What year is this, again? 2020?? You must be joking right? Because every fashionista out there on the street or at parties, celebrities, models, influencers and even the mannequins are adorning themselves in retro clothing, in the UK and other countries of the world. Retro clothing? Now, what are those? The attires that essentially emerged in the last few decades, and were worn back then belong to retro dresses UK.
Sarah Byrd, a New York University and Fashion Institute of Technology fashion historian and lecturer, said once in an interview, “The story of fashion is also the story of revising design, so it’s not often about completely coming up with something new and unoriginal that no one’s ever seen before.
“From the very beginning of time, there’s only so many ways people can approach how to put together fabric into something that goes on the body,” Byrd added.
While trends come and go, some iconic statements retain their position in the later decades too. We are still in love with the tie-dyes of the ‘60s and the neon hues of ‘80s, and look for every opportunity to buy vintage clothing.
But why do we like vintage clothing so much?
Much more than being just “old clothes”, vintage outfits are becoming more popular with every passing year, across the globe. In fact, some even consider it to be a part of mainstream fashion.
From the stories, influences, quality of fabrics and individual looks, celebs and influencers have carried vintage clothing with immense pride. Want to know more why they are so much loved? Keep reading the article.
Enhanced product quality: It has been found that most vintage dresses are of a high quality that is unmatched from the modern attires. This is because people back then, believed that clothes were meant to last long. They believed in making clothes of a higher quality than of quantity. Thus, we can often find intricate embroidery (with gold and silver threads, too), rich fabrics and crafted buttons on the vintage outfits.
At present, the world is moving faster and the population is rapidly increasing too, leading to production of mass quantities of both humble and fashion outfits. Keeping in mind the requirements, the designers and tailors had to compromise with the quality.
The timeless style of vintage clothes: The life of fashion and style statements are found to be cyclical…what goes back, comes around. This becomes more evident as we find retro cuts and styles, hairdos and make-up back into modern styling. It is always easier to mix vintage trends with the contemporary ones, thus leading to a great liking towards the retro styles. Renowned designers like Calvin Klein fall back upon their own brand archive to create new pieces, keeping the brand heritage safe and intact.
As movies and songs create a cult and achieve the ‘classic’ tag, fashion trends too can be classic. Afterall, something that is considered to be “in fashion” even after decades, is indeed timeless.
Imparts a unique style: You know what is the most important aspect of style? Well, that would be originality. An individual’s dressing style should always impart what his/her own personality is like. One can never copy someone else and try to create a statement of his/her own. And because of this reason, many fashionistas, influencers find mainstream fashion to be too generic.
You may come across another person on the street wearing the same dress as you from your favourite label, but it’s extremely rare to find someone in the same vintage clothing as you. Roam around in the streets for just one day in your vintage haul and look how the people around you go green with envy. That will definitely make you understand what a treasure you own.
Enticing stories out of the beautiful weaves: There is history and memories that come wrapped with vintage dresses. Be it an actual piece of vintage clothing that you bought from a spendthrift shop, or the one you got from a wholesale vintage clothing website, the clothes will definitely talk about some of the trends of that era. Even if you are not absolutely sure about the history bit, there’s no harm in cooking a story in your head. Isn’t it?
