Then becomes now: Vintage collections bring past into present - The Southern |
| Then becomes now: Vintage collections bring past into present - The Southern Posted: 02 Feb 2020 07:00 AM PST  Amanda Hopkins (left) and Emily Hayes pose in one of their storerooms of vintage clothing.  Mod-style dresses on display at Incense and Patchouli.  Who wore this? Imagining the history behind a vintage piece brings bygone eras to life.  Incense and Patchouli currently has over 10,000 pieces in its collection.  Imagining the past of a vintage piece is as exciting as its uniqueness.  The Sharon dress: The dress was sewn by the mother of its original owner, Sharon. She wore the dress for a date night with her then-boyfriend, who proposed that night. The popularity of vintage apparel has been increasing steadily in recent years, perhaps due to the singular charm of the pieces or maybe more so due to the implied historical significance of vintage clothing. Did the previous owner wear this soft, cashmere sweater while attending a university in a different city or state? Did the woman who purchased this black velvet gown attend a Hollywood soiree? Imagining the past of a vintage piece is as exciting as its uniqueness. Vintage collectors have a love and desire not only for amassing pieces of clothing and accessories from bygone eras, but also for finding the story related to certain items and later giving those pieces new life by reselling to fellow vintage enthusiasts. GeekBetty Vintage Betty Williams is pictured with some of her vintage collection in 2018. Betty Williams, of Carbondale, has been wearing vintage since she was 13 years old, and continues sharing her love of vintage clothing through her business, GeekBetty Vintage. Inspired by her Aunt Millie, with whom she used to spend childhood summers in Chicago, Williams has carried that strong style influence with her over the last two and a half decades, both donning and reselling beautiful vintage pieces. "She would take me to all the best vintage shops and thrift stores in Chicago. She believed that women should wear furs on a daily basis and that women should wear cocktail dresses while cooking dinner, because why not," Williams said.  Betty Williams, who runs GeekBetty Vintage, started wearing vintage clothes when she was 13 years old. She is pictured here as a teenager wearing '70s vintage. Williams worked during high school, mainly to afford her wardrobe of 1950s dresses, eventually growing her collection to nearly 300 pieces. After receiving a psychology degree and later working at a local bank, Williams decided that she wanted to follow her passion for vintage once again while also paring down her personal collection, which at one point took up an entire converted basement. Williams currently has over 20,000 pieces of vintage clothing in her inventory, not including accessories. "I'm a collector first and foremost. I definitely want to resell and see people in these pieces but part of that thrill is that something was going to be in the trash and now somebody is wearing it and loving it. That's amazing. Reselling gives me an excuse to collect," Williams said. While Williams has a keen eye when visiting thrift shops and estate sales, her newfound love is selling pieces of vintage clothing on consignment and discovering the very personal history of dresses and other cherished frocks. "For years, I bought at estate sales or auctions, but I've recently started going into people's houses and meeting them, and hearing their stories, and seeing pictures of their parents in these dresses," Williams said. Just a few examples of recent consignment pieces, and the related stories Williams fell in love with, are the Sharon dress, the Lenore dress, and the Agnes dress. The Sharon dress is a beautiful, pale green dress that was originally sewn by a consignment customer's mother for a church formal event. In a sudden change of events, Sharon wore the dress on a date with her boyfriend, Ted, before he was to leave for military training. That night, Ted proposed to Sharon, and the pair enjoyed 56 years of marriage, with Sharon carrying the dress with her through relocations to six different states and four different countries.  Betty Williams, owner of GeekBetty Vintage, poses in the Sharon dress, which the original owner wore the night her husband proposed to her. The Lenore dress is a gorgeous, richly hued red dress that Lenore's daughter put on consignment with Williams. Lenore's daughter remembers her mother wearing the dress for date nights over several consecutive years, recalling the rustling sound it made and the scent of perfume when Lenore would come to kiss her daughter goodnight.  The Lenore dress: When Lenore's daughter put this dress on consignment with GeekBetty Vintage, she remembered that her mother would wear the dress for date nights over several years, recalling the rustling sound it made when Lenore would come to kiss her daughter goodnight. The Agnes dress is a darling piece from the '30s that was handmade by Agnes and entrusted to Williams as a vintage reseller. Agnes' daughter remembers her mother wearing the dress to church every Sunday, and taking it off immediately upon arriving home, spot cleaning, pressing, and mending the delicate dress until the following week.  This dress was handmade by a woman named Agnes in the 1930s. She would wear it to church every Sunday, then take it off immediately upon arriving home, spot clean, press and mend it, then hang it up to wait for the next Sunday. Williams takes care in inventorying, hand washing, soaking, repairing, and photographing her vintage pieces, so that they are ready for her adoring customers. She feels confident that every person can find a vintage piece that they will fall in love with, and hopes to keep her prices reasonable to increase that possibility. "It's a labor of love. I try to keep it affordable. I don't want to stick a $500 price tag on a dress. I want someone to be able to buy it and wear it and love it," Williams said. Part of Williams' education throughout her time as a vintage collector is identifying the origin and date of a vintage clothing item. It is a practice that takes times to perfect, and even then, having helpful resources in the form of other vintage collectors is one of the best places to start. "It's really important to be in a vintage community. Instagram is a huge resource. I will post something in my stories and get several messages with feedback. But, I've been buying for 25 years now so I can tell at a glance by looking at the inside seams if it's handmade. If somebody has used a serger on it I know that it's pre- or post- a time period," said Williams. While tags are, of course, the easiest way to identify a piece, zippers are also very helpful, depending on if it is metal or nylon, what the zipper pull has printed on it, and how wide it is. ×  You have run out of free articles. You can support our newsroom by joining at our lowest rate! Loading&hellp;
Thanks for being a subscriber.Sorry, your subscription does not include this content.Please call 866.735.5912 to upgrade your subscription. Keep reading for FREE! Enjoy more articles by signing up or logging in. No credit card required. "Some of it I just know now. It's sometimes not something I think about but other times I really have to research things," Williams said. The beauty in Williams' collection is not only the vintage clothing itself, but also her love for every item that she comes across, and the story that comes along with it. While her customers span from Carbondale to France, a piece from GeekBetty Vintage is sure to bring a bit of love, history, and sophistication into one's life. Incense and Patchouli Amanda Hopkins (left) and Emily Hayes look through some of their vintage clothing collection. A fortuitous meeting of two like-minded Capricorns is the basis of Incense and Patchouli, a vintage resale company made up of Emily Hayes and Amanda Hopkins. The two met through Hopkins' brother, and after their first "date" at an antique shop, they realized almost immediately that they shared many common interests. During a later journey to locate Sears kit homes in the region, Hayes and Hopkins came up with an idea. "We had been talking for a while about how we both have a love for old stuff. This came around to clothes and one day one of us said we just need to buy a Sears house and make it our big vintage closet," Hayes remembered. Soon afterward, the two began spending their free time attending estate sales, going to digs in abandoned homes and warehouses, and following leads for historical pieces. At times, the work didn't come easy and required masks and a flashlight. Other ventures consisted of immaculate collections stored in pristine conditions. "There have been times before that I have jumped into a closet and belly flopped to get to a dress that's hanging up in the end of it," laughed Hopkins. Hayes, who has a master's degree in English literature, currently works as a clinic manager and medical assistant for a functional medicine doctor. Hopkins, who is a stay-at-home mother and wife, has extensive work history as a radio program director and on-air presenter. The two combined their distinct interests with a shared love for vintage fashion, and found common ground from which to grow their business. "She's a history person, and I'm a pop culture person, and we're both kind of nerds about both of those things. And we came together to do things that are fun for both of us," Hopkins said. So, while Hayes is interested in tracing genealogy to find the descendants of the original owner, Hopkins is thrilled to think that a pair of vintage jeans may have been worn at Woodstock 1969. No matter their passions, the two both agree that finding the background of a vintage item and tracing its local history is a huge thrill. The pair recently embarked on a journey that they now dub Project B.R.P. After finding a fur in an abandoned factory, with the monogram B.R.P., the two discovered that the slightly tattered coat was originally purchased at The Fashion Shop in West Frankfort. Through tireless research, the family of the original owner, Bessie Rose Peffer, was found. "I started building an ancestry tree based around this coat, and there was one person in the 1940 census, in West Frankfort, that had those initials B.R.P. and we were able to validate it because her granddaughters have pictures of her in the coat and it was an exact match. So we heard a lot about (Peffer) and learned about her. The idea of the relic is that pieces of her live through these items," Hayes remembered. Peffer's family was elated to receive the fur coat, and the founders of Incense and Patchouli fulfilled a dream of contributing to historical preservation. Currently, Incense and Patchouli has in excess of 10,000 pieces stored in a climate-controlled space on the second level of a historical home in West Frankfort. While they are looking for a larger warehouse to store their ever-growing collection, the pair still love the excitement of finding and rescuing rare vintage clothing.  Hayes and Hopkins agree that finding the background of a vintage item and tracing its local history is a huge thrill. "I hate the thought of finding these amazing things and thinking that if we hadn't found it, it would have ended up in a dumpster. And fashion is art and that would be a piece of history going into the trash," said Hopkins. The majority of the current Incense and Patchouli collection hails from the '60s, but the pair are looking into different eras and more elusive items. "We both gravitate towards the '60s and early '70s in general. I'm more of a prairie peasant and Amanda is more mod, so the collection is focused on mid-to-late '70s and down," Hayes said.  The majority of the current Incense and Patchouli collection is from the 1960s and 1970s. The two are finding increased interest in pre-1950s items, and hope to increase their inventory for that time period, as those pieces are becoming harder and harder to find. With their intense love for all things vintage, the ladies of Incense and Patchouli aren't slowing down anytime soon in their continued efforts to curate the most superlative vintage collection possible. "There's such an adrenaline rush with the dig-through that we'll never stop that," remarked Hopkins. No matter if a shopper is searching for a lavish piece of vintage apparel for a special occasion, or looking to add to their current wardrobe, already brimming with styles from the past 100 years, both GeekBetty Vintage and Incense and Patchouli are local vintage collectors that can be entrusted to fulfill any vintage clothing request with enthusiasm and personal interest.  |
| Mar 27 | Chicago Vintage Clothing and Jewelry Show | Lincoln Square, IL - Patch.com Posted: 31 Jan 2020 03:26 AM PST  50 vendors of all things vintage fashion! Vintage clothes and accessories from the 1890's to the 1990's. Pieces from all over the world as well as textiles, buttons and notions. Vintage designer authentic handbags. Vintage designer clothes like Dior, Chanel, YSL and so much more. 2 days, twice a year! The Chicago Vintage Clothing and Jewelry Show will take place March 27, 3pm to 8pm, March 28, 2020. 10am to 5pm at 5649 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60660. St. Andrews Greek Orthodox Church at the corner of Hollywood and N. Sheridan Road. The official website is www.vintageclothingandjewelry.com Price: General Admission: USD 8.00 End Date: ends Saturday March 28, 2020 Category: Retail, Fashion Time: 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/590109-0?pid=4509  |
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