Modern Vintage Fashion

Retro fashions have seen a strong resurgence in the past couple decades, beginning with the grunge style in the early nineties. Working class rock bands out of cities like Seattle helped launch thrift-store throwback items into the national spotlight. The fashion began as a direct result of economic hardships and nonchalant attitudes in the pop culture movement.

By the late 1990s, thrift-store fashions had gained an eclectic but popular representation in the generation X demographic. Over the past decade, many of these low-budget style choices became the target for high-fashion designers as vintage moved off Main St and onto Fifth avenue.

Vintage Fashion Becomes Mainstream

Many mainstream designers went retro at the turn of the century, bringing back classic looks like pleated corduroy pants from the seventies. Even the bell-bottomed denim look made popular during the hippie era made its way into mainstream department stores.

Today, vintage clothing is associated with unique, classic looks that have stood the test of time. A growing number of national chains specialize in recycled clothing. These stores operate like thrift stores but are highly selective. Instead of following the thrift model of reselling donated clothing, vintage and recycled clothing stores pay substantial fees for unique articles that capture an exotic or nostalgic piece of fashion history.

Why Vintage Styles Will Always Be Around

Outside of high fashion, the thrift store style retains the strong popularity it found in the 1990s. There are a few reasons this fashion trend might never fade away:

Recycled clothing is environmentally friendly or "green" which is chic in itself.
The experience of hunting for rare and valuable items on discount racks has a treasure-hunt feeling that remains exciting.
The bottom line is always an issue too. Vintage clothing is often more affordable than big-box store attire.
There is a "scene" for thrift store hunting and vintage connoisseurs. There is a whole movement of social networking, online groups, blogs and other collectives that are dedicated to the vintage fashion culture.
What's New About Vintage?

One of the predominant changes in the vintage fashion scene over the past decade is the integration of old and new. Many vintage styles are used to exaggerate modern pieces. For example, big sunglasses and classic wind-breaker jackets popping up in modern hip hop music videos and performances.

Today's vintage clothing includes anything that is two or more decades old. The genre goes all the way back to the 1920s, before which clothing is considered antique. With nearly a century of designs to select from the possibilities are endless.

In modern times, vintage fashion has gained more popularity, since it nostalgically reflects the lifestyle of a golden era that started in the "Roaring Twenties" and lasted up to the late sixties. This was a new trend-setting time when fashion took on completely new traits, beginning largely in the leading metropolitan centers, like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans, before rapidly spreading to other cosmopolitan cities like Paris, London and Berlin; during a period that showed sustained economic growth and prosperity.

The phrase 'Roaring Twenties' was meant to portray the cultural, artistic, and social dynamism of the period. As 'normalcy' gradually returned to the political upheavals in wake of the First World War, jazz music began to blossom, modern womanhood was redefined by the flapper, Art Deco touched new heights. The flourishing era was partially disrupted by the Wall Street Crash, when effects of the 'Great Depression' began to take hold. Moreover, this era was set apart by new discoveries and inventions of far-reaching significance; extraordinary industrial expansion; accelerated aspirations and consumer demand; as well as major cultural and lifestyle changes.