Clothes Just Like Grandma Used to Wear
Wait! Don’t throw it away. That crazy dress you inherited from your grandmother might be worth something someday. “Vintage hasn’t reached its peak,” said Doris Raymond, co-promoter of the Vintage Fashion Expo, which took place over the weekend at Santa Monica’s Civic Auditorium.
It was the first of three such expos in L.A. this year, and more than 100 vendors from around the country set up shop to sell clothing, jewelry, textiles and accessories dating from the 1850s to 1970s. Everyone from Hollywood costumers and car club enthusiasts to preservationists, swing dancers and thrift shop owners turned out to buy the wares. About 2,500 people attended, including actor Dylan McDermott. Kelly Lynch, Daryl Hannah and Reese Witherspoon have shopped at prior expos, apparently recognizing that virtually all modern fashion derives from previous eras.
“Rather than buy today’s interpretations, they’ll buy the original,” said the expo’s founder, John Maxwell, 69, a dapper gentleman who was dressed in a cream-colored ‘30s suit.
Eleven years ago, when Maxwell and two partners started the Vintage Fashion Expo, there was only one other show of its kind in the country. Now there are more than 50. Vintage Fashion Expo is the largest of the bunch, and is generally acknowledged as having the best vintage clothing and accessories from the most premium shops nationwide.
Katy Rodriguez is co-owner of Resurrection, a boutique in New York City with two locations that specialize in 1960s and 1970s couture. The entrance to her stall at the expo showcased two country-and-western outfits designed by Nudies of Hollywood and an early ‘70s mod jacket by French designer Coureges. Resurrection has a large celebrity clientele--Gina Gershon, Vincent Gallo, Kate Moss, Lenny Kravitz and John Galliano among them.
Rodriguez said she came to the expo because she has a number of bicoastal customers, and friends who recently moved to Los Angeles. “L.A. is becoming more fashion conscious,” added Rodriguez, who is contemplating opening a store in Los Angeles in the fall.
Pam Lee, known as the Bakelite Lady, travels to Los Angeles from her home town of San Francisco once a month to sell the kind of specialty plastic that was used to make jewelry, kitchen wares, game pieces and novelty items in the ‘20s and ‘30s. She does not operate a retail store, opting instead to exhibit at various vintage and antiques fairs. She was attracted to the Vintage Fashion Expo because “it caters to a younger crowd.”
Dustin Shelton, 21, and Cheri Yoast, 22, drove from Orange County to shop at the expo. “I’m big into swing dancing and want to look the part,” said Shelton, who bought two shirts and a suit, which he said he’d wear to go dancing later that night.
“[Vintage is for] people who have a personal sense of style and the confidence to carry it off,” said Raymond, who runs a rental business in San Francisco called the Way We Wore. Raymond said she owns almost 100,000 pieces of one-of-a-kind apparel, which she rents on a piecemeal basis to Hollywood studios. Her clothing has appeared in “Austin Powers,” “Titanic” and “Apollo 13.”
“Don’t tell me shopping isn’t good for you,” she joked.
Buying vintage clothing is like playing the stock market, Raymond believes. “Something you picked up for $35 could resell for thousands.”
The next Vintage Fashion Expo is May 22-23 in Santa Monica. For information, call (707) 793-0773.
