My Love of Vintage Fashion

Love fashion? Who doesn’t? We all like to be dressed up in up-to-date eye-catching clothes. But what about vintage fashion? Would you consider wearing an item of clothing from a by-gone era? 

My love of vintage fashion started in the retro shops in the West end of Glasgow. My dad would take me around the shops and out for lunch afterwards. Most of the shops had clothes from the 70s onward. I found my love of 50s fashion after finding modern-vintage 50s inspired dresses from brands such as Lindy Bop, Hellbunny and Voodoo Vixen. The tiny waist and big petticoated skirts have remained my favourite to this day. Nothing can beat the feeling of wearing a classic 50s dress and some heels, at least for me. However, I can’t realistically wear those dresses every day so I save them for special occasions.

You can identify the time-period a photograph was taken in just from the iconic styles of clothing worn by the people in the photos. Popular figures from each era have cemented fashion trends throughout history along with the events at the time e.g. World War II affected the fashion of the time due to limited fabric as well as the styles worn by pin-up girls in propaganda posters etc. This makes fashion styles and trends that ensure that decades are easily distinguishable.

Most fashion is inspired by trends started by designers or influenced by popular figures in the media, for example, Arianna Grande sparked the trend of hoodie dresses and thigh-high boots only a few years ago. However, you can take inspiration from as many places and people as you want, the style you create using those influences is your own. I like creating my style by mixing and matching different styles from different eras, including trends from recent years.

But apart from looking chic and glamourous, vintage fashion is very green. Last semester I wrote a feature article for my coursework about vintage fashion and it’s benefits for the environment. Researching the environmental impact of fashion opened my eyes to the damage the industry does to the planet. The textile industry produces 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas each year. It was hard to process just how much damage the industry I love has on our planet. Writing that article helped me spark an interest in environmentally conscious-living and helped me realise why I love vintage and second-hand clothes so much.

Vintage clothes have a special, loved feeling that comes with them. With every vintage dress I buy, I like to imagine it’s previous owner and where she wore it. Maybe she wore it on a first date or to her prom. One of my retro jackets might’ve belonged to a punk-rocker in a small band or a biker who travelled the world. Every vintage item has a story behind it. You don’t get that with new clothes. A lot of people treat second-hand clothes and possessions with less value but it shouldn’t be that way.

In my article, I interviewed Elane Colville-Arthur, the owner of The Closet vintage shop in Aberdeen. She spoke about how vintage clothes are made from better quality fabrics and last longer than modern clothing, “There was a period in around 2015 where many local people turned their noses up at me and asked ‘how can you charge £40 for a vintage dress? It’s secondhand- someone else has worn that.’ and I was like ‘are you kidding me? This dress was made in- let’s say 1965 and it’s still here today… And it will probably be here in another 20 years if it’s looked after properly.’”

Before “fast fashion” existed most people’s clothes were hand-tailored and made to last years and years. Older generations were willing to splash out on more durable clothing. However, nowadays people are more willing to sacrifice quality over a low price-tag. Fast fashion shops, such as Primark, find shortcuts to create clothes in the cheapest way possible so they can make a bigger profit off of cheap clothes. Cheaply made clothes don’t last nearly as long as vintage clothes, with many people viewing trendy clothes as disposable. In the fashion industry today, trends disappear as quickly as they come into existence. These fleeting styles never stay fashionable for long, in fact, most people find them ridiculous and don’t understand why they became popular in the first place, e.g. platform crocs, clear plastic jeans. Before fast fashion was popularised, fashion trends could last decades, now they rarely last more than a few months.

Fashion has evolved but I think it has also regressed. We’ve forgotten that fashion trends aren’t about the most abstract and ridiculous clothes we can find. We’ve forgotten how much impact producing our clothes have on the planet. We’ve forgotten how special our clothes are. Fashion is an art form we wear on our bodies and live our lives in, we can express ourselves through it. Fashion isn’t a competition to be the most trendy and up-to-date. Vintage fashion reminds me of that, most people back then didn’t care about being up-to-date with trends and they didn’t take clothes for granted. Perhaps it’s time to turn the clock back- be daring and rock the vintage look.

Photography by: Ryan Duff