Vintage clothing growing in popularity | News | unionrecorder.com - The Union-Recorder

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• Vintage clothing growing in popularity | News | unionrecorder.com - The Union-Recorder
• How to Spot Fakes When Shopping for Vintage Clothing and Accessories - Lifehacker
• Nordstrom Partners with Goodfair to Sell Vintage Clothes Online - Treehugger

Vintage clothing growing in popularity | News | unionrecorder.com - The Union-Recorder Posted: 30 Jan 2021 01:00 PM PST MANKATO — When Sarah Wooding and husband Jameson Sweiger began acquiring vintage clothing a decade ago, they didn't expect their collection would evolve into a career, with buyers from places such as Japan flying in to visit their Mankato, Minnestoa, shop 20 times a year to meet a growing demand for American vintage apparel. "The Japanese have the greatest appreciation for American vintage culture," Sweiger said. "It's mind-blowing that they have better archives of American vintage clothes than Americans." The couple's collection of 40 bins and hanging racks in their Old Town location has everything from psychedelic dresses from the 1960s and sports apparel from the 1980s to World War II era military clothing and sports memorabilia, all sourced from garage and estate sales and thrift stores. As with many others in the vintage clothing business, Wooding and Sweiger were both drawn to the subcultures of particular eras. Sweiger, who also sells vintage records, began collecting T-shirts of his favorite punk rock bands when he was in high school, like '90s era Minneapolis bands Code 13 and Dillinger Four. Wooding remembers picking up used clothing from the '60s and '70s on trips to the thrift store as a teenager growing up in Memphis, Tennessee. "That's where I started collecting and wearing — I was always interested in bell bottoms and anything mod or psychedelic," she said. "I had big wide polyester bell bottom high-waisted pants and I tried to wear them three times a week to school." Their wholesale vintage clothing business has become a full-time job for both of them in the past six years, thanks in large part to Instagram, under the handles scatter.brain.vintage and elseware.vintage, which gave them a national and global customer base. The two also sell their vintage apparel at Time Bomb Vintage, a retro store in Minneapolis that sells a variety of antique items. "There's many different sub-genres for vintage crowds," Sweiger said. "If you say 'vintage,' to one person, it might be Chicago Bulls T-shirts from the '90s. To me, maybe it's a 1940s military item. We've also found things from the 1800s. A lot of sellers have different niches." Julie Wulfemeyer said her interest in collecting and later selling vintage clothing also can be traced back to her high school years in the 1990s, when a fascination with the disco era of the 1970s was experiencing a resurgence in popularity. "That '70s Show," about teenagers growing up in Wisconsin in the 1970s, was one of the most popular television programs at the time. "I bought a lot of corduroy bell bottoms, pointed shirts and jackets at the thrift store," Wulfemeyer said. "I was on a tight high schooler's budget." While in college, a neighbor who lived next door to the house she grew up in donated a large amount of vintage clothing to Wulfemeyer. "I got this huge mountain from her — most of which I wore — but then I had this excess that I needed to sell off," Wulfemeyer said. "In graduate school I was dead broke, so it turned out to be a perfect opportunity." Wulfemeyer said the popularity of clothing from that era has resurfaced multiple times over the past 30 years. She's since gravitated toward '50s and '60s clothing, which garnered a renewed interest with shows based on that era like "Mad Men" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." "Instead of just catching a rerun, you can watch 'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' start to finish, you can watch 'Mary Tyler Moore' start to finish," she said. "As our TV choices from different eras are kind of niche, it makes sense that you would get inspired by the clothing of whatever you're watching." For Natalie Pierson, owner of Vagabond Village, a Mankato store that sells a plethora of vintage clothing separated by decade, style and color, every era is fascinating and distinctive. "Every year, it's interesting how the eras pop up in a different way," Pierson said. "No matter how long I hold my stuff for, it comes back to the surface because people want it." Wooding thinks there are a variety of reasons people are drawn to vintage clothing, but the one that stands out the most to her is a yearning for individuality. She suspects the pandemic has enhanced that interest. "People have been stuck at home and have been getting more creative and expressive," Wooding said. "They're trying new things and mixing and matching eras, trying to be different." — Dan Greenwood is a Free Press staff writer. Contact him at dgreenwood@mankatofreepress.com

How to Spot Fakes When Shopping for Vintage Clothing and Accessories - Lifehacker Posted: 30 Jan 2021 06:30 AM PST Photo: Lolostock (Shutterstock) Anyone who has spent time shopping for vintage clothing and accessories knows that it can be very hit-or-miss. Of course, you need to go into the whole thing with the understanding that these clothes are old (or at least they should be), which means they've likely been worn, and may not be the most perfect, spotless, completely-intact garments. But are they actually authentic? Well, that depends on a lot of things, including what you consider "authentic" in this context—like whether it's actually old or a new vintage-style item trying to pass. And then there's the matter of fakes. While this probably wouldn't be an issue with a Basic Editions T-shirt circa the mid-1990s, it is something that happens when you're dealing with bigger-name luxury brands and designers. So, how do you know if a piece of vintage apparel is the real deal, or an attempt to get you to overpay? Here's what to know. Advertisement Make sure the pieces are worth the price tag Just to clarify: we're not talking about items in thrift stores, where prices are kept relatively low, and sometimes they're attached to a nonprofit organization. We're talking about actual vintage shops and websites, with curated collections of clothing and significantly higher prices. Because you're paying a premium for these pieces, you want to make sure you're getting your money's worth and not getting scammed. G/O Media may get a commission How to tell if a vintage item is a fake OK, so how do you spot a fake? According to Jillian Clark, a costume designer in Los Angeles, that all depends on how good the fake is. Here are three tips from an interview she did with Real Simple: Check the logo "Most fakes are easy to spot based on whichever logo or design they are mimicking," Clark told Real Simple. "Most often, the design will be altered ever-so-slightly, so it can go almost entirely unnoticed by an unconcerned consumer." Advertisement Check the label When it comes to vintage designer clothing, Clark says that most items will have some sort of "label of authenticity" or its original labels sewn in—which are not easy to replicate. Advertisement Shop with a trusted vintage retailer Finally, Clark advises sticking to vintage clothing dealers you know and trust—and wouldn't try to sell you fakes in the first place. Advertisement

Nordstrom Partners with Goodfair to Sell Vintage Clothes Online - Treehugger Posted: 28 Jan 2021 11:35 AM PST Vintage clothing is going mainstream, and this is great news for the environment. Nordstrom has just announced a partnership with Goodfair, the company whose mission is to divert clothes destined for landfill, prepare them for resale, and distribute in themed bundles to customers across the United States. Nordstrom is getting in on the secondhand action, adding Goodfair to its online store as of January 28, 2021. This is a first for the department store chain, establishing an entirely new category of vintage clothing and expanding its Sustainable Style category, which was launched to much fanfare in 2019. A press release notes, "Customers can expect truly vintage pieces (made before 2000), including one-of-a-kind tees, brand-name jackets, old school sweatshirts and more, dropping monthly." These will range in price from $40-$80, hardly the discount vintage you might be accustomed to seeing. Goodfair Goodfair's CEO and Founder, Topper Luciani, told Treehugger that the company is thrilled to bring true vintage clothing to Nordstrom for the first time ever. "By teaming up with Nordstrom, we're able to reach an even wider audience by meeting consumers where they're shopping during this time, which is primarily online, and [it] gives us the opportunity to educate them about the importance of buying used. Vintage has been dominated by a false scarcity effect and has been made less attainable to the masses, but our sourcing model at Goodfair allows us to access truly vintage pieces and provide customers an accessible and affordable way to participate in the green economy." Nordstrom's Sustainable Style category includes products that use more eco-friendly materials (at least 50% organic cotton, recycled polyester and materials with certifications like bluesign® and Fair Trade Certified™); responsible manufacturing practices that ensure workers are paid fairly and not exposed to workplace safety hazards; responsible packaging that emphasizes recycled materials or "plastics already on their second or third use"; sustainably sourced ingredients for personal care products; and companies that give back to charities that benefit people, animals, or the planet. Goodfair Meanwhile, Goodfair will continue to maintain its own online store, selling themed bundles of used clothing. Customers shop based on a general category, i.e. a vintage T-shirt variety bundle, athleisure or crew-neck sweatshirts, trackpants, flannel shirts, denim jackets, retro knit sweaters, etc., and they receive a box without knowing what the specific items will be. The goal is to prevent perfectly good clothing from entering landfills, squandering resources, and driving greenhouse gas emissions – and Goodfair is doing an excellent job of this. Its partnership with Nordstrom will draw even more attention to the importance of extending clothing's lifespan and make vintage clothing more appealing than ever by using a prominent platform.

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