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fayecot1

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I am a fashion design student at Nottingham Trent University. I am currently writing an essay on vintage fashion and collecting research from vintage fashion enthusiasts. I would be very grateful if you could answer this brief questionnaire.

I am researching vintage fashion and modern consumption, and as part of this project I am interested in your views about vintage fashion. The information you provide will be analysed so that I can identify key motives behind vintage shopping. The information provided will be treated in strictest confidence and you will not be individually identified in any presentations of the results. All questionnaire answers will be kept in accordance with the Data Protection Act and destroyed at the end of the project.

Why do you shop in vintage stores rather than on the high street?

A)For ethical reasons. Buying second hand is good for the environment

B)I can easily assemble a vast wardrobe

C)The quality of the garment is better..it was made to superior standards so has long-term value

D)The clothes are cheaper

E)I am against mega-retailing/mass consumption

F)I can put together a complete outfit in one go-from shoes to accessories

G)It’s an enjoyable experience for me; I get to use my hunt and gather instincts

H)I want to stand out against the crowd. Why look like everyone else?

I)it helps local business


Answer the question by ordering the responses from most relevant/important to you to least relevant/important to you
For example
A,G,F,H,B,E,C,D,I


Thankyou
 
Hi there from a fellow Brit,

Here's mine:
H, D, C, G, E, A, B, F, I

Though I have to say I don't buy all my vintage clothes from vintage stores as such. The majority comes from ebay, charity shops, jumble sales and flea-markets. G is why I became a vintage seller, rather than only a vintage buyer.
 
The options you have are great for people who shop second hand in general, but don't address the issues of why I like to buy and wear vintage:

I love the styles from the past! I love that I can be Anita Ekberg from La Dolce Vita for a night at a cocktail bar, or Audrey for a picnic, or Marilyn for a sophisticated soiree. Vintage gives you access to an unlimited range of styles, fabrics and colour combinations that are not restricted by what's currently in fashion. Whatever you choose to wear, you're unlikely to find another so you need never worry about someone else turning up in your frock.

Many of the fabrics aren't made any more: pre-1950s rayons are different from modern rayons. 1950s cottons are thicker and better quality than modern cottons. Prints from all eras are wonderful and exciting! There's so much to inspire. You mention that vintage can be made better than modern clothes, but the fabrics and details can be better too.

I could go on: there are so many reasons. Sometimes vintage is cheaper, sometimes it's more expensive but cost is not a big factor for me.

Nicole
 
Thanks guys! this is great feedback! Yes now that I look these answers are quite limited...and also based on the assumption that you would solely buy from vintage.
Thankyou for such a quick response also! I've never used a forum before it is quite exciting!
 
I was going to say the same thing as Nicole regarding one very important missing answer -- to buy a style that is more flattering or preferred and is not easily found in today's fashions. I don't buy vintage for myself anymore, but I sell to people who are into certain looks, from macabre Goth looks (jet jewellery, feathers, corsets, black dresses, robes, etc.) to Brigitte Bardot Lolita styles of the early 60s.
 
C, D, B, A, H, E, G (and the others I've left off aren't really factors for me). But in addition Nicole's and Jonathan's points are in play too.

For me it was a chaotic mix of: emerging from an 'alternative' crowd who used vintage as part of the look, and needing to continue to dress cheaply (but warmly and well) as a longterm student.

The eco and thought-out counter-mass-cultural aspects of it have only emerged more gradually as things I would articulate, and they're more justifications to support my habit than motivations.

That, and I've discovered that I can't suppress my 'collecting' instinct when it comes to some trends in vintage production. I buy both pieces to wear and pieces to look at and think about - usually they are separate groups, but sometimes they overlap.

You might want to think about the connection vintage offers between us and our families / other generations, which makes the clothes meaningful as objects. None of my mother's 40s, 50s or 60s vintage made-to-measure stuff survived, but my accumulation of my own vintage wardrobe (that she happily comments on) is a way of engaging with and learning about her life. Similarly, a former teacher of mine has been gifting vintage pieces to me, knowing that they matter to me. It's a personal connection.

Good luck with the essay.
 
I not sure how helpful this is, I feel you missed totally the key motive for wearing vintage I do tent to agree with the points Jonathan and Nicole making.
Maybe you already know why people wear vintage I do not know.

Personally I have often asked many ladies who I come across about why they wear vintage ,especially the ones who mix it with modern styles.
For them it's all about the style which they think suits them better than modern clothes.

Also many are not to interested at all in the fashion history aspect who made it etc , it's about styles how they look and make then look.
 
Here we go:
H C G I A F B D E F

But I have to make some points as well. I guess clothes always fascinated me. I always loved period movies or "old" movies, and I always paid attention to the costumes, even before I was consciously interested in fashion.

It started with the fascination of owning, and being able to wear, something old, something stylish, something glamourous. So I mostly bought evening wear at first. My best friend went secondhand shopping regularly to buy inexpensive work clothes, because what she had to wear to work wasn't what she would wear privately. I always looked for vintage there and gradually, my interest in vintage fashion increased. Plus my mom had started collecting vintage powder compacts and costume jewelery, which interested me as well.

But the quality and style of vintage clothing won me over completely. Nowadays, I look mostly for day wear. Things that stand out, that do not look the same as what everybody else is wearing. That gives me a thrill, as much as the hunt for it. Also, the way vintage clothes are made, the quality often is so superior, I would never be able to afford anything new of the same quality. And if it fits, things are often so cleverly cut and shaped, they just make me look so much better - they flatter my figure in a way no modern garment does - and that in turn makes me feel good.

I'm also a regular at my local Caritas (charity) second-hand clothes shop. I bring them my old stuff that's still good, and I shop there. They don't have a lot of vintage, but every now and then, I find a real gem there. But they have beautiful modern things too, and I occasionally buy modern things as well, when I find something I like. I think it's good that there's less clothing that will just end in the trash after one person has worn it. Plus, these Caritas shops provide jobs for people who wouldn't find a job otherwise. My used clothing might go to people who can't afford to buy nice new stuff. And the money I spend there goes also towards the Caritas' charitable projects, which are mostly local ones here in my city/area. The clothes that are brought to the shop will be sorted out there and I know where the stuff I donate actually goes.

Most of the vintage stuff I buy here at home comes from the Caritas and other charity second-hand/thrift shops (also the Salvation Army).

Karin
 
Originally posted by Midge


It started with the fascination of owning, and being able to wear, something old, something stylish, something glamourous.
Karin
Click to expand...

YES! Sums it all up in one sentace.
 
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