Meet Vintage, the 4th member of our family

Just a few of my favorite vintage pieces

I remember being about 9 or 10 wishing my mom had saved all of her clothes from when she was young so that I could wear them.  I was too young to realize it at the time, but I had fell in love with vintage.  There just seemed to be something special about having something from another time that resonated with me.  I think that is why I loved thrift shopping so much as a child.  I would find things that my mom would say "I had pants like that when I was a kid" that I had to have.  I have a specific memory of a wide leg printed pants and a wrap dress that I absolutely loved.  The best part about them is that they were made for adults but they fit me as an adolescent.  All of the current sizing was always too big on me, the vintage fit of clothing suited my body much better. 

Fast forward to now, and I still love vintage.  Best of all, my better half can appreciate and wear quality vintage too.  We even passed it on to our son.  Needless to say, the trends can come and go, but vintage will always be apart of our family. <3

How to vintage.  What to buy and what to leave on the rack:
Here are some things to consider when trying vintage.

I LOVE baby vintage.  Check out some of our
little guys collection.

1. Is it made of a natural fiber? This may be tricky because some items do not
have tags.  However, polyester is a pretty obvious because it is also plentiful.  I usually steer clear of synthetic fibers because I am more interested in quality vintage and not so much costume-y.

2. If there is a tag present, check to see where it was made.  You can tell something is most likely vintage if it was made in America.  All of our vintage with tags state that they were made in the U.S.A.  This is definitely a sign of the age,

Some vintage JCPennys and Saks Fifth Avenue

indicating it was before the time when everything was contracted out over seas. 

3.  Is there a smell.  I stay away from anything that has a funky odor because it
might not come out.  You want to have interesting pieces you can modernize and smelling like an old trunk will not help there.  

4.  Is it timeless?  I used to buy a lot of vintage but found that I would only wear them when I was in a vintage wearing mood.  I have since learned that there are classic pieces that can be worn regardless of trends and can be mixed and matched with all of my current clothing.  No need to be in a "vintage" mood.

5.  Have fun with it.  If you have a hunch on something, get it.  Even if you can't envision it right away.  Those great one of a kind pieces are hard to find and even if you can't find a match for a few months, it doesn't matter because it's already decades before the trends!



Check out the recent find my better half came across.  Turns out is is the same kind of coat James Dean (click) wore in the film "Giant".  He is always hesitant when buying items but I urged him to get it.  Yay me! ;-P

Anyway, I hope you are inspired to go out and hunt for some quality vintage.  Be sure to show me any that you have found.  :-)