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Fashion Voyeur

People will stare, make it worth their while.

Categories: Fashion, North East, Uncategorized

Finding Your feet with Vintage

Vintage clothing is perceived as a bit of an acquired taste, it’s something people seem to either really love, or think they’ll hate.  I’m here to tell you that vintage can be for everyone, you just have to look past that idea that it’s musty, smelly old clothes that was once worn by old ladies surrounded by cats.  For an item to qualify as vintage it must be over 20 years old, meaning that clothing from the 90’s is now officially classified as vintage.  All those Kookai and Morgan de Toi pieces you saved your pocket money to buy are now collectors items and worth a pretty penny.

There are many reasons that the revival of clothes from decades gone by is such a popular choice in fashion right now:

  1. You’re guaranteed to get something unique.  You’ll find something that will make you stand out from the crowd, providing you know where to look to source really great vintage.
  2. You’re promoting sustainable and revived fashion.  By giving a garment new life, re-using, re-working and re-loving something, you’re helping to prevent waste and are part of the cause against fast fashion and sweat shop produced fashion.
  3. You support a small business.  It’s no mean feat trying to source good quality vintage clothing, someone has spent time, money and effort searching for those pieces.
  4. You’re making a statement.  You’re saying that you don’t need mass produced high street clothing in your wardrobe for every day of the week.
  5. It’s a great way to experiment with fashion from different eras, vintage can be affordable, contrary to popular belief, and you won’t bump into anyone else wearing the same piece

How do you source good vintage clothing?

It’s hard to find good quality vintage clothing these days, and with the 90’s revival maintaining pace, stock is at a premium.  Vintage fairs are a great place to start, Britain Does Vintage and Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair have seasonal pop ups all over the country and invite the best retailers from the surrounding areas to sell their stock.  The great thing about vintage fairs is that they sell way more than just clothing, you’ll find hats, accessories and tea sets perfect for serving gin, prohibition style, amongst the treasures on offer.  If I’m looking for jewellery, trinkets or era specific clothing, I head to Clerkenwell Vintage Fair which runs seasonally at Freemason’s Hall in Holborn, London.

Vintage stores are more tricky, in the North East we have Trendlistr studio (who also sell online via their website) in uber cool Commercial Union House.  The fuschia pink studio creeps with ivy on the outside and inside is a wonder emporium like no other.  Selling high quality vintage clothing, shoes and accessories sourced from all over the world, owner Louisa tells me that the best vintage clothing comes from France.  Whether it’s a particular Hermes scarf, Miu Miu shoes or just a printed shift dress, you’ll find it at Trendlistr.  In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever visited and not bought something, it has the highest concentration of great quality vintage pieces in one place that I’ve ever come across.

I was actually recently asked to collaborate with Trendlistr and shoot a selection of Summer stock for the website including an awesome Beverly Goldberg-esque jumpsuit that I’m kicking myself for not buying.  You’ll be able to see the images pretty soon, but for now here’s a few I took behind the scenes.

In a website photoshoot for vintage fashion retailer Trendlistr, blogger Pixie Tenenbaum wears a white dress with cape sleeves
In a website photoshoot for vintage fashion retailer Trendlistr, blogger Pixie Tenenbaum wears a Hawaiian mens shirt and heritage check blazer
In a website photoshoot for vintage fashion retailer Trendlistr, blogger Pixie Tenenbaum wears a flyknit cropped top in rainbow colours
In a website photoshoot for vintage fashion retailer Trendlistr, blogger Pixie Tenenbaum wears a red deckchair print jumpsuit with elasticated waist
In a website photoshoot for vintage fashion retailer Trendlistr, blogger Pixie Tenenbaum wears an 80's cocktail dress in black, yellow and purple with power shoulders
In a website photoshoot for vintage fashion retailer Trendlistr, blogger Pixie Tenenbaum wears a red boilersuit

For a more youthful vibe It Girls Vintage in the North East offers re-worked pieces and lots of denim in different shapes and cuts.  Those Mom jeans you’re buying for £40 in Topshop are great, but you could find some 80’s and 90’s originals at It Girls.

Online; try eBay but approach with caution, it’s filled with sellers who use the term ‘vintage’ very loosely so make sure you read everything, check the pictures and if you’re still not sure, then ask questions!  Some sellers will call something vintage, when they mean vintage style or retro which are very, very different.

What should I look for?

Literally anything that catches your eye!  The beauty of vintage is that whilst it doesn’t run to a specific trend, you often find that some pieces have come full circle and are fashionable again.  I recently scoured the high street for a double breasted checked jacket in the style of one Margot Robbie was snapped wearing, after three weeks of turning up shit quality pieces online and in-store, I found an awesome vintage piece that fit the bill perfectly.

An image of Blogger Pixie tenenbaum wearing a floor length vintage gown with green sequin detailing, front view
An image of Blogger Pixie tenenbaum wearing a floor length vintage gown with green sequin detailing, side view

Think outside the box, I have a vintage wedding dress that’s just quirky enough to pass for formal wear and recently I sourced an amazing floor length velvet gown that looks like it was shipped straight from the set of a Florence and the Machine promo.  With vintage clothing you can be more daring, you can push the envelope and achieve more than you can with high street pieces alone.  For Fashion Month I always try to source new and interesting vintage pieces for my collection so that I can guarantee I won’t bump into someone wearing the same thing.  So many times I’ve seen women wearing the same clothes and shoes sat just a few spaces apart on the Frow – talk about a glitch in the matrix.

Pixie xo

Categories: Fashion, North East, Uncategorized

Trendlistr Curated Vintage Popup Shop

You all know that I have my own unique style when it comes to occasion dressing but I also have a bit of a penchant for vintage, as long as it’s good vintage; and that’s the trouble with buying preloved clothing, you never know if it’s any good.

When it comes to styling and dressing, I know exactly what I want.  That in itself can be a problem because sometimes the thing that I want doesn’t actually exist, that’s why I hack sleeves off tees, add in fabric and draw on clothing – I like to look unique. Buying vintage is great because it allows you to keep your individuality – you’re very unlikely to bump into someone wearing the same thing – and there are styles available that aren’t repeated on today’s high street.

One of the tricky things about buying vintage, is that you never know if what you’re buying is ‘good’ vintage, genuine or what it’s history is and that’s the risk you take.  Sure vintage fairs are great, (my absolute favourite, Britain Does Vintage, tours the U.K. seasonally and makes three stops across the North East) but if you’re that person who really doesn’t know what they’re looking for then Trendlistr might be the solution you didn’t know you needed.

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Ok, so first you have to establish that you’re interested in vintage clothing, if you’re not, then maybe I can convince you.  Cuts, quality and sizing is different (vanity sizing didn’t exist back then) in vintage clothing, with a focus on quality over quantity, things weren’t sold in high volume so if you find a piece you love, buy it, keep it and cherish it.  Good designer vintage in decent condition retains its shape and its value pretty well on this day and age, with some rare pieces (Hermes Kelly anyone?) increasing in value.

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Louisa Rogers and I have been following each other for some time now and last night we finally met in person at her Curated Vintage Popup Shop in House of Smith.  Louisa spotted a gaping hole in the market for a Curated vintage service that links up clients like you and I, with vintage pieces which have been sourced, checked and verified.  This was the inspiration that led her to start setting up her business Trendlistr.

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Louisa is super passionate about vintage clothing, but it has to be as close to perfect as it can be to pass her vigourous testing.  Sourcing from all over the world, she’s built up quite a collection of eclectic pieces and had a small selection of clothing and jewellery on show at her popup.

Trendlistr will operate in a similar way to eBay which offers a marketplace for third party sellers to showcase their vintage items, minus the auction.  Louisa tells me she has aspirations for it to become the ‘ASOS of vintage’ and she has faith in her brand.  She talks about the importance of getting it right first time and is currently in the process of photographing and cataloging the collection ready for the website going live.

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I scoured the collection last night and scavenged a preppy zip through Roberto Verino dress and a Moschino tank – picked for me by Louisa herself as she says she’s clocked my style and thinks it’s very me, she’s not wrong.  Amongst the collection I found a pair of very on trend midnight blue velvet Yves Saint Laurent cigarette pants and a flower camo Salvatore Ferragamo pencil skirt, sadly neither were my size. Boo!

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Is Curated vintage worth it? Yes, if you’re interested in vintage then it takes all the hard work out of finding really great quality preowned clothing.  If you want to try vintage but don’t know where to start, then Curated vintage is your gateway drug, but be careful, it’s addictive.

I’ll always visit vintage fairs there’s no doubt about that, but Trendlistr offers a third dimension, a way to source items in a particular size, colour or style.  A way to request dealers to look for a particular item when they’re out topping up their hauls, rather than just shopping off the rack.

When Trendlistr goes live in early 2017 I’m predicting a vintage revival of sorts….

Pixie xo

 

Pixie Tenenbaum 2024

Pixie Tenenbaum Headshot

People will stare, make it worth their while

Pixie Tenenbaum

FASHION VOYEUR

Freelance Fashion and Beauty Writer
Currently taking review slots
Hire Me: pixie.tenenbaum@gmail.com

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RION Magazine Fashion Editor

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Copywriter/Editor/Proofreader/Journo in fashion, fashion history & language Currently: Fashion Ed @rionmagazine & @so.edited.co Fashion Innovation @shopbyshape

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