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Vintage: is it getting old?
By Lara Zamiatin
May 25, 2004 - 1:57PM
Vintage has long been considered a statement in style. But is it still hip to dress in Grandma's old frocks? Lara Zamiatin finds out where to draw the line between designer and dud.
When Barbra Streisand sang Second Hand Rose in 1965, the big-nosed-girl-with-something-to-prove lamented her cast-off pearls, piano, boyfriend and thrift-store wardrobe. Yet, as anyone in fashion knows, op-shops - while established to serve the poor - have always attracted the fabulously dressed and sartorially out-there.
But where once second-hand devotees used to exist in a glamorous underworld, these days they're everywhere - from Oscar nominees with their couture gowns to schoolgirls and their polyester party frocks. Vintage is the trend du jour of the early noughties. "Read the social pages and everybody claims to be wearing a little vintage something," says Lorraine Foster, co-owner of Sydney's The Vintage Clothing Shop.
On Planet Fashion, however, trends rarely last beyond two seasons. So shouldn't vintage be six feet under?
Ask fashionistas if vintage is old hat and the answer is no. "Consider those plastic dresses by Paco Rabanne and all those marvellous 60s prints," says Georgina Weir of the Melbourne institution Le Louvre. "There will never be a time when people don't look back to what we wore. And if you've got the real thing, then it's a one-off, so how much better."
"I don't see vintage as a trend; it's boundless," says Jeremy Valentine, co-owner of Melbourne's Shag, whose three Melbourne stores stock a mix of mid-priced vintage as well as contemporary clothes. "When you're dealing with fashion history, you draw on all different things, different eras, looks; it's never-ending."
Modern girls - and boys - have, of course, long championed op-shop chic. Britain's teddy boys defied early 1950s rationing by adopting the cast-off drape suits of Edwardian gentlemen. Since then, hippies, mods, punks and all manner of other subcultures have followed suit. Glamour goddess Paloma Picasso famously donned second-hand finds in the 70s, while Boy George and his New Romantic ilk did recession dressing a decade later.
But the trend remained relatively underground until 1997, when British thrift-store enthusiast Bay Garnett launched Cheap Date, the New York- and London-based magazine dedicated to recycled clothes. With contributions from the likes of Sophie Dahl, it didn't take long for the irreverent rag to be embraced by the establishment. Meanwhile, fashion magazines devoted pages to It girls such as Kate Moss and Chloe Sevigny traipsing about outer-Parisian flea markets. By the time Tara Subkoff, of the New York label Imitation of Christ, started putting second-hand gems onto catwalks in 2000, "thrifting" had exploded into the mainstream.
But it's precisely vintage's all-pervasive reign that will be its downfall, according to Eva Galambos, owner of the upmarket Parlour X, a Sydney boutique that has bucked the trend to sell vintage pieces. "People will always want beautiful designer pieces but I think that whole grungy, dressed-down, mixed-up look has been such a look for so long, there's bound to be a backlash."
Citing the thrill of the chase for vintage gems, the UK-based fashion writer Maggie Alderson is adamant that vintage is alive and kicking but she does suggest the trend is slowing. "It is getting harder to find good stuff so it's getting more expensive," she says.
Regardless of vintage's fate, if the ladylike creations that appeared on the European Autumn/Winter 2004/05 catwalks prove anything, it's that designers have embraced its old-school glamour. Prada tripped back to the 1950s with voluminous skirts, Clements Ribeiro's kaleidoscopic-printed dresses referenced Ossie Clark's psychedelic ensembles, while fur and tweed were everywhere. For his final Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Collection, Tom Ford simply revived the house's 1977 Chinese collection.
Tom Ford's designs may ensure the longevity of contemporary Gucci pieces but those daggy, multi-coloured late-70s jersey dresses by the Hong Kong-based designer Diana Fres? "I was amazed to find on my last trip to LA that they're highly prized collectables," says Belinda Seper from The Corner Shop in Sydney. The only way to make those frocks palatable now, she cautions, is to wear them above the knee, echoing yet again the fashionista mantra that it's how you wear vintage that counts.
And how do you wear with aplomb those swirly-printed Pucci-designed uniforms of the Qantas girls in the 1970s? With impeccable grooming and attitude, of course. "Where are those fabulous dresses?" says Seper. "They should be wearing them now."
What is vintage?
Is Mum's glittering Glomesh clutch bag from the 80s a classic or just past it? There's much debate within fashion's inner circles about what exactly is "vintage".
For The Vintage Clothing Shop's Lorraine Foster, garments must be well made, possess a timeless aesthetic and hail from the early 1980s, late 1970s or earlier. Judy Schreiber of Melbourne's De Mille is less forgiving: her cut-off point is the 60s. At the cheap-and-cheerful end, Jamie Khamphet of Sydney's C's Flashback defines the 70s as vintage, while Jeremy Valentine of Shag gives those early 90s big gold medallions honorary vintage status.
Real vintage or a spurious contender, it doesn't matter as long as your selection is late 1960s and early 1970s. This season, vintage collectors are heading down chiffon row. Think Elizabeth Taylor, Maria Callas, Ali MacGraw, floaty bead-encrusted chiffon frocks, rich colours and chignon hairdos. Names to snap up are Pucci, Zandra Rhodes, Biba and Ossie Clark.
For hard-edged glamour, all manner of 80s relics are back. Hot items include Levi's 501s, quilted Chanel handbags, black denim and, for the sartorially brave, acid-washed jeans. The muses? Cross Blondie and metal heads with Fergie for a gritty glamour.
By Lara Zamiatin
May 25, 2004 - 1:57PM
Vintage has long been considered a statement in style. But is it still hip to dress in Grandma's old frocks? Lara Zamiatin finds out where to draw the line between designer and dud.
When Barbra Streisand sang Second Hand Rose in 1965, the big-nosed-girl-with-something-to-prove lamented her cast-off pearls, piano, boyfriend and thrift-store wardrobe. Yet, as anyone in fashion knows, op-shops - while established to serve the poor - have always attracted the fabulously dressed and sartorially out-there.
But where once second-hand devotees used to exist in a glamorous underworld, these days they're everywhere - from Oscar nominees with their couture gowns to schoolgirls and their polyester party frocks. Vintage is the trend du jour of the early noughties. "Read the social pages and everybody claims to be wearing a little vintage something," says Lorraine Foster, co-owner of Sydney's The Vintage Clothing Shop.
On Planet Fashion, however, trends rarely last beyond two seasons. So shouldn't vintage be six feet under?
Ask fashionistas if vintage is old hat and the answer is no. "Consider those plastic dresses by Paco Rabanne and all those marvellous 60s prints," says Georgina Weir of the Melbourne institution Le Louvre. "There will never be a time when people don't look back to what we wore. And if you've got the real thing, then it's a one-off, so how much better."
"I don't see vintage as a trend; it's boundless," says Jeremy Valentine, co-owner of Melbourne's Shag, whose three Melbourne stores stock a mix of mid-priced vintage as well as contemporary clothes. "When you're dealing with fashion history, you draw on all different things, different eras, looks; it's never-ending."
Modern girls - and boys - have, of course, long championed op-shop chic. Britain's teddy boys defied early 1950s rationing by adopting the cast-off drape suits of Edwardian gentlemen. Since then, hippies, mods, punks and all manner of other subcultures have followed suit. Glamour goddess Paloma Picasso famously donned second-hand finds in the 70s, while Boy George and his New Romantic ilk did recession dressing a decade later.
But the trend remained relatively underground until 1997, when British thrift-store enthusiast Bay Garnett launched Cheap Date, the New York- and London-based magazine dedicated to recycled clothes. With contributions from the likes of Sophie Dahl, it didn't take long for the irreverent rag to be embraced by the establishment. Meanwhile, fashion magazines devoted pages to It girls such as Kate Moss and Chloe Sevigny traipsing about outer-Parisian flea markets. By the time Tara Subkoff, of the New York label Imitation of Christ, started putting second-hand gems onto catwalks in 2000, "thrifting" had exploded into the mainstream.
But it's precisely vintage's all-pervasive reign that will be its downfall, according to Eva Galambos, owner of the upmarket Parlour X, a Sydney boutique that has bucked the trend to sell vintage pieces. "People will always want beautiful designer pieces but I think that whole grungy, dressed-down, mixed-up look has been such a look for so long, there's bound to be a backlash."
Citing the thrill of the chase for vintage gems, the UK-based fashion writer Maggie Alderson is adamant that vintage is alive and kicking but she does suggest the trend is slowing. "It is getting harder to find good stuff so it's getting more expensive," she says.
Regardless of vintage's fate, if the ladylike creations that appeared on the European Autumn/Winter 2004/05 catwalks prove anything, it's that designers have embraced its old-school glamour. Prada tripped back to the 1950s with voluminous skirts, Clements Ribeiro's kaleidoscopic-printed dresses referenced Ossie Clark's psychedelic ensembles, while fur and tweed were everywhere. For his final Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Collection, Tom Ford simply revived the house's 1977 Chinese collection.
Tom Ford's designs may ensure the longevity of contemporary Gucci pieces but those daggy, multi-coloured late-70s jersey dresses by the Hong Kong-based designer Diana Fres? "I was amazed to find on my last trip to LA that they're highly prized collectables," says Belinda Seper from The Corner Shop in Sydney. The only way to make those frocks palatable now, she cautions, is to wear them above the knee, echoing yet again the fashionista mantra that it's how you wear vintage that counts.
And how do you wear with aplomb those swirly-printed Pucci-designed uniforms of the Qantas girls in the 1970s? With impeccable grooming and attitude, of course. "Where are those fabulous dresses?" says Seper. "They should be wearing them now."
What is vintage?
Is Mum's glittering Glomesh clutch bag from the 80s a classic or just past it? There's much debate within fashion's inner circles about what exactly is "vintage".
For The Vintage Clothing Shop's Lorraine Foster, garments must be well made, possess a timeless aesthetic and hail from the early 1980s, late 1970s or earlier. Judy Schreiber of Melbourne's De Mille is less forgiving: her cut-off point is the 60s. At the cheap-and-cheerful end, Jamie Khamphet of Sydney's C's Flashback defines the 70s as vintage, while Jeremy Valentine of Shag gives those early 90s big gold medallions honorary vintage status.
Real vintage or a spurious contender, it doesn't matter as long as your selection is late 1960s and early 1970s. This season, vintage collectors are heading down chiffon row. Think Elizabeth Taylor, Maria Callas, Ali MacGraw, floaty bead-encrusted chiffon frocks, rich colours and chignon hairdos. Names to snap up are Pucci, Zandra Rhodes, Biba and Ossie Clark.
For hard-edged glamour, all manner of 80s relics are back. Hot items include Levi's 501s, quilted Chanel handbags, black denim and, for the sartorially brave, acid-washed jeans. The muses? Cross Blondie and metal heads with Fergie for a gritty glamour.
