-
Will fashion ever be truly genderless?
In this article we’ll be investigating whether or not genderless fashion is just a trend, or whether it’s here to stay. While gender-fluidity can seem like quite a recent topic, it can be traced back to 1824. Hidden in the forests of Indiana, a small town called New Harmony was founded. In this town, both men and women could wear shirts and trousers. But how could one small town revolutionise gendered clothing while the rest of the world was trapped in rigid gender-stereotypes for the next 150-200 years? How has vintage and second-hand clothing changed gendered clothing? Now that sustainability is becoming a huge part of life for all of…
-
Ambiguous Vintage
‘Vintage’ can mean different things to different people and clever marketing has given it a rise in popularity in the last twenty years. Nowadays, you can find ‘second-hand’ clothes for 99p while a ‘vintage’ tag can push it towards £99. Did we trade in value for cool points when ‘vintage’ became a desirable look? When I first moved to London a few years ago, I was excited to discover events called Vintage Kilo Sales. The idea behind these events was quite simple – a local hall is filled with pre-loved items and the price of the clothes is determined by their weight. A kilo of clothes thus has a set…
-
The Supply and Demand Of Vintage Fashion
While online-only brands like ASOS, Boohoo and Missguided chip away at our formerly fashionable high streets, is the same true when it comes to second-hand? Do charity shops, vintage boutiques and thrift stores suffer at the hands of online marketplaces such as eBay and Depop? In December 2011, Mary ‘Queen of Shops’ Portas launched an independent review – recommended by the government – into the future of British high streets, researching the decline she believed to have ‘reached a crisis point’. Adamant at the time that business was the bottom line of the decision-making process, with sentimentality playing no part in her desire to turn the failing high street around,…
-
Falling into the Cracks: The Second-Hand Struggle
Second-hand clothes are wardrobe treasures passed on from one person to the next and each unique item tells a story – yet they seem to get a mixed review among shoppers. Does using the term ‘vintage’ free you from the stigma or does buying second-hand clothes make you feel like a second-class citizen? Let’s get it out of the way. A bulk of the stigma around second-hand clothes exists along class lines. For many people who are living from pay cheque to pay cheque, second-hand clothes are the only viable option to dress themselves and their families. Declaring that they shop vintage doesn’t change their everyday reality nor does it suddenly remove the obstacles they face as…
-
Vintage vs Charity Stores: ‘Who Are We?’
Second-hand clothes are wardrobe treasures passed on from one person to the next and each unique item tells a story – yet they seem to get a mixed review amongst shoppers. Does using the term ‘vintage’ free you from the stigma or does buying second-hand clothes make you feel like a second-class citizen? By Annabel LindsayInstagram: @annabellindsay To quote the official Wild Child herself, aka Miss Poppy Moore, “If we could just call this stuff vintage and add three zeros to the price tag, I could totally get into it”. This very important pop culture reference, I believe, is the perfect opener for exploring the stigma woven into second-hand clothing. The term ‘second-hand’ seems irrelevant when buying…
-
Thrift Fashion Hauls: Changing Trends, Changing Attitudes
By Carissa KotyuhaInstagram: @carissablount Twitter: @carissastoryy “Fashion trends tend to repeat themselves”, said my mom on several occasions over my 24 years on this planet. Every 20-30 years, some trend highly distinguishable for its presence in the last few decades pops up again on the fashion runway and trickles down to the storefronts of Forever 21’s across the country. From high-waists to bell-bottoms, fashion trends seem to fade out just as quickly as they came in. Most of our closets and drawers are filled to the brim with pieces that reflect trends that have come and gone, but are eventually sorted through and then donated or thrown away. But a growing…
-
Second-hand Stories
There’s something magical about shopping for second hand clothes; it’s a treasure hunt for a hidden gem and when you find something, you cherish it forever. Words by Rachel McMinn Since I was a young girl, I’ve always loved second-hand clothes, to me it was normal – I’d always get clothes given to me from my mum’s friend’s daughters, my brother’s friends, my brother’s girlfriends etc. and whenever my mum would give me a bag of second-hand clothes I would be so excited. Fashion has always been a love of mine, so to get a load of new clothes without spending a penny was fantastic, I’d try everything on and give my…
-
Vintage Fashion: Once Upon a Frock – Ana’s Story
There’s something magical about shopping for second hand clothes; it’s a treasure hunt for a hidden gem and when you find something, you cherish it forever. All words and images are by Ana Bogusky. See more from Ana here. I did not find my frock, I inherited it. But it is the story of garments that lived a long and rich life, as well-made clothing should. It turns out that my father bought this little dress and shrug set in NYC for my grandmother for Mother’s Day in 1951 when he was a young boy. He bought it with his allowance and money he had saved up, at a second hand store, for three dollars! How sweet…
-
Goodbye Stigma, Hello Second Hand Fashion
I confess, to having a stigma against second-hand shopping. Moreover, I have no idea exactly why I do, but it’s there. It’s all about one thing: hygiene. On the upside, I’m fighting hard to get rid of this stigma as there are very important reasons why. I didn’t grow up in a family that was into thrifting and so it didn’t generate any interest until I reached my early 20s. I accompanied friends to second-hand stores and was in awe at all the vintage things they had. But, I never brought myself to buy anything. I just couldn’t see them as cool vintage pieces. I didn’t see the fun…
-
Second Hand Clothes Could Save The Planet
By Tamara Rampley Secondhand clothes are wardrobe essentials, passed on from one person to the next and each unique item tells a story, yet they seem to get a mixed review amongst shoppers. Does using the term Vintage free you from the stigma or does buying second hand clothes make you feel like a second class citizen? As you have alighted on this page, the chances are, you are – at least a bit – sympathetic to conscious fashion! But treading lightly upon this earth, is a complicated business, with few simple right and wrongs. You don’t have to unpick many threads – literal or metaphorical – to see the many…
