Tag Archives: vintage clothing

Vintage Clothing Trends and Microtrends

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Vintage Clothing Trends and Microtrends

One of my favorite parts of selling online is analyzing what goes where, spotting little regional microtrends and the general shift of a trend from the coasts inward. Here are some of the observations I have made recently in regards to vintage clothing trends:

Vintage Wrangler Cowboy Cut Jeans– Los Angeles

Vintage Wrangler Jeans

photo credit: Urban Outfitters

-North Hollywood if we want to get extra specific. You’ve got the whole Laurel Canyon Revival going on, and the Silverlake Shaman mystical sack dress look, so it would make sense that sandwiched in the middle you’d find dusty authentic American western 70’s jeans, but ones with thighs so tight that only the ultra-slim ladies of Los Angeles can wear them. As with all jeans right now, chop them at the calf for a cute kick crop look.Them and the young Texas men.

Vintage Levi’s 512 and 550 Jeans (“Mom Jeans”)– Southern CA, Austin, Brooklyn, Nashville

Vintage Levi's Mom Jeans

photo credit: Avelina’s Vintage

-so both coasts and Central Texas agree on high waisted 100% cotton (NO STRETCH) tapered leg jeans a.k.a Mom Jeans. The younger women wear them with skimpy tops from Brandy Melville, the older women tend to tuck in vintage blouses or faux-vintage T-shirts.

Vintage Western Snap Button Shirts– Chicago

Vintage Embroidered Western Snap Button Shirts are popular in Chicago

-Now the more plain Wrangler snap buttons get bought up by men and women alike in CA, TX and WY (there are some seriously well dressed young western style men in Wyoming that know their vintage!) but the fancier, brighter, embroidered shirts that look like they’d be on stage at the Grand Ole Opry have been getting scooped up by fashionable women in Chicago for months now. It came as no surprise recently when the runways of Saint Laurent, Givenchy and Coach AND Justin Timberlake in Stella McCartney at the Super Bowl were all Western- influenced. Chicago knew.

Vintage Men’s Levi’s 501 Jeans– New York City

Vintage Levi's 501 Jeans are popular in New York City

photo credit: Racked

-Preferably button fly, the women are stealing the men’s jeans in New York City and looking fabulous. Semi-high waisted but a much more classic look than the 550 and 512, they look best with their long straight legs cuffed wide on the bottom for a Rosie the Riveter effect. Distressed ones go for more than new, light stonewash is the shade.

Vintage 70’s dresses– Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Washington

Vintage 70s Dress at Rabbit Hole-No surprise here that Brooklyn and Los Angeles dominate my vintage sales, particularly 60’s through 80’s and if it has a Union label it’s straight to Brooklyn before others even get a shot at it. Sheer poly blends, micro pleats, faux wrap tops, little matching tie belts- get all those into one dress and you’ve got a great piece that goes from work to rock concert.

Vintage 90’s dresses– Everywhere- even Alaska

-keywords here are rayon, babydoll, dropped waist, dark floral and sleeveless. Take it up a notch with a “teacher dress” complete with lace collar. Winona Ryder’s character in Reality Bites is the main inspiration (heck AND Janeane). Fantastic dresses for those super hot months, and the dark florals keep any sweat stains hidden. You can keep the 90’s vibe with some stompy boots, go boho with tan western ankle boots, or pretty with strappy sandals.

Have you seen any of these trends in your city/town?

Selling vintage clothing on Poshmark and how that’s going

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I’ve been absentee for awhile due to my aunt asking me “Do you ever use Poshmark?” WHO KNEW that there was an easy outlet to get all my vintage treasures I rescue from the proverbial thrift pound back into the hands of people that really want them and actually DO fit in the dress.

Some of my earliest memories revolve around reading my mother’s Vogue subscription, and I spent hours upon hours as a little girl digesting the Italian names and types of fabrics and silhouettes. I have a few vintage dresses that I have carried with me for decades now- a gorgeous 50’s prom dress from Bunkie, Louisiana where my mom was raised, a bright orange Young Victorian mini dress that was made in Los Angeles and still tells the tales of Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco on the Sunset Strip, and a weird tapestry fabric dress by Harry Keiser that I wore on a few birthdays.

At this point, I occupy the entire master closet so boy am I happy I found out about the ole Posh. After a failed attempt at selling clothes on eBay years ago (I fail a LOT when trying to bring ideas to fruition), I was skeptical at first but they make it so easy and I really like getting to interact with the buyer and seeing where it is going to and who is wearing what styles where.

Share my closet with friends that love vintage clothing and natural fibers and other good stuff! So many of the things listed right now can be used for Halloween costumes as well.  Just in the past month I have found CK Calvin Klein Jeans overalls from the 90s, a mint condition Gunne Sax prairie gown (a million Halloween costumes in this one!) and a gorgeous yellow lace Karen Millen dress. Time to release the Kraken.

Leslieloudspeak account at Poshmark: @LESLIELOUDSPEAK on POSHMARK

Melbourne, Australia

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Melbourne, Australia skyline

Melbourne, Australia skyline

When one of your oldest friends invites you to her backyard wedding in Melbourne, you RSVP without a second thought. It felt like a super sized version of Austin, Texas where we both had lived; a “flat San Francisco” popped into my head as well in terms of American comparisons. Of course, culturally it had its distinct Australian differences and felt much more European and mannered. An introvert’s dream, I didn’t have a single car honk at me or any catcalls despite walking all day on Smith and Brunswick St. shopping. How refreshing to not feel like a piece of meat!

Even though I tend to wear a lot of black and band t-shirts, Melbourne influenced me hard and I came back with a bag of wacky prints both new and vintage. The VINTAGE scene there!! My god, I haven’t seen that big of a collection of mint condition vintage clothing since San Francisco in the 90’s! All day can be spent at Vintage Garage on Brunswick Street alone.

They have a very egalitarian society, so I sat in front on a couple taxi rides and far preferred it to the whole rider/chauffeur setup. The women I saw had a cool sense of style that was not focused on looking good for a man- beat up Blundstone boots beat out high heels by a country mile (or Country Road to throw an Australian fashion pun in, it’s a popular store like J. Crew).

Last couple differences that I enjoyed were that lattes are called “flat whites” and when walking stay on the left. It took me about three days of bumping into people and doing that sidewalk dance before I got it down. Loved you, Melbourne and I can’t wait to return.

Keith Haring mural in Melbourne

Keith Haring mural in Melbourne


photo by Doan

photo by Doan

Fairy Penguins!

Fairy Penguins!

Hosier Lane Street Art in Melbourne Australia

Hosier Lane Street Art

Hosier Lane Street Art

Hosier Lane Street Art

Keith Haring mural Melbourne Australia
The shirt on the left is new and from Monster Threads. The one on the right is vintage from Vintage Garage, and if anyone comes across this blog that can identify this psychedelic textile I would love it. Funny to see how things don’t really change much!

psychedelic textile vintage print

psychedelic vintage textile print