The thing I find most intriguing about vintage items are the stories they collect from each person who has come to possess them. As the owner of the Hospice Center pointed out, people have always had an interest in the past, and by owning a piece of that, they are able to feel as though they have been given a better sense of that era. However, after the emergence of several vintage stores and seeing the shopping crowd at Goodwill grow, it’s easy to see that these second-hand store shoppers now include people of all ages with interests ranging from tacky sweaters to crock pots. A hot pink petticoat can bring you back to the days when girls just wanted to have fun or a pair of neon LA Gears just bring to mind Zack Morris and his notorious side-kick Screech.
When shopping for vintage clothes, one has to remember to always be ready to find the unexpected. When asking those in the second-hand shops what their favorite find was, it was funny to see how something that someone else was trying to get rid of now has become priceless to someone who probably wasn’t even born when it was made. For example, a dress that looked like the hooker costume Julia Roberts wore in Pretty Woman would be the first thing the owner of Retro Fit would grab from her closet if her house was on fire. She also claimed to have collected so much vintage clothing from the ’80s that she had to open a store.
Part of the appeal of second-hand clothes is the novelty and quirkiness they can have. In a way, having a closet of vintage clothes is like having your own museum where you can really take a walk in someone else’s shoes.