Vintage, At Last

9-2

It’s finally happening. An appreciation of vintage and second-hand items is slowly creeping into first-tier cities on the Mainland. Initially, it was leather bags and jackets, but some of the more fashion forward types are also going for dresses (this one, a print of ducks, was purchased in Amsterdam), jeans, and other items that were just made better before.

4 Responses

weina says:

October 15, 2008 at 8:33 am

i think it also started with the appreciation of sailor shirts, 为人民服务 bags, plain old white sneakers or those from feiyue and huili.

but it’s still so hard to find good real vintage stuff (not like the above mentioned that are still produced but only kept their original design – which i’m sooo glad for) in beijing, i think there are only two shops so far that sells vintage clothing, the one in nanluoguxiang (“goodbye disco” or something like that) and “old town girls” on gulou dongdajie. (are they actually from the same owner?)
and i also wonder if there will be any more because there are almost no local sources to get old clothing. i’ve only encountered so far very few pieces on clearance sales..

what do you think, nels? how will this develop? any more shops? or are the stylish people just going to shop abroad?

hellopartypeople says:

October 15, 2008 at 10:01 am

The lack of vintage shops, and vintage clothes in general is ultimately a result of China’s closed door policy decades ago. Why there’s no lack of vintage clothting supply in the west? Because people in the west have always enjoyed the freedom to buy and wear – anything really. In China, there was no fashion and no diversity in clothing just 25 years ago. Real vintage clothing is one of the reflections of a society’s cultural possessions – it’s understandable that China doesn’t have a lot to offer yet.