The world of fashion has evolved quite a bit in last 100 years from doing sewing by hand very diligently to create a frock to clothing being mass produced.
Fashion has undergone a huge shift from those who want to look exactly like everyone else to the few that strive to set themselves apart. ‘The Value of Vintage’ panel hosted by Accessories Magazine at the Intermezzo Trade Show in New York, with Iris Apfel, Norma Kamali, and Sarah Solomon spoke on all these topics.
Audience for the Panel
Vintage has ecently become a huge deal among millennials over the past few years because the generation became obsessed with looks from the 80’s and 90’s. However, since that initial surge of intrigue things have changed. According to these fashion legends, this is due to the rise in use of social media and that everyone is dressing alike which lacks any creativity.
“If something is unusual it should have a different name for it,” said Iris, in discussing one of kind pieces versus what is just vintage.
Vintage, as explained by the panel’s moderator Lauren Parker editor in chief of Accessories magazine, is anything over 25 years old, all three women went on to explain what this meant for them. Creating a true look doesn’t mean buying name brand products but rather things of quality and looks good on the body.
“If you don’t look good in yellow don’t buy yellow…dress for your body,” said Iris as she exclaimed that younger generations are too concerned about what’s trendy versus what looks good on them.
The purpose of buying vintage is you are purchasing clothes that have lasted the test of time and look great, instead of buying “fast fashion.” These are clothes that were made quickly by a machine that are produced in masses and ultimately you are wearing something someone else already has. The problem as described by these three women is people are so concerned with looking like their favorite stars they risk looking bad because it’s not them.
Models modeling vintage pieces
“The 70s was a time where people would die if they looked like anyone else,” said Norma Kamali, speaking on a point in history where self-expression was everything. Where has this sense of individuality gone and is it possible for younger generations to tap into it?
Sarah Solomon had some insight, that if people stopped being so concerned about being fashionable dressing themselves all together would be less of a challenge. Iris spoke about the importance of getting really nice basics and how a different necklace change could change the way that basic looks entirely.
“More is more and less is a bore,” said Lauren quoting Iris.
And so the challenge has been sent out to millennials! Will they chose to adhere to these fashion icons’ warnings and fall out of the slump of dressing alike? Or will they utilize quality pieces from the past to up their fashion game?