selling vintage clothing for over 30 years at her Los Angeles store, The Way We Wore, a veritable mecca for rare finds such as museum-quality beaded gowns, 1950s Pucci blouses, Chanel suits, and Hermes jackets. As the go-to spot for discern-
ing lovers of vintage fashion, it’s no surprise that Doris’s store was given its own reality show—”L.A. Frock Stars”—which aired last year on the Smithsonian Channel. The show featured visits from some of the entertainment industry’s biggest names, such as Dita Von Teese. We also saw Rihanna’s stylist seeking items for the singer’s Grammy Awards ensemble, and Raymond pulling potential items for Lady Gaga to wear on tour. Even if you’re not in the market for a high-end pre-owned piece, Raymond insists that everyone’s closet could use a few vintage goodies to add that special something to an otherwise ordinary wardrobe. Here, the fashion forager offers insider tips on how to buy vintage clothing like a pro, and score killer high-style finds. Firstly: Know the difference between vintage and thrift What is it that sets vintage clothing apart from simply used items? Raymond explains: “You can find great vintage items in thrift stores, as well
A few interesting things to keep in mind: Signs that a garment was manufactured before the mid-’60s are metal zippers, side-snap closures, saw-toothed edges (often known as pinked seams), and union labels printed in blue. Start with a classic If you’re a neophyte when it comes to vintage hunting, it’s worth seeking out something timeless to start. “A good first piece of vintage for the newly initiated is something basic and classic,” says Raymond. “Perhaps a 1950s beaded cardigan or a 1960s little black dress.
“Typically the easiest eras to shop would be the ones closest to now. There would naturally be more of an abundance to choose from,” Raymond says. “The easiest eras to fit into a contemporary wardrobe would be the those eras from the latter half of the 20th century (1960s on). Items from before that might be considered too costume-y if not incorporated well into your personal style.” A quality vintage garment or accessory can cost as much as current couture (ahem, vintage Chanel) so why would someone choose a preowned item over something brand new? Because it’s probably made better. “A general rule of thumb, especially for higher-end designer pieces, is that the older the piece the higher the quality,” Raymond explains. Not to mention that—with a vintage designer item—you likely won’t spot any other gal on the street carrying that same bag or wearing that same jacket. “I wouldn’t recommend investing a great deal of money on any-
anything you might buy on a whim. Learn how to spot condition issues, what eras work for you and how collectable an item is before you jump in,” Raymond advises. “Vintage fashion as an investment is best left to the truly educated. It’s important to know how to recognize and identify the signs that may make an item valuable and collectable. You should be well versed on couture, designers and detail.” To better educate yourself, talk to people who run various local high-end vintage stores or seek out local vintage dealers. If you fall in love with something that doesn’t quite fit, remember that vintage items can always be nipped and tucked for you.
You may fall in love with a beautiful printed garment or a beaded dress, but check to see if the fabric is in good condition. “I always like to really look at and touch the clothing, to make sure it still has life in it. Vintage pieces often get brittle and dry and shatter. There’s nothing more heartbreaking than investing some money in something and having it fall apart on you.” If a garment looks like it’s cracking, pulling, falling apart, or fading, it’s probably wise to leave it. We’re all guilty of letting our clothes hang around in those pesky dry cleaning bags, but Raymond says it can be especially harmful to vintage pieces. Never store your things in plastic—ever!
35 mm film Whenever there’s a big weekend, festival or special event going on we always make sure a disposable camera is on our list of things to buy. They’re easy enough to carry around and if they get lost, oh well! You might lose out on some potentially great photos, but you’re never more than 7 bucks out of pocket. Seriously, take one of these babies with you next time you go to a festival and see how good it feels to be able to take great 35mm photos without having to lug around a heavy camera or worry about losing your precious equipment. Anytime I buy a disposable camera and take it with me to an event, I always get questions about it. “It’s 2017, man, what are you doing with that thing?” This is usually how it starts, and I proceed to tell my Portugal story and how that experience gave me a new appreciation for throw away cameras. There’s
single use camera. If you buy one for a specific event and designate it to that purpose, then at the end of that roll you have the perfect size album to commemorate that occasion. Another thing I do sometimes is buy a disposable camera and assign myself a mission. I tell myself that I’m only going to shoot certain kinds of photos and go for a specific theme with that roll, and then I make a series using the best images once the roll is developed. Sure, you can do all these things with any old camera or smartphone, but the tangibility and limited life span of these cameras attaches a kind of nostalgia to these images that you simply can’t get with an iPhone or digital camera. In the end, sometimes it’s just fun to go back to the basics. In a world full of high technology there’s something refreshing about a camera that can still take great photos.
Despite the fact the iPhone 6s a 12 megapixel camera and records video in 4K, one of the best loved and most precious cameras remains to be the humble disposable. As much as we love Instagram, sometimes the task of picking the right filter is just too much. At the end of the day, we’re only trying to make i t
look like it was taken on a film camera anyway, so why not cut out the middle man?
It’s understandable why we love them so much: disposable cameras have a sense of nostalgia about them, they remind you of the days when you were too poor to have a camera and camera phones weren’t a thing. They remind you of your childhood and being able to pick them up for 99p in your local pound saver store. So why do people love them so much? Other than the fact they’re super handy, can take cool, grainy, bright photos and mean you can leave your expensive digital camera at home, Getting sweet.
Disposable cameras encourage a love/hate relationship but despite the wasted photos, money and emotional turmoil, we keep going back. Photo prints are great for decorating your dull, blue tac stained uni walls, you can frame them and give it to your friend as a cheap but thoughtful birthday present and if you’re keen to experiment and you can get some pretty sick effects from them. Disposable Camera’s are like Nokia 3310’s: they’re big, they’re bulky, but they don’t tend to break and it still has battery when you most need it. At the end of the day we waste so much money on otwher pointless junk, why not waste money on the possibility of having a few treasured memories you can keep forever and look back on and think “that photo really is worth £10”? “From this i’ve learnt to not expect too much, in terms of the quality of disposables, as they’re often very hit or miss. “ Hannah Rooke
Accessories
In the 21st century, life is incomplete without fashion. Fashion brings freshness just like traveling. It enables people to enhance their personality, style, and look and when you look great, you become confident. Fashion does not mean that you need to follow the supermodels and wear what they are wearing. You can create your unique fashion statement if you dress in fashionable, elegant, and stylish clothes and pick some cute and affordable fashion accessories.
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