Vintage clothing is an experience…. an exercise in self discovery.
Each flip of the hanger reveals something unique and potentially precious. It’s like dress up for real life and to be honest it takes a bit of courage. Why? Because you have to be the decider of what is cool.
The secret to that is simple: If you love it: You can rock it ~ and that is cool.
My vintage affair was arranged out of necessity in the crowded aisles of the Salvation Army thrift store in Oklahoma City, OK round about 1991. The clothes were affordable and even though shopping mega thrift stores was a real work out ~ I loved it. Looking back I realize the workout was finding myself… amidst the ordinary, amidst the riff-raf. Mining out the diamond in the rough.
The biggest challenge in life is figuring out what we love; what brings us happiness, joy and fuels our creative fires enough to pursue it all the way to the ends of the earth. Put those muscles to work every time you purchase an article of clothing and guess what? You become a walking brand ~ a statement of all things you love in the world and you give other people permission to do the same.
Shopping is like anything else… we can take the easy route, follow along with every one else and let other people decide what’s best – parents, current designers, department stores and big corporate business OR dare to be different and blaze our own trail.
I never looked good in skinny jeans. The thing about vintage and thrift boutiques is that you have decades of the best to choose from & the only thing trending is YOU.
If the flutter of a butterfly’s wings can change weather patterns around the world then surely the act of handpicking a timeless garment in unbridled celebration of yourself can make a positive change.
A note about the shoot:
All the fashions that you see were hand selected by and for these young women at Three Sixty Ecotique. These gals are not models (although they could be). They are young women who love the clothes and being celebrated in them, which can be an everyday occurrence for everyone. I see the same thing happening in the aisles of the boutique that happens in front of my camera. The human spirit blooms into what it was meant to be. If only for a moment. These moments add up to a life well lived and the more practice we get the better.