With fast fashion on the wane due to harm to the environment, should you opt for sustainable and purse-friendly vintage clothes or splash out on one or two top-quality designer outfits instead? Angela Kennedy finds out how best to cut your cloth.
WORDS: ANGELA KENNEDY. IMAGES: ANNA KILPATRICK BY DAVINA PATERSON; KAREN IN VB BY @HUBERTCECIL.
The Big Debate
Making your own clothes was a way of life for many women until the 1970s, my own mother included, who made 60s mod-style mini-dresses in fabulously patterned fabric that still look marvellous today. The average wardrobe contained far fewer clothes than today but they were well made, well taken care of and made to last. Then along came fast fashion and suddenly almost everyone could access an overwhelming choice of clothes.
While at first this seemed to open up fashion, it gradually unravelled like an old spool of yarn into a throwaway culture of landfill sites stuffed with discarded clothes, exploitation of workers and a sharp decline in quality. Nobody’s suggesting you need to pick up a needle and thread, but there are other options besides fast fashion. Two alternatives are vintage clothes or designer fashion – both with very different pros and cons, but which one could be right for you?
As one of numerous siblings, Anna Kilpatrick, 50, a vintage fashion blogger from Oxford (follow her at instagram.com/not.needing.new) always felt at home in hand-me-down clothes. In her 30s, she tried swankier fashion but when her husband had a devastating stroke, Anna became the solo source of income. It was suddenly a necessity to buy second-hand clothes. To her surprise, compliments on her vintage outfits flooded in – and the quality was far superior to the high street. ‘I think vintage is almost always better in terms of cut and detail. When you find the good fabrics, such as corduroy, linen, cotton velvet, leather or wool, you see the cut, seams, buttons, piping, pockets and pleats are all so beautifully made,’ she says.
Anna exclusively buys second-hand or vintage clothes, now – with the exception of underwear and tights! She especially loves the treasure-hunt feeling of rummaging around to find something fabulous. ‘My favourite finds include an original Thierry Mugler worsted wool coat dress from the 1980s. It has exceptional tailoring; amazing detail on the seams of the sleeves and the built-in belt. It drapes beautifully as the wool is so fine, like a Savile R
