I suppose you can separate the two components. What does vintage mean to you? How does vintage interact with the idea of fashion? I am the youngest of 11 children, hence, second-hand and vintage were the norm for me. I would have enjoyed era-contemporary clothing but it was simply out of the question. When you live with "vintage clothes" your entire formative years it seems ridiculous to go back to mass consumerism. I can now afford to shop anywhere but I seldom do and find myself at the same thrift stores and flea markets combing over the piles of vintage treasures waiting to be given a new life. In my life! I love to see how people interpret vintage to their own style. I always appreciate those who completely embrace an outfit, maintaining it's original merit. I try to do this with pieces that are simply too terrific to reinterpret. But I do reinterpret some pieces by mixing vintage. I.E. Mixing a 1940s sweater with a modern black pencil skirt because the sweater is simply spectacular on it's own that you don't want anything to detract from it's greatness. Some of my vintage is very nostalgic for me. For example, I have several pairs of eye glasses from different eras but my favorite pair are my father's 1950s frames. When I was going through his belongings after his death I found them and had my prescription put into his frames. I cherish these glasses and I feel like I get to see things through his eyes when I wear them. I sometimes "over-think" my outfits by brining the thoughts and ideas of an era to the piece's wearing. I will go so far as to even inform anyone who will listen to my ramblings. I do this out of reverence for the past and I want people to see more than a bustier. I want them to understand what a tremendous force it was to release women, literally, from their ties that bond. "Can you even begin to understand how "FREE" those 1920 flappers felt?" What about you? Any thoughts? Stories?
