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Sunday, May 10, 2009

Austin vintage, meet the high waist!

So I've been thinking a lot about vintage and recycled fashion lately, probably because it's Mothers Day today. Growing up, my badass mom harbored a deep and abiding love for thrift stores, a quality I've only truly come to appreciate in my 20s. As a teenager, you see, my tastes needed a little....refining. But not in the way you'd expect.

"Alright honey, what would you like this year? More than anything in the world?" asked my mom on my 12th birthday.

"I would like -" brief pause to summon the Adult Voice required for such a situation - "a DOONEY AND BOURKE PURSE."

"What?!" she laughed. "Oh honey. A Dooney? You don't want to look like everybody else. Trust me."

And trust her, I did. Thank God. Can you believe 12-year-olds ever walked around carrying purses that looked like, um, this?:



These - THESE! - were the hottest thing going at my school in 1993. While many of you carried Lisa Frank Trapper Keepers, the 6th graders at my school toted...these. What was the goal here, exactly? To pretend we were 45? Many of my friends had a Dooney and Bourke, and God, I wanted one so bad! But Mom stated her case simply and decisively. I never got the Dooney and Bourke purse. And I never regretted it, either.

Fast-forward to right now. I've been out of town in NYC for work this week, and on Friday, I got to meet the lovely Danielle Ganek. When I told Danielle I was from Austin, she said: "oh, the home of vintage!" It left me quite giddy, especially since I was openly OGLING this necklace she was wearing:

That actually isn't the exact necklace - just the closest one I could find online. It was a moveable, shiny fish pendant, dangling from a long gold chain. When I asked her where it was from, she said, "the 70s!" I forced myself to stop staring - both at it, and this delicious, giant, amber cocktail ring perched on her finger - and filed Danielle's effortlessly cool look away in my mental bank.

Later on, I was telling my work colleague about the necklace, and about how great it is to meet women with an appreciation for vintage and/or thrift. We've talked here before about Austin vintage shopping, but I'm one of those people that tends to patronize/stalk ONE vintage store (Buffalo Exchange on Guadalupe) and not venture further. So vintage lovers, I want to know: where do you go shopping here in ATX?

Although I'm not sure how good this looks on me, I've been in a high-waisted mood for the past month and have been obsessively tucking everything in. I've found a few high-waisted goodies at various vintage stores, both bricks-and-mortar and online. Observe:


Me! (TOTALLY KIDDING - I wish). Love this girl's whole sassy look, and it comes from Austin's very own Laced With Romance.

Let's see more:










(P.S: I found all of these by going to eBay and entering the search term "high-waisted." The Vintage District is one of my favorite eBay vintage stores, and the source of the last three goodies.)

Austinites, can you feel me on the high-waisted thing? I know it's not a terribly new trend, but I'm just now embracing it. You guys?

9 comments:

Tiffany Diane said...

I love those LWV disco-esque shorts. I think a good alt to those would be the AA disco shorts. I love the vintage ones, but I blow with Ebay. I never win. Plus, I'm poor - Wah.

BTW I would love to do something like Love and a 45 w/ you soon. Let's plan on this soon, I'm almost done with the school stuff before summer.

frances said...

i totally bought a necklace like that at Le Garage Sale! except I can't find it now. :( Sad story!

But, anyway I have scored some great shoes at Dakota's on 6th and the Burnet area has some great vintage shops too. :)

Kristen said...

heck yes high waist! I'm totally into high waisted shorts right now... that kinda preppy look with keds or something. so cute.

try feathers on s congress or savers. i need to start thrifting more :-/

Austin Eavesdropper said...

Tiffany - YES on Love and a 45. Let's go after you finish school stuff, fo sho.

Oooh Dakota's....good tip, Franny. And I'm thinking the fish pendant is 2009's version of the owl pendant.

Kristen, how I LERVE Feathers....so many boots! Nom nom nom. Glad you like it too. I also like to pop into Prototype next door, and walk around pretending it's my little apartment.

Breyonce said...

I am only a fan of high-waisted pencil skirts, b/c they are devastatingly sexy. We all know what happened to Jessica Simpson after she wore those high-waisted pants. Needless to say, this look is not for 98% of the population, in my opinion.

And I totally had a D&B purse in 7th grade. It was my first major purchase - I saved up and bought it myself. Still have it, and it's in almost-mint condition. Damn, how I loved that purse.

Accelerate said...

Well all the expert fashion goddesses have made their comments. Now it's my turn.

Speaking as guy who is totally into women. Any outfit that shows some leg or some fancy patterned leg-ware is going to get my attention.

If you can do it with loud colors that do not make you look like an easter egg it's all the mo' bettah!!

And give yourself bad self ten more arousal points if you can wear it with sexy heels.

:P

Accelerate said...

Stop by and say Hi or just leave vexatious comments if you want.

:P


http://accelerate-the-world-i-live-in.blogspot.com/

Amanda said...

http://www.firemountaingems.com/images/P1156FNB.jpg

Was it a fish like this? It's called Cloisonne'

Hi...I make jewelry, www.VincaUSA.com

crystal said...

Have you visited marketpublique.com? It's a fantastic vintage marketplace. And, no, I'm not marketing for them. :)