Louisa Simmonds

To the delight of the old man’s ever-tightening pockets, I’ve recently become a bit of a ‘Vintage’ whore in my fashion choices.

Fashion hasn’t been high on my list of priorities recently, and living in the hinterlands of Sydney (and not getting out much), I’ve been able to indulge my laid-back/grunge attitude towards style. ‘Dressing up’ here, might stretch to gem-encrusted thongs, but only on a really special night out.

But now I’ve discovered the world of Vintage clothing.

And the prospect of applying the eclectic style that I’ve been applying to my home to my listless wardrobe, is really exciting. If the fashionistas in New York and Paris have decided that ‘hand-me-downs’ are hip, who am I to argue?

I see this as my last-ditched attempt at creating a personal style statement, before I’m forced to seriously embrace ‘Sussan’.

In my opinion, ‘Vintage’ is an idiom for ‘anything goes.’

Going ‘Vintage’ gives me the definitive fashion green light to mix my Saturday Night Fever disco dress with my 90’s floral leggings, and still look fabulous.

It’s thrift shop fashion.

How freaking awesome that the individuality created by cast-offs from market stall rummages should finally be recognised as being ‘en vogue’. Who’d have thought that after years of fashion pretension, the social stigma of ‘second-hand’ would theoretically be removed?

‘Vintage’ apparently now tells a ‘style story’, whereas it used to say you were poor.  Maybe it has something to do with recession, but these days even rich people think it’s chic to look poor. Even Kate Middleton recycles her wardrobe, and if it’s good enough for royalty……

Like a stuck vintage vinyl, I’m forever rambling on about the plight of the 40+ female shopper, (‘Too Much Junk in the Trunk), and the gap in the market of fashionable clothes for ‘real’ women, as opposed to the Barbie doll younger model. For while the glossies continue to make money out of cajoling us into believing that fifty is the new forty (blah, blah), the designers adamantly refuse to address our fashion needs, or size for that matter.

So what do we do about it?

Some of us seek out professional advice, in desperation. Many of my friends have resorted to the personal stylist in search of ‘the secret’ to looking good over forty – but a lot of us mature women are inherently resistant to change. Apparently ‘colour’ is the answer to all our problems, but ‘red’ makes me feel like a hooker, no matter what Chris de Burgh would have us believe.

So I’ve found my solution in ‘Vintage’. It’s been my way out of the shopping quagmire, releasing me from the chains of ‘ill-fitting high street fashion’ and giving me a passport to my own personal fashion revolution. 

And it’s cheap.

A recycled ‘pret-a-porter’ designer outfit from Lifeline can cost you under a tenner; and it’s eco-friendly. So you can afford to make those rookie fashion mistakes that we’ve all made in the past, under pressure from some overly-persistent, skinny bitch sales assistant who hasn’t got a clue.

THANK YOU Chloe Sevigny, Rachel Zoe and Nicole Richie, those Vintage fashionistas who have found it in their hearts to show the love to us ordinary women, in their promotion of an achievable style. For proving that you don’t have to remortgage your home to be stylish.

We can’t all wear the fabric condoms created by Victoria Beckham.

Thank you for embracing a style statement that endorses uniqueness, glamour and size. We secretly knew all along that men prefer meat on our bones, an hourglass figure to scrawn, but it took Dita’s retro-chic and Mad Men to bring the sexy back into vintage fashion.

I will be successorising my best Vintage at work tomorrow, in a stunning Hepburnesque-style LBD, acquired from this very exclusive label I’ve recently discovered, called Vinnies.

‘I like the idea of being whoever I want to be.’ (Dita Von Teese)

Vintage Clothes Shop Milan by Fabrye courtesy of flickr.com

Audrey Hepburn 100 by VanGobseck courtesy of flickr.com

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1. How-To: Shop and Wear Vintage (fabsugar.com)

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