A bigger girl in a vintage world.
“Why are all vintage clothes so small?”
“I wish I could wear vintage clothes but nothing fits me.”
“They were so small back then.”
If you frequent the social spider web of Insta and Tik Tok, you may have been affected by, listening to, speaking out on, or even ignoring the big conversations happening right now about the decline of body positivity. While trends these days change as often as we change our undergarments, the desire to be thin seems to be a persistent push in the world of fashion. I am a firm believer beauty comes from confidence. And confidence comes from security in self. Well…it’s awful hard to be confident when you’re constantly being berated for your looks — and that goes for people of all shapes and sizes. A thin person can face awful critism; “eat a sandwich”, they might hear. And a bigger person may be surrounded with images and ads of smaller people with captions like “ready to look this good?”. It’s no wonder we all feel less than. Speaking from experience, walking in to a store to see a million clothing items you love but nothing in your size is a feeling akin to being yelled at in front of all your friends at a party; in simpler terms, humiliating.
How does vintage play in to the mix?
Mid-size and plus size people have always existed. Keep in mind, we live in a world where sharing information is instant. Obviously, that was not the case prior to 1997. I have been in possession of hundreds of vintage/antique photographs ranging from 1850-2002 and I can tell you, people have always come in all shapes and sizes. So why are so many vintage clothes a size small? I’ve got several theories but one that I feel the strongest about. A good amount of people at some point in their life wore a size small. I wore a size small when I was 21 (but a large from 17-20) and now I wear 2xl. I’ve got friends that wear a size small now in their 30s but for most of their life wore a large. Some people stop wearing a size small in middle-school. Point being: most people are not a size small for the majority of their life. So which of my clothes will I wear the most? Of course the clothes that fit me for more of my life will have more wear and tear. And of course that is most likely the case for vintage clothing. The small sizes survived because more likely than not, they were worn less.
How do I hold myself accountable?
Being in clothing retail means I am a part of the narrative. I contribute to the “trends” whether I want to or not. I certainly do my best to find vintage in all sizes and keep prices fair. But a big reason I got so interested in creating new pieces from vintage and antique textiles is because there was never anything in my size. I want every human to feel confidant in my clothing. No matter what a tag says, they deserve to feel the way I see them: beautiful. I always aim to make a range of sizes and my favorite look is what I like to call “House-Elf Chic” — in other words, super baggy. I know it’s not everyone’s favorite and some beauty influencers interested in maintaining an anti-body-positive status quo will say baggy clothing on a bigger body is not flattering but I really don’t care. I love when an oversized piece can work for a size 2 or a size 18. I will be working this fall on many more pieces so be sure to be on the lookout for something that speaks to you. And if you don’t see your size, you can always reach out to us with custom measurements.