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THE DALLAS LOOK VANGUARDS OF VINTAGE

Every suit tells a story
By D Magazine |

VINTAGE DRESSING is more than a new way of dressing old. It’s capturing the style and essence of an earlier era and making it compatible with contemporary fashions. It’s giving an updated look more class, more style. And unlike fleeting fashion trends, vintage dressing is here to stay. So say the owners of Dallas vintage clothing salons, who, though optimistic, live each day with fingers crossed, cautiously looking to the future.

To date, however, the demand for vintage clothes or the supply of customers hasn’t waned, and the future for the handful of area vintage clothing stores looks good. But most dealers will hasten to add that it’s a hard way to make a living. In most cases, the vintage clothes shops grew out of personal hobbies of collecting vintage clothes throughout the years.

There are no hard or fast rules about vintage clothes and in that lies the common misconception about the value of vintage clothes, says Clarra Norris, the owner and proprietor of Geez Louise!, a vintage clothes and accessories shop at Bryan and Peak. The first rule of the business, says Norris, is that not all vintage clothes are made equal. “Many people assume that if something is old, it’s valuable,” she says. “Many times, people think that they have the treasure of the universe, when really, it’s just sentimental value. I can’t afford sentiment.”

Another rule of vintagewear deals with fabrication. Clothes that were made before synthetic fabrics were introduced “breathe” naturally and are more durable than most synthetic mixes. One exception to the rule, however, is the rayon used in the Fifties. Often, say dealers, it’s hard to tell Fifties’ rayon or rayon blends from silk. (In fact, the hottest vintage pieces right now are original rayon Hawaiian “Aloha” shirts dating from the Forties and Fifties.)

Generally speaking, however, a garment can be considered “vintage” if it’s at least twenty years old. That might mean a vintage bonanza if you’ve hung on to your go-go boots, miniskirts, bell-bottoms, hip huggers, and various “peace sign” memorabilia.

Nick Hamblen of Flaunt, a Deep Ellum vintage clothier, describes the Sixties as “progressive,” and he has promoted that turbulent era since the day he went into business several years ago. “This summer.” he predicts, “Dallas will see a big explosion in Sixties clothes.” “The kids want what they see on MTV,” he says. Currently, he says, the “most trendy people in Dallas are wearing fashions of the early Seventies.” You know, platform shoes. Mod Squad shirts, and wide, flowery lapels. “1 hesitate to call (hem vintage clothes,” Hamblen says,”but if I find something that I want to sell, I do.”

Norris over at Geez Louise! carries a broad range of vintage clothes from the Twenties through the Sixties, but admits that her first love is anything from the Forties, Clothes were just well made then, she says, It’s hard to find that kind of detailing on clothes now. After the Depression in the Thirties, the fashions of the Forties were inspired and well-tailored. “However,” cautions Norris, “a complete outfit of Forties clothes can look costumy. Forties clothes should accessorize an existing wardrobe, not comprise it.”

At Lulu’s in Oak Lawn, owner Meredith Motley and store manager John Currey echo Norris’ philosophy and add: “We don’t sell old clothes. We sell fashion. After all, there’s nothing new under the sun in fashion,”

THERE IS NO such thing as a typical vintage clothes shopper, There are the expected assortments of teenagers shopping for prom nights, but the age group has expanded to older shoppers, including parents and grandparents. Hamblen sees a lot of professional people come through his door. Both men and women, he says, are looking for suits that they can wear to the office during the day, then jazz up for later.

One of his best customers, he says, is Jozef Matheny, a hairstylist at L’Entourage, whom he calls a “walking mannequin” for Flaunt. Matheny, twenty-four, admits that he might occasionally buy a brooch from another vintage vendor, but says that his wardrobe-and loyalty-is with Flaunt. His wife Cheryl is also an avid Flaunt shopper, and Jozef thinks that their thirteen-month-old baby Sarah will probably grow up in vintage clothes. By wearing vintage clothes, explains Matheny, you never have to worry about showing up at a nightclub wearing the same outfit as someone else. Matheny also admits to getting a kick out of watching others react to him. “I watch for people’s reactions. I learn a lot about people that way. You’d be surprised. Not all rednecks are rednecks.”

At work, he says, his colleagues and customers have come to rely on him to show up in something different every day. Vintage dressing, he says, is a great way to break the ice. “Some of my Highland Park customers and I even compare brooches,” he says.



TWO CUSTOMERS at Lulu’s who can always be counted on to make a statement are Michelle and Bernard Nussbaumer. These two, say Currey and Motley, are the most fashionable people they know. “These are the people who. when they enter a room, people turn and say “Who are those two?’”

Twenty-five-year-old Michelle is an artist who experiments with clothes, mixing and matching older clothes with more contemporary ones to complete her wardrobe. French husband Bernard, thirty-three, is a documentary writer who likes to shop but doesn’t mind when Michelle does it for him. Trips to Lulu’s are more like social occasions than shopping expeditions for the couple. It’s not uncommon, say Currey and Motley, for Michelle and Bernard to show up with a bottle of wine or champagne to drink while they browse the racks. Everyone, by the way, is invited to join in.

Born and bred in Dallas, Michelle says that her unconventional approach to clothes led some of her Dallas high school classmates to think she was “pretty weird.” Some of her favorite outfits, she says, are her “Jane Jetsons,” tight-fitting dress-suits that flare from the waist.

The Nussbaumers don’t confine their fashionable entrances to favorite Dallas nightspots such as the Starck Club or the In-wood Lounge. Having just returned from a month in Paris, the pair is planning their next trip abroad. First stop, Rome, where Bernard is preparing his next literary venture. Then, they’re off for an extended visit to the east coast of India. Michelle and Bernard have one child, a thirteen-month-old daughter named Nile. She was named, they say, after their romantic honeymoon locale. “As long as she’s little,” says Michelle, “we want to live in as many places as possible.”

NORRIS, AT Geez Louise!, says that a healthy proportion of her clientele is older and in professional fields. Norris also does quite a bit of business with the burgeoning Texas film industry. “Right now,” she says, “clothes from the Thirties are hot.” Norris constantly keeps an eye out for such buys- especially Thirties menswear. Vintage menswear seems to be the hardest to find. People in the Thirties, says Norris, generally wore their clothes until they wore them out.

Darla Thompson is one customer who knows all about the lack of quality clothes from the Thirties. As a set decorator for film, Thompson searched high and low for period clothes for the recent Oscar-nominated film. The Trip to Bountiful. Through her work, she developed an attachment to vintagewear but says that in addition to the Thirties, she finds outfits from the Forties especially appealing. “My mother was right,” says Thompson. “If you keep anything long enough, it’ll come back in style.”

Thompson first ventured into Geez Louise! in the company of her daughter Stephanie, a sixteen-year-old drama student at Arts Magnet. Stephanie was an old hand at shopping the area’s vintage shops and thought that her mom would like what Geez Louise! offered. Now, the mother/daughter team has made the Bryan/Peak shop a regular stop on their shopping circuit.

Unlike most teenagers, Stephanie says that her mom is her best friend. That might be corny, she says, and admits that a few friends at Arts Magnet give her flak about it. But she likes being able to do things with her mother, especially shopping, even if their tastes run in opposite directions. Stephanie likes just about anything from the Psychedelic Sixties.



MUCH OF THE resurgence of vintage dressing boils down to economics. Many people are turning to vintage clothes because they can’t afford new fashions of the same quality or styling. Buying vintage clothes usually means saving at least 50 percent.

But the third rule of vintagewear, it seems, is that those savings don’t run across the board. Some period pieces are very expensive, due mainly to excessive demand and limited supply. Examples of such garments, say Motley and Currey, are beaded flapper dresses from the Twenties. “The last dress that walked out of here,” says Currey, “was $850. And I don’t think I could get it that cheap again.” Flapper dresses were traditionally made out of silk chiffon. The expansive beading was very heavy on the delicate fabric and few dresses survive in good shape. When Currey finds one that is salvageable, he sends it out to be rebeaded. Other repair work and cleaning is done exclusively by Currey. “Rarely a night goes by,” he says,”that I don’t do a load of clothes for the store. We won’t sell something that’s not wearable.”

A touch of whimsy seems almost mandatory to the people who run the vintage business. Currey admits to working his sense of humor into most corners of Lulu’s. His price tags usually carry more than a figure. A perky number from the early Sixties is likely to bear “Laura Petrie has drinks on the patio” or a sexy cocktail gown from the Fifties might say “Marilyn Monroe always gets her man.”

Vintage dealers have a hard time describing what’s going to be the vintage of tomorrow. “The Eighties will determine the whole point of quality,” says Currey. “The clothes of the early Eighties were just not well made.” Generally, however, dealers agree that the oversized look is the one style that will survive into the 21st century. ’”The look has a broad range of fabrics and colors,” says Hamblen, who also adds large, fun rhinestone jewelry to the list.

Some basic hallmarks of lasting quality, they all agree, are well-sewn seams (including trouser seams that fall in a straight line), fabric that lays smoothly and whether an extra button is included with the garment. The most-telling clue, however, of a well-made garment, all agree, is how it fits and feels.

The last rule to remember: Don’t buy anoutfit if it doesn’t fit and you don’t intend toalter it. Vintage clothes, they say, should beinvestments, not dust-collectors.

SHOPPING THE VINTAGE LIFE



Ahab Bowen, 2614 Boll St., 823-9130. Located in a historical house just off McKin-ney (behind S & D Oyster Co.), this shop offers vintage daywear from the Forties through Sixties- with selected eveningwear for men and women. A separate room features accessories. Old postcards from Dallas are also available.

Flaunt, 4218 Main St., 826-4154. On the fringe of Deep Ellum, Flaunt features clothes from the Fifties through Seventies, with emphasis on styles from the Sixties. Flaunt also has an extensive eveningwear collection for both men and women along with a wide range of accessories.

Geez Louise!, 4304 Bryan, 823-8429. Some Thirties through Sixties, with emphasis on Forties daywear. is the mainstay at this Bryan and Peak venture. Geez Louise! also offers an extensive selection of vintage jewelry and other accessories.

Lulu’s, 3408 Oak Lawn. 521-2862. An old lady among its competition with nine years in business, Lulu’s offers occasional pieces from the Twenties and Thirties, with the major offerings coming from the Forties through the Seventies. There are lots of accessories to choose from, including some “new vintage” jewelry: accessories that are fashioned from pieces of older jewelry.

Memorabilia’s Boutique, 3109 Reagan St., 521-8217. This Oak Lawn store is packed with clothing from the Thirties to the Fifties, with a few pieces from the Sixties. Among other vintage eveningwear, there’s a large selection of Fifties’ prom dresses that annually show up Halloween on Cedar Springs.

Puttin’ On the Ritz. 2410 McKinney, 871-1556. Clothes from the turn-of-the-cen-tury to the Forties, with a few Fifties and Sixties pieces, are featured at this small, but pricey, boutique on McKinney Avenue. Clothes are on the racks by years, and special merchandise is kept protected by plastic garment bags or behind glass.

Martha’s Magic Closet, 3507 Cedar Springs. 522-8470. This shop, in an old house on Cedar Springs, south of Oak Lawn, offers vintage clothing for sale and costume rental.

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