A Lifetime Passion...

catseyevintage

catseyevintage

VFG Member
How I got started....

I thought it might be fun to talk about how we got hooked on vintage ~ my exquisite and always stylish maternal grandmother was the original clotheshorse and had closets of lovely clothes, including a small room that had been converted into a walk in closet!

I was still in high school and came home one day to find a bag of goodies ~ discards from Grandmother's closet. My Mom told me to go through the bag and see if there was anything I wanted...

So I dug through and found a treasure ~ a vintage 60s white on white beaded and sequined cardigan sweater by Park Stork!

That sweater started a lifetime passion for vintage cardigans to this day ~ the great Scottish cashmeres and the exquisite hand-embellished cardigans from mid-century Hong Kong.

I still have the Park Stork sweater from my Grandmother and think of my Grandmother every time I see it...

Anyone else have a similar story?

~ Debbie
 
My mother and grandmother were antique dealers and serious sewer/crafters. They taught me how to sew, and part of that learning was looking at things they had made in the past. Quilts, dresses, embroidery, etc. By the time I was 12 I was wearing the 50s dresses my mom had sewn for herself, plus the beaded sweaters she had saved. She thought I was crazy to leave the house in them, but I thought they were cool.
 
I was 14 when I decided to dye a machine-made lace curtain - which I used as a shawl, lavender was the color I chose. I also dyed a canvas bag to match the curtain which my grandmother had used for clothes pegs, I still have that hiding somewhere! Later when she was moving I got a couple of wonderful pairs of suede and lace 40s shoes, which I wore to death as they were absolutely the MOST comfortable shoes. I also had a couple of 40s swing jackets and a few wonderful coats, a few 40s dresses and even a super old wool striped sweater my grandfather wore! That really started me off and I have been looking for, collecting, selling and wearing vintage ever since!

These days I wear mainly the coats, jackets, sweaters and the accessories. I still have some great vintage shoes and loads of purses, scarves, gloves, hats and I do USE them!
 
My mother loved to sew and I remember a box full of Vogue patterns (where are they now?). And ... she was a flapper. There was a box for "dress-up" with amazing beaded gowns. I loved the "old" clothes. In 1970 I was living in Chelsea, London, and one of my "jobs" was to buy 1940's crepe dresses that I would send to a woman in New York who (ULP) combined the fabrics to make full-length dresses for Bloomingdales and Bendels. This was how I learned to instantly find older fabrics and prints and led to my love of 40's fashion. I'd like to think that all the dresses I sent to NY were flawed. I do remember some large sizes. Sigh.
 
My Mom saved everything and was quite the dresser. I loved all her clothes. I have just always tried to preserve the past (as anyone can tell from my overstocked house). So, when I started selling online in about 2000, it was just natural for me to gravitate to vintage clothing. Once bitten, can't get enough of it and modern clothing just does not have the quality.
 
i was brought up wearing hand-me-downs from my cousin who got them from her older sister who sometimes got them originally from my sister (who is 9 years older than me), so i have ALWAYS worn clothing that has been loved previously, never thought twice about when i was a kid. alot of it was (beautifully) hand made by my mom. i also was allowed to play "dress-up" in some of my mom's stuff, too.

i do remember going thru a phase that i really wanted to wear "store-bought" clothes, but back then i was such a twig, AND sucha tomboy, that mom had a hard time finding anything tiny enough to fit in my age bracket, so usually my wardrobe was home-made, new or not.

then, in the spring of 1975 while attending an all girls school in Omaha, we had a spring fling dance scheduled. everyone hit the malls to find a dress cool enough to wear to a "college" dance...my friend Rebecca hauled me to the nearest thrift shop, and a few others besides. Anyway, she came to the dance in a FROTH of apricot-y pink-esche tulle, lace and netting! the first time i had seen anyone attend a FORMAL event in vintage, and BING! :wub: my true love affair with vintage clothing and the thrill of the "hunt" really began, and hasn't stopped since!
 
I was brought up with antiques and started collecting them myself in my mid-late '20's. My mother dressed well and I was always interested in fashion. My first vintage pieces were a bed jacket and a red alligator handbag that belonged to my maternal grandmother. I still have the bedjacket but the handbag developed terminal mildew and I was too inexperienced at the time to know that it could have been saved by replacing the lining. Total bummer.

Anyway, I ran out of room for one more antique or vintage anything around the house and started collecting vintage costume jewelry. (It's small.) That led to a renewed interest in period and vintage fashion and little by little the vintage handbags and a few hats started joining the jewelry.

It wasn't until a few years ago that I "fell" in love with vintage clothes and the passion was ignited. I was at at Deco Show in SF with a friend. I found a dress that I just loved that was too small. My friend tried it on - it looked fabulous and she bought it. She told me if it ever "fit" me that she'd sell it to me. We referred to it as "our dress". So a year or so later, I managed to lose some weight,contacted her and it's now mine:
Late%201940qus%20Rayon%20Crepe%20Dress%20with%20Peplum.jpg


That was the first piece of many!!!

Linn
 
Given my background, I probably would have never found vintage clothing:-)
I was born and brougt up in India and came to US in 1998 as a student. Most Indians will never wear "used" clothing unless it belongs to a member of their family.. Many years went by and then one fine day in 2007 I was surfing ebay for Seven for all mankind jeans and I clicked the vintage clothing section and found these beautiful dresses unlike any in the stores and the mall and that's when my interest in vintage clothing was ignited.. I am not a seller, so I just love to buy vintage clothing to wear.. and I love to find it myself- at flea markets, thrift stores, estate sales, and occasionally at vintage shops.. I am still not good at dating vintage clothing, though I have gotten much better at spotting vintage clothing just from the quality of the garments..

The interesting things is that after getting interested in vintage clothing here, I am getting more and more interested in vintage Indian saris and textiles.. I went to India last year and asked my grandom to give me any old sari of hers and guess what - she went in and got me her wedding sari from the 1940s (it is a type of sari called "paithani"- it is handwoven and made of silk and gold) and gave it to me.. this was really really special given that my grandom has 8 grandchildren of which 6 are girls:-)
 
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