'Alligators, Old Mink & New Money' - One Woman's Adventures in Vintage Clothing. That's the title of a fabulous book I am currently reading, the author of which has Hooti Couture in Brooklyn, New York. Maureen has it on her 'must visit' list and will be there in just over a week!
An ex model, Alison Houtte encapsulates 'vintage' "as using older pieces to help create a fresh, one of a kind style, with almost no rules as to how that’s achieved. It means looking at what designers are putting on their runways and fashion editors are putting on their magazine pages, then finding the real thing, merchandise from the twenties to early eighties that has inspired the latest hot looks, as well as pieces that compliment them. It means introducing customers to designers – dead and alive – whose signatures they may never have seen before. Finally, vintage style, is as much about wardrobe accents as it is about ‘investment’ pieces like a Chanel suit or Burberry trench. ... Dressing with vintage is the ultimate ‘mix and match’ between the twenties and twenty first century of fashion, inspired by a hodgepodge of labels that draw as much from pop culture as from a specific decade or designer. Vintage is about surprise and fun and affordability, meeting individual everyday style needs with pieces from the past."
I love that description! This comes from woman born in '60 who will wear leopard print leggins with a close knit jumper and a leopard print scarf tied around her neck! Maybe Perth isn't at that point yet, but how exciting is it to introduce others to the intrigue of using a vintage piece to create a small piece of individual style, with maybe bold one of a kind style down the track? I hear the 80's are in, big, androgynous, assymetric, I remember my red Grace Jones t-shirt, the look of Annie Lennox and of course my favourite - Stuart Membery. And then there was Laura Ashley, not my style but the fabrics were gorgeous to touch, sew and look at.
If you haven't read the book or visited the website, then do, the photographs are truly inspirational. I rue the fact that I don't live in a place overflowing with Vintage fashion. But I also know we have some amazing creativity in this town that is transforming what is available into something reminiscent of style from the past. I'm looking forward to it all coming together at our first Vintage Vixens and Vamps event and blossoming out in the months following. My mind is already busy what we will bring together for Vintage Vixens and Vamps #2 .... July 2010.