Shopping for vintage clothes used to mean plowing through dusty, mothball-smelling racks under fluorescent lights at Goodwill or getting an insider tip about a fabulous second-hand shop off the beaten track in a hole-in-the wall in Kensington Market.
Today, though, the freshest looks in fashion combine the past with the present, and leading retailers from Barneys New York to Holt Renfrew sell vintage couture and redesigned vintage clothing alongside contemporary collections. “We introduced vintage couture in spring 2002 and some redesigned vintage clothing in 2003 because it was clear it was being considered in a new way,” says Barbara Atkin, fashion director at Holt Renfrew. “Celebrities wore it on the red carpet at the Oscars. It became a collectible. There is a uniqueness in something old that has been redone in a new way, and you know you aren’t going to see it on anyone else.”
One of Holt Renfrew’s most popular redesigned vintage labels is Preloved, founded by former model Julia Grieve. Grieve used to model in Europe, where she often had auditions with major fashion houses. “I couldn’t afford a Chanel suit, but I needed to present a similar image when I went to the audition, so I’d go get a vintage suit, change the buttons, shorten the skirt and give it a more contemporary look. I did it to my clothes all the time, and people started asking me, ‘Where did you get this?’ and ‘Where did you get that?’” says Grieve.
While some might say enviro-conciousness has bolstered the chic factor of vintage refashioning, according to Grieve it’s always been “fashion first, environment second.” Necessity is the mother of reinvention for most designers who are making their names redesigning vintage attire — it’s one of the most cost-effective ways to break into the fashion industry.
Grieve, along with Preloved designer Peter Friesen, is celebrating 10 years of success. Preloved’s flagship store on Queen Street West sells several lines that include designs created from vintage t-shirts, a fabric-intensive couture line that can use 20 pairs of jeans just to make one skirt, and a variety of suits, blouses and dressed trimmed or lined with vintage bed sheets. The Preloved team gets most of their old clothes and textiles from rag houses, where they buy it by the pound. “This fall alone, we used more than 20,000 vintage sweaters that might otherwise have been garbage,” says Grieve.
Keeping vintage materials from turning into landfill makes sense, not only because of chilling accounts of sweatshop labour but also because of disturbing amounts of pesticides and synthetic chemicals that are sometimes found in our favourite mass-produced outfits. “We are trying to reform our approach to shopping and provide an alternative to mono-culture by incorporating the environment and art in what we wear,” says Jennifer Welch, owner of Virginia Howells in San Francisco (her clothes can be purchased in Canada online at www.virginiahowells.com). Virginia Howells is one of many redesigned-vintage clothing stores now popping up in the hip Mission district of San Francisco. “I believe we are beginning a new Arts and Crafts era,” Welch says. “In the late 19th century, the Arts and Crafts movement was a backlash against the mass production that had come about after the Industrial Revolution. Today, with increased technology and globalization, people want more integrity, simplicity and utility — we yearn for
grass-roots accessibility and to see the individual instead of the advertising campaign.”
Welch and her peers scour estate sales, thrift stores, private collections and garage sales looking for vintage treasures. Many designers in Toronto, such as those for Zingara (which means female gypsy in Italian) and Paper People Clothing, are doing the same. Zingara’s Benita Baldessari Lynch, for example, has taken to rescuing discarded men’s neckties and refashioning them into vibrant collaged skirts. “This fall I’m experimenting with tweeds from men’s jackets and pants, especially those die-hard polyester ones,” says Lynch, who currently sells her line at Frock on Roncesvalles Avenue.
And according to Kealan Sullivan, a co-owner of 69 Vintage on Queen Street West, more modern vintage is on its way. “I have met so many people who share the desire and vision to recreate that I recently formed an in-house collective label called The People’s Boutique, to bring together my resources and our community of talent to produce a truly recycled, highly creative fashion brand.”
One of the greatest attractions of redesigned vintage is the original crafting of the garment that is often preserved as part of the contemporary restyling. “Our most popular dress style is made from trench coats,” says Grieve, “and we always try to incorporate the original pockets, the buttons, maybe the belt. It’s fun to manipulate the original design in a playful way.”
Grieve is quick to point out, however, that just because new designs come from recycled materials doesn’t mean less work goes into the finished product. In fact, often more work is required, since every new piece has undergone a deconstruction and washing phase before the new design is created. As a result, prices for redesigned vintage wear can run into the thousands of dollars, though you can also buy clothes for as low as $30 — affordable, when you think of what you could spend on a one-of-a-kind item at a leading fashion house.
So who’s wearing these eclectic, no-holds-barred fashions? The styles seem to appeal to anyone age 14 and up with a whimsical fashion sense. “Once a woman told me she was too vintage to wear vintage,” recalls Welch. “So we went further back than she did and found a stunning Victorian camisole that I reworked. Now she wears it with suit jackets and looks fresh and elegant.”
Virginia Howells is introducing a line of men’s trousers from the ’50s and ’60s that have been reworked for women of 2005. Even the lowly black T-shirt has been resurrected from the rag bag by Ryerson University fashion design student and Paper People Clothing designer Jennifer Nobuko Fukushima. “My Black Widow line consists of dresses, tops, skirts and hoodies made mostly from torn up black T-shirts,” says Fukushima, whose collection can be found at Pull on Queen Street West and on Kensington Avenue at The Rage. “The effect is very dramatic and textural — not to mention labour-intensive.”
Deconstructed fashion is creating some of the most innovative, sensual and playful looks around. Eco-chic is a growing movement that is being redefined by designers who love to break the rules. But it also inspires mainstream consumers and fashion-lovers like me to reinterpret our own old clothes. I recently transformed a 10-year-old, big-collared, button-down by cutting off the out-of-date collar, tapering the body and shortening the shirt. Now it’s hip to wear, and, better yet, I get to feel 14 again!
by Stacey Bernstein
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