I love vintage. The theme of my last birthday party was, “1940s & 50s Leading Ladies and Gents”. It was a brilliant opportunity for my friends and I to dress up. It was also a chance for me to do something with one of  the custom made vintage style dresses I had sewn last summer – wear a pill hat and fishnets!

Clothing manufacturing  uses massive amounts of water and releases toxic materials and dyes into the environment. What better way to  help cut back on manufacturing wastes without cutting back on style, than to go Vintage?!

Dressing in vintage is also a great way to ensure that no one else shows up to the party in the same dress. Updating and customizing your vintage looks provides ample opportunity to flex your creative muscle and define a one-of-a-kind personal style that is as unique as you are.

There are two ways to buy vintage. You can purchase real vintage from vintage shops, flea markets, auctions, second-hand shops, estate sales and online (ebay is full of vintage) or you can support local seamstresses and have a vintage pattern used to create something new and one-of-kind.

You can find old sewing patterns from McCalls, Vogue, Buttericks and more, all over the web. Lanetz Living.net is my latest, favourite online location for vintage patterns. You can search by brand and era.

Shopping for real vintage requires some preparation. Firstly, make sure you measure yourself correctly. If you’re a perfect size 8 you may find that clothing marked that size are too small for you. Clothing sizes have changed by era. Check out this wonderful ‘How-To’ from Blue Velvet Vintage. You also want to think about your aim before you start shopping. Can you add some accessories to existing pieces in  your armoir? Do you want to make a big splash or a more understated look? Are you prepared to alter pieces yourself or would you hire a seamstress for that?

eBay is a great place to find Vintage but don’t rely solely on searches in the ‘Vintage’ category. Get creative! Sometimes it is easier to find a high quality vintage piece searching for a designer’s name or searching on fabrics. Special fabrics, such as cashmere, silk, velvet or mink are the favourite fabrics for many famous designers.

I found my seamstress on eBay. She runs an eBay shop and creates vintage reproductions based on authentic vintage patterns as well as reproductions of current haute couture dresses direct from this season’s runways. The best part is that she sells current haute couture reproductions that are handmade and at a fraction of the price you would pay in the boutiques.

My last purchase from her was a Vivian Westwood reproduction suit. I paid only 20% of the price the actual Vivian Westwood suit sells for and it looks great and is cut to my body and measurements perfectly. I had to replace the buttons because they looked cheap. But that’s part of developing a hands-on, creative and highly personal approach to our clothing.

Writing this has inspired me to wear one of the vintage dresses I bought to the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit in Paris this week. The exhibit encompasses all of the designer’s work. More than 300 pieces of couture and prêt-à-porter are set against a historic backdrop, explained in drawings, films and photos, totalling 40 years of Saint Laurent’s work, ranging from his beginnings at Dior and the famous Trapèze collection in the late 1950s through his late evening gowns for Yves Saint Laurent shortly before his death in 2008.

So much fun and a good opportunity to wear fishnets again. I wonder if my loving friend notices that I still have her pill hat?

Some Truly Great Vintage Links:

To Ten Vintage Redheads of All Time

Queens of Vintage Social Network

Mien Magazing – Culture, Etiquette and Style

Swell Vintage

Vintage Home Design

Nostalgic Candy – Your online Old Fashioned Candy Store

Solemates – A Century in Shoes

Vintage Hair

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