Personal Style and Vintage
Read for Staff Style and Thrifting tips!
Customers often ask, “How do you guys not spend your whole paycheck here?” While it is no doubt that everyone on staff here at La Loupe are vintage shopping enthusiasts and shopping addicted at best, it is a very valid inquiry. One of my coworkers responded to this question, “you learn after a while.” Which means after a while of encountering incredible clothes all day, we all have time to reflect on what we actually collect and what we actually use. Not to mention our co-workers catch on and try to keep us in check.
Recently, I got over my fear of being in front of the camera to post a little list of personal style questions and ask the staff to break down their outfits. I present this blog —and the accompanying Staff Personal Style Tik Tok series— as a deeper dive into what our staff buys here, and to give customers and viewers alike a little taste of what inspires us and helps us craft our closets. Maybe it can give someone a little inspiration on finding their individual style.
First up, I interviewed Piper. My question to her was, “When and why did you start getting into second hand fashion?” To which Piper's response was “necessity”. Piper quotes that it was somewhat of a back to school ritual for her family growing up. Whether you are new to feeling your pockets tightening or you are an expert level bargain queen the appeal of second hand fashion is clear —cheaper cost for quality garments. When it comes to style there is no doubt that quality is always a contributing factor.
My next interview question was to Justine, “What’s a trinket collection of yours?” She answers simply, “Cats.” In true Justine manner she was able to go above and beyond and grab a video of her astounding vintage cat trinket collection. She has porcelain cats, stuffed animals, and a whole framed wall of cat prints. It’s important to recognize motifs and imagery you are drawn towards; this way one can narrow down what is really important when shopping second hand. The decision to focus on one topic, motif, or color is up to you of course, but sometimes its nice to start with a more simple question like, “what color do you like” as opposed to “what is your style?”
Next I consulted with Taylor and started off with the ultimate thrifting question, “What do you look for in the thrift store?” She asserts that she always starts at the shoe section. “The shoe section is always a gauge on most thrift stores and you are able to gain useful intelligence in this section” While there really is no right or wrong way to go about the thrift store, it's best to move towards a section that you find exciting so you can sift through and get a feel for what the shop has to offer for you that day. Again another way to break down the task of finding your style into simpler steps, maybe just check out the shoes and don’t worry about the rest of the shop?
My next interview was with Edie, who is known for her chunky sterling jewelry collection. She is always stunting a ring on every finger true to her maximalist core. My question to her was, “what aesthetics have you been living for the past year?” Her answer was clown-core and style icons Poison Ivy and Lux Interior. While the internet makes fashion inspiration overwhelming at times it can be nice to find icons and style profiles to borrow from.
Lastly, There is me, Anna. Writing about myself is quite ridiculous so I will keep it short. I love movies, and often find inspo from them. Some movies aren’t necessarily your style, but possess such fun, outrageous fashion that it makes one want to play around in their closet (ex ‘The Cook The Thief, The Wife and Her Lover” styled by Jean Paul Gautier). On the other hand there are movies that nail the type of fashion you are into. The 90s absurd arthouse movie “Irma Vep” did this for me. I lean towards 90s basics and general quirkiness exemplified perfectly by the queer directorial crew in this film.
Overall, a great way to limit your shopping and increase the life of what you actually purchase can be doing some interrogative work with yourself: Try breaking down what inspires you and why! Spend some time seeking out people, designers, and media that you like then find general themes that you lean towards. Spend some time in the thrift shop looking and not buying. A fun exercise that was brought to my attention recently was to go into a vintage shop –such as ours or any secondhand spot– and plan on trying on stuff outside of your comfort zone. The key word here is try not buy. Regardless, second hand is always better to start with, and if you ever need to swap some stuff out in your closet you know where to find us!