Old is the new new. Go vintage shopping!
Vintage clothes shopping is back in style. Go to your local vintage clothes shop or Salvation Army and raid the racks. You might find some gems and more than that, you'll help your wardrobe to be more sustainable.
Almost everything we buy and use in our daily lives ends up being thrown away at some point. It goes to landfill, becomes litter or pollutes our oceans, contributes to the emission of harmful greenhouse gases, or harms the planet in other ways. We need to cut our consumption to reduce our environmental impact. Reuse and sharing is how earlier generations made the most of limited resources in less wealthy and consumer-convenient times.
Australian Vintage Blogger Marianne, from Esme and The Laneway tells us her story of sustainability through vintage and even shares a few tips.
Hi everyone! My name is Marianne and I love vintage. And I love two areas of vintage in particular: vintage clothing and vintage furniture!
I have loved the styles of the past for as long as I can remember, especially from around the 1920s to the 1970s. Although I’d always dabbled here and there with vintage shopping, a few years ago I jumped in that much deeper and began focusing on buying vintage clothing, and it now forms the basis of my wardrobe. And I love it!
This love extends to furniture, too. My husband and I bought our home four and a half years ago. Before then, we’d always find smaller vintage treasures and trinkets that we’d decorate our homes with, and now we could go for the larger things, too. We have a number of beautifully made vintage pieces and I look forward to this collection growing over the years to come.
We’ve found this furniture in op shops and in specialist furniture shops. Some of my favourite things are our tall mid century lamp with a mustard shade, found at an op shop. It wasn’t your expected op shop price but was still an excellent buy – and it will last us for years! We also have industrial light fittings that were also from an op shop and were cheap as chips, and a mid century dining table and chairs from a vintage furniture shop that suits our cosy home perfectly.
It’s summer now here in Australia, and I am enjoying wearing one of my all time favourite styles of vintage clothing: mid century cotton sundresses. They are perfect for our hot weather, have beautiful prints in a classic shape, and are easy to look after. For around the price of a high street dress that might or might not last a season, I have dresses that have been with me every summer for several years and will be enjoyed for many more!
For me, one of the best things about vintage is its environmentally friendly side. I love that I can wear something amazing that was made decades ago, and save something beautiful and great quality from landfill – these things were made to last! While they aren’t always especially cheap to buy, they last so long that in the long run, my money goes a lot further. And I don’t have armloads of tired clothing at the end of each season that isn’t worthy of donating to an op shop, and would end up in landfill.
So, what if you want to try vintage? Would you like to wear it but don’t know where to start, or perhaps want something with less of a strong “vintage” look?
– Try looking in op shops for 1950’s inspired cotton sundresses from the 1980s. They might take a little hunting, but they can be found and are a great, inexpensive way to try the style – and help the environment that little bit.
– If you know you love the look and want to wear the real deal, head to your local vintage shop. You are bound to find things to choose from, you can try them on, and you can support local businesses at the same time!