Vintage Vanities

Ah, vintage. The word itself sounds vintage, but what does it mean? Nowadays, vintage is used to describe an object or item that’s from a time long ago, but to some, vintage can mean something else.

What is Vintage?

Christian Bernardo, a student who wears thrifted clothes, said, “Vintage to me is old, grimy clothes that look good. Honestly, to me vintage is just a word. It’s just something they want to call clothes, so really just old and grungy.”

To Kenzy Rodriguez, vintage is “classic and timeless.”

Devena Conklin separates vintage from thrift. Conklin said, “Not everything you thrift is vintage or old. Some of it people just put into the store. Vintage is like stuff from different decades.”

There are various styles nowadays, but vintage styles are exclusive to styles that are inspired from way back then. For example, Conklin explained her style and said, “My style is inspired by the 2000’s style. The 2000’s style has a lot of low-rise jeans, small tops, a lot of colors. No one really has my own style here. Cheetah print, pink, denim, and accessories are all really needed for the 2000’s style. And definitely cross necklaces, just like a lot of the ‘jeweled-out’ thing.”

The 2000’s style is definitely timeless since now, it’s getting even more recognition.

Vintage trends

Now that we know what vintage is, what are some vintage trends? Conklin recommends a very specific trend. “My favorite fashion trend of the past? Have you seen that one where you get a baggy long sleeve shirt and you kind of just like put it around your neck? That one.”

Rodriguez’s favorite fashion trend of the past is oversized clothes.

Bernardo added onto this and said, “Right now, my favorite trend of the past isn’t really stuck in the past–it’s still going. You know, those really big jeans. But my least favorite? Cargo pants with the dunks and the hoodie, or skinny jeans.”

Vintage Inspo

For some, it may be really hard to come up with a vintage look without inspiration. Bernardo gave insight on his inspirations. “I got my inspo from Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl. Right now I’m more into that whole Playboi Carti Destroy Lonely kind of look. I’m kind of merging the whole vintage look and that look together to get my own look,” he said. “Music affects my fashion style because it’s how I feel, it’s how I want to be, and I feel like that represents it. Tyler the Creator, Steve Lacy, Conan Grey–those celebs are good for vintage inspo. But most musicians nowadays don’t dress that good.”

Bernardo is a great example to use the things you like to inspire your fashion. Fashion is a way to self-express, and so is music. So by combining those two things, you can truly express yourself.”

Bernardo, being eager to help you out, said, “If you scroll through my Instagram following, you can get great inspo for clothes and fits. @davegrohlsuperfan.”

Conklin shines a light on the 2000’s outfit inspo in movies. “The movie Mean Girls has good vintage-y outfits. And Bring It On. A lot of the girls there wear flare leggings that have prints on the back and a lot of Juicy Couture.” In Mean Girls, the main character Cady Heron

transforms her style from more basic, to more stylish when she becomes accepted by the Plastics.”

Where to find Vintage Fashion

When it comes to thrifting, most of the stuff you find is vintage. Both Bernardo and Conklin thrift. “Me personally, I thrift all my stuff” said Bernardo. “There’s this little store down there called Treasure’s and another called Opportunity. Get whatever you think is going to look good and it depends on how lucky you are. I don’t shop at online shops because I don’t have a good imagination and I need to know how it’ll fit me and how it’s going to look.”

While Bernardo mainly thrifts only, Conklin both thrifts and shops online. “I thrift, or I go online to websites that usually have Y2K, like Depop,” she said. “For thrifting, definitely look–look in the isles. If you don’t see anything you like, still look at the other stuff because you might find something that’s really cute. For online shopping, look things up and be descriptive.”

Other remarks about Vintage Fashion

Bernardo shares a vintage style he likes. “[Wear] glasses–some black glasses, some rings, and if you’re going for a punk look you definitely need one of these [the necklace that I’m wearing],” he said. “Hair types–definitely a real noticeable wolf cut, bangs with the long hair, but as long as you make the clothes look good your hair doesn’t matter–unless you’re bald or something.”

He continues further on about how fashion isn’t limited to one quality in gender. “I like to wear whatever I feel–masculine or feminine fashion–since I wear those tiny t-shirts sometimes. I feel like I can go back and forth. Some days I throw on some bootcut jeans, and like I said, a tiny t-shirt with a leather jacket and some sunglasses. Now, it’s really cold so I feel like I have to layer up. Bootcuts and flairs are good for the vintage look.”

Lastly, Conklin has some words of advice to share to those. “Fashion is fashion. You like what you like, you know what I mean? Just be different, don’t do what everyone else does. Like yeah, fashion has a lot of trends, but mix it up a little. If you’re going to do the same thing as everyone else, at least add a little you. My process of finding my own style was just getting clothes that I like and exploring and experimenting from there,” she said.