Vintage Clothing & Accessories
HOW TO:
Shop for Vintage Clothing
Ruth Meeter, owner of the Vault Collective in Providence and longtime treasure hunter, shares her top tips.
Ignore the tag.
“The sizes have changed a lot over the years,” she says.
“When people say Marilyn Monroe was a twelve or fourteen,
it’s misleading because a twelve or fourteen is a modern size
two or maybe four. People need to go by eye or
measurements, rather than tags.”
Try the neck trick.
Honor the skin you’re in.
“Certain eras are better for certain bodies,” she says,
adding that she’s tall with a long torso, which suits styles from
the 1970s but not the ’50s. “And there’s a misnomer that there’s
nothing for larger sized people at vintage stores. That’s not
true; it just sells fast. If you feel like you’re not seeing much
that will fit you, just ask somebody at the counter.”
Remember puff sleeves?
They’re back in, says Meeter. “The best thing about shopping
vintage is that styles cycle an awful lot and look like what’s
in the stores new,” she says. “We sell a lot to those design teams
so if someone comes and shops at the Vault, they’re buying
a piece before Urban Outfitters can get to it.”
Wear your decisive hat.
“Generally vintage is a final sale purchase,” she says. “But on
the other side of that, when it’s gone, it’s gone. We had a
sandwich board with the saying: ‘Nothing haunts you like the
vintage you didn’t buy.’ You’ll never find it again.”
235 Westminster St., Providence, 250-2587, thevaultcollective.com
Ruth Meeter models some
vintage finds from the Vault’s
twelve dealers.
Vault dealers clean and
mend their items, but if
you hunt for vintage in the
wild (read: thrift shops
and fleas) remember to:
❋ Inspect natural fabrics
for moth holes
❋ Hold the garment up
to the light to check the
fabric’s durability
❋ See if it passes the sniff
test; you’re no match for
baked-in scents, especially
in the armpits
❋ Feel the lining; is it
scratchy?
❋ Is the garment too
lightweight or too heavy
(think: coats and evening
wear)? Wear your vintage;
don’t let it wear you.
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l MARCH 2020 53
Check fit by wrapping the waist of a buttoned garment
around your neck. “Everyone’s neck and waist are proportionate.
Your neck is half of your waist,” she says. “Doing that trick
will save time and help you better gauge what a piece of
clothing will look like on your body.”