Vintage: An Introduction
Part 1 - The Art of Performing Vintage and the Authenticity of Nostalgia
This series is based on a Capstone thesis exploring the various facets of Vintage as a concept and its most scandalous affair with the fashion and media industries, one that’s unfolding in coincidence with a period of great uncertainty and change. The author breaks down several key theories and phenomena to get to the bottom of Retromania and identify its key players, practices, and consequences in contemporary popular culture.
Introduction
In little more than a decade, the internet has become an integral part of the human experience, where almost everything we do happens within one of a few channels that we’re told are meant for us to learn, connect, and express. Platforms like Instagram and Tik Tok are creating culture, like a machine, they’re generators of trends and challenges with an impact felt across industries and in social spaces – and one of the most noticeable shifts in mainstream consumerism is the current obsession surrounding everything “vintage” (but I guess only if you’re on THAT side of Tik Tok).
While there is no inherent problem with the promotion of secondhand consumption, there is a problem in big brands emulating vintage styles and other retro-inspired products with half-assed, low-quality reproductions. What has resulted is the commodification of vintage - not just as it relates to fashion - but as a concept, aesthetic, and lifestyle.
In recent years, interest in vintage has surged from a niche community to a number of social spheres, particularly in visual media and content shared across internet platforms. This research aims to discover what sort of consequences come from the growing popularity of vintage on the internet and the sociological impact of repeated viewing of temporal content, online and on the market (admittedly, that’s redundant). In what ways is the latest wave of “retromania” impacting consumers? Sure, there are vintage veterans, but now a new generation of consumers - and a hoard of converts - who have been introduced via social media to the fantastical (and highly marketable!) world of vintage clothing.
Before getting into the juicy bits, some housekeeping is in order. We begin with definitions.
A vintage article – whether it be a garment, furniture, or accessory – is aged at least 20-25 years. If it survives 100 years, it’s an antique (Leone, 2015).
Anything “retro” or “retro-style” refers specifically to items produced in the present to emulate the past. Note: Retro is considered a buzzword in this space and will not be used to describe anything cool and vintage.
Temporality is the state of existing within or having some relationship with time, but temporal dressing is an intimate act of engagement with the past from a present perspective, involving several concepts so intangible as nostalgia, identity, performance, and authenticity.
This series will go on to explore the complex and changing meanings of these words in today’s world, and what role vintage plays in the unfolding of a sociological phenomenon.
Firsthand consumption
Essentially, there are two types of consumption relevant to this discourse. There is firsthand consumption - the umbrella under which fast fashion, luxury, designer, and sustainable brands live. It is worth emphasizing that fast fashion is the antithesis of vintage yet is one of the largest sources for consumers now interested in obtaining the retro look. Also important to note is the role of designers in not only the eventual trickle down of styles into fast fashion, but also the impact of huge names like Alessandro Michele and Jeremy Scott playing into the vintage fantasy. For the record: any brand without certifiable sustainable and transparent practices participates in the same ecological and personal exploitation as fast fashion brands. Whether it comes in a little Shein-Ziploc baggy or a Nike box, let’s call a spade a spade. Sustainable brands, sometimes termed part of the “slow fashion” movement, use ethically sourced materials and pay justly for labor, leading to a price point that borders, if not enters, the luxury market, making it an option out of reach for most consumers.
Secondhand consumption
The second type of consumption is secondhand. Subtypes: thrift stores, charity shops, consignment stores, flea markets, vintage shops (online or brick-and-mortar), online reselling platforms. Thrift stores and charity shops are similar in that they run on donations, but some thrifts are for-profit, while charity shops are exclusively non-profit. These options are in the high-effort, mid-reward, low-cost area of the vintage-hunting spectrum (meaning that you must tediously filter through a ton of old clothing to find that piece that’s more than just someone’s old clothing…its vintage…and the price point is typically low). Consignment shops are of a slightly higher price point, and function on the premise of customers bringing in their used items to be valuated and once they sell, the store shares the profit. Here can be found everyday garments but also vintage and designer pieces. Flea markets often see regular vintage and antique merchants set up stalls, whereas vintage shops are permanent spaces that are taking on an increasingly boutique-ified approach – pushing a “curated” feel that, among other things, justifies higher price points and a growing inaccessibility to vintage, but this is just the introduction.
In a preliminary analysis of the “vintagescape” - the set of systems, culture, and behavior visible in real and non-real spaces dealing with vintage articles– several aspects emerged as topics of interest. Regarding the marketing and perpetuation of retro aesthetics, relevant themes include fashion, taste, and style (SPOILER: they go together), nostalgia, authenticity, neoliberalism, consumption, commodification, and subcultures. Frameworks and theories used in this research include Georg Simmel’s seminal essay, “Fashion,” written in 1957 that gives a surprisingly astute breakdown of the fashion industry while criticizing what it means to be fashionable. Analysis of Taste pulls from theories of material culture and semiology, specifically with reference to Bourdieu and Hebdige. Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility,” provides a framework for discussing authenticity – of art objects, their lifeless reproductions, and performances of all kinds. One of the foremost contemporary experts in the field of vintage and nostalgia is Heike Jenß, whose article “Cross-Temporal Explorations: Notes on Fashion and Nostalgia,” played an integral role in the journey of this research.
Criteria for the desirability of a vintage garment changes depending on who you ask, so let’s look at the experts. This research investigates the role of vintage garments in the lives of who will be referred to as “vintage performers,” who have seen the beauty in this way of life long before it was so widely accepted and trendy or who, in many cases, shopped secondhand out of necessity. Performers, as this research intends, play a crucial role in the spread of information and imagery when it comes to the dispersion of vintage-inspired content across social media, while also shining a light on an entire community of performers, vendors, artisans, seamstresses, and, of course, consumers.
In today’s connotation, to perform is to mask something else – maybe apathy, social desirability, or other motives – and is often used to describe activism or other actions deemed out of touch with the issue at hand, insensitive, or shallow. However, in describing enthusiasts of vintage objects and themes, the subsequent use of “performer” is not to suggest an inherent falseness but to actually imply the opposite. This research has found fascinating motives behind vintage performers that differentiate them from the average consumer in that they use sartorial choices to express their identity without being confined to the options of the current epoch. Why choose from the few styles that are “in” at any given moment when there are decades of fashion history that offer up endless creative possibility in terms of mixing, matching, storytelling, and of course, self-expression. Subsequent components of this research will dive deep into the world of vintage, following not only the whimsical considerations of temporal dressing but also the more sinister ones. In a world where we, especially at this moment in time, often look back on the way things used to be, Retromania provides an alluring case study filled with as many questions as there are answers.
More about Firsthand Consumption
It is important to define, at this point, the antithesis of vintage, which is fast fashion. Fast fashion today, also known as the industry of ready-made garments (RMG) is basically anything produced by a big brand that has not: a) been certified as sustainable, or b) been established as a luxury brand or designer house. More technically, the term refers to companies that produce inexpensive clothing while exploiting laborers - using inexpensive and environmentally harmful synthetic materials - to produce trendy clothing that is designed to go out of fashion as fast as it entered (hence the name fast fashion). Garments are being designed and brought to production at extremely rapid paces in order to keep up with the fleeting trends created by younger markets. The biggest fast fashion labels include H&M, Primark, Zara, Shein, Urban Outfitters,and others (Crespo 2019). The various ethical and ecological issues surrounding this monstrous industry have only recently come back into the spotlight, but many consumers still choose these inexpensive - and also incredibly accessible since they all have online stores - options. Even quasi-luxury brands such as Nike and Guess, as well as higher end labels such as Armani are guilty of non-transparent practices and a host of other offenses related to pollution, production, and labor (“Shop Ethical!”). Luxury brands give the impression that, because their labels are so well known in the designer market and with price tags to match, that these companies are more sustainable.
The last type of firsthand consumption worth mentioning is that of brands with certifiable sustainable and transparent practices, sometimes termed part of the “slow fashion” movement, which is countering the bigger brands. However, the trouble with these brands for consumers trying to shop responsibly is that the cost of producing clothes that are of natural or high quality material while paying workers a living wage and maintaining safe and healthy working conditions is extremely high (which is why the big players in the fashion industry avoid it). This makes sustainable clothing inaccessible for many consumers looking to shop more consciously. Sustainability and shopping ethically has seen a push, especially from social media, but the reality is that fast fashion can be much more appealing than slow fashion because the consumer can get more for their money - they may rather buy five lower quality t-shirts at H&M than one for the same price, for example, at a store such as Reformation, a brand which boasts young celebrities among their ambassadors. The reality is that, in any market, shopping sustainably is challenging. “American consumer’s attempts to go green involve so much uncertainty and lack of agency,” and when they are forced to live within their means, it is natural that consumers might choose a cheaper option even when they know it is not the most wholesome or responsible (Stine 2019). For this and other reasons, many consumers have learned a little secret that was previously well-kept until prominent figures on social media began sharing their “hauls” and finds from thrift stores and vintage locations.
More about Secondhand Consumption
For purposes of clarity, there needs to be a clear distinction between the different types of establishments where secondhand clothes are bought, sold, and circulated. Thrift stores manifest themselves in franchises such as the Salvation Army, Savers/Value Village, or the Goodwill, as well as shops run by smaller independent organizations. Thrift shops can be for-profit or non-profit, while charity shops are exclusively non-profit. Both thrift stores and charity shops run off donated clothing, toys, and home decor, and more. Consignment shops work on the premise of splitting up the proceeds from the sale of garments and accessories between the shop and the person who brings their items for sale. Items in these stores are typically of a higher price point because they are evaluated by employees, and consumers/consignors typically receive a check with part of the profit when the item is sold. Luxury items can also be found in consignment shops, but the feel of the store is less like a boutique and closer to the mixed array one would find in a thrift store. In terms of the garments and items found in these stores, they can range from contemporary to older clothing from various decades of recent history. Vintage shops sell collections of vintage clothing, accessories, and sometimes home furnishings, and are taking on an increasingly boutique-ified approach to the atmosphere and inventory. Vintage shops typically feature handpicked items, therefore the garments are usually in better condition without holes, stains, or rips. However, the prices in vintage shops are much higher. While the price does reflect the time taken to choose and present the garments, it also reflects the value given to the items themselves as artifacts from the past. While vintage can certainly be found in the thrift store - though it is becoming increasingly difficult due to the growing interest in the hunt for valuable garments - the more contemporary items that one could find here are not necessarily vintage and are unlikely to appear in a vintage shop.
Additionally, flea markets are also popular places for vintage merchants to set up stalls and tables. Author Laura Downing Peters describes the scene at the Brooklyn Flea [market] in New York City, which provides an interesting landscape for vintage consumption. Here the author identifies three groups that partake in the act of “performing vintage.” For clarity, these groups are not the same as the vintage performers referred to throughout this research, as these distinctions apply to a flea market rather than a small vintage shop, or a broader examination of the vintagescape. Still, the players and their role as identified and explained by the author are notable. There are “the consumers who purchase and wear vintage goods, the vendors who sell and proffer vintage knowledge, and the street-style bloggers who circulate images and text online through the fashion blogosphere” (Downing Peters 215). It is interesting that the author considers those who wear vintage and the experts who sell it in different categories. For our purposes, a vintage performer is largely characterized by their know-how and passion - and can have a career within the community or also work in a totally different sphere. Performers can be both sellers and consumers, but are not exclusive to either role. Downing Peters believes that even those primarily outside the community can perform vintage by engaging or indulging a vintage expert in a conversation about a garment or a style. This interaction is interesting as it allows for anyone to become part of the act, so long as they are able to keep up with the conversation - as the meanings of vintage and secondhand are constantly reinscribed, an average consumer with enough knowledge to hold a conversation about garments or style or cross-temporal practices exhibits the cultural capital necessary for the functions of the contemporary vintage market.
It is also necessary to clearly define the differences between vintage and the vintage aesthetic that heavily inspires big brands today. A vintage article - a garment, furniture, accessories - is aged at least 20 years, and if it survives to 100 years, it merits an antique. Postmodern generations were interested in the collecting and boasting of antiques. Today’s connotation of antique conjures gilded furniture and expensive heirlooms, and is unapproachable to younger generations compared to the rebellious, trendy and laid-back vibe of vintage (Leone 10). Retro is another word that floats around often in the same contexts as vintage. However, retro is specifically meant for items produced in the present to emulate the past. This can be seen in fast fashion brands who often use vintage as a marketing tool to sell their retro-style collections.
In Part 2, we will be talking all things Nostalgia, as well as Fashion, Style and Taste…
Bibliography:
Leone, Massimo. Longing for the Past: a Semiotic Reading of the Role of Nostalgia in Present-Day Consumption Trends. Social Semiotics, Feb. 2015.
Simmel, Georg. “Fashion.” The American Journal of Sociology 62, no. 6 (May 1957): 541-558.http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-9602%28195705%2962%3A6%3C 541%3AF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2.
Illustrations List:
Picaidol. 2014. Available at: https://pixabay.com/photos/central-embassy-mall-store-498557/ [12 March 2022].
Skitterphoto. 2014. Available at: https://pixabay.com/photos/antique-vintage-shop-decoration-440337/ [12 March 2022].
Hulki Okan Tabak. 2020. Available at: https://pixabay.com/photos/flea-market-shoreditch-london-uk-5002452/ [12 March 2022].
