Email this page  Print this page  del.icio.us  digg  yahoo!  Comments

Vintage Vices

Downtown's coolest vintage store is a new breed in Springfield. Vintage Vice's owners help you figure out whether or not you're getting the real thing.

Best Sellers If you see these items at Vintage Vice, grab 'em!

Ironic neon-pink T-shirt ($16)

’80s style prom dress ($34) with horizontal shades ($8)

Champion ’70s era Florida Gators half-sleeve T-shirt ($14)

Members Only jacket ($30)

Hipsters could have been the death of vintage clothing in Springfield. A few years ago, ironic trucker hats and Urban Outfitters imports stood in for “vintage” fashion in our city—the good stuff was just a smattering of authentic styles dug up at local thrift shots, or even garage sales. True retro clothing fans fought an uphill battle to stand out in a faux-vintage world.

Enter Vintage Vice (214 S. Campbell Ave.). The store owned by Jake Harper and Sarah Cabanas opened in October 2006 to much excitement among the retro-savvy elite. The duo team offers no fakery at their store. They know what sells, and they always make sure to fill the holes in their inventory—be it T-shirts, boots or bags—with authentic items sporting a strategic look, whether it’s from 1966 or 1996.

“Lots of places have a dating process, but that’s not how we approach it,” says Cabanas. “The things we buy are selected because they fit our store’s aesthetic.” The discipline includes keeping an eye on modern fashion trends to find pieces that may work with a modern wardrobe. “A lot of today’s stuff is a direct ripoff or a direct interpretation of vintage style,” Sarah says.

Unless they’re mass-buying another store’s inventory (as they did last month when Yesterday’s Treasures closed on Commercial Street), or bidding at an auction, Sarah and Jake generally stock their store by hand-sorting through racks and piles of clothes at outlets and garage sales throughout the state—they have regular routes they follow from Kansas City to Columbia to St. Louis and points beyond. Some of the best finds come in small towns along the highway or interstates at Saturday morning garage sales. “A lot of people don’t know they’re sitting on something that a lot of people might want,” Sarah says. Others are more savvy—some of Vintage Vice’s best items are from people who walk into the store looking to sell or trade an old piece or two.

Either way, you’re almost never going to see two of the same piece. “So much of our stuff is one-of-a-kind,” says Jake. This makes a trip to Vintage Vice as much a treasure hunt as a shopping trip; you never know when a must-have piece will turn up (see sidebar for a list of sure-to-fly-off-the-shelf items). And while what they’re looking for is constantly changing, Jake and Sara know what they’re not looking for, and are willing to share a few tips.

“Faux vintage, you can tell pretty quick,” says Jake. “It’s usually pretty cheaply made.” Another telltale sign: the country of origin. “They haven’t made many clothes in America since the early ’90s,” Jake says. “If you wonder if it’s true vintage, look at the label.”

What goes fast? Boots, vintage sportswear (especially St. Louis Cardinals), Western pearl-snap shirts and name brands like Izod, Adidas and Members Only. Even the most-wanted items are cheap (Sarah estimates there’s not an item in Vintage Vice priced at more than $65), though the occasional designer item will turn up—the odd vintage Burberry scarf here, a Versace piece there. Such items are marked up and sold accordingly. “There’s not a lot of that,” Sarah says. “It is what it is, but it’s still a find for the person who gets it.”

Another advantage of vintage wear: the Green aspect. Reused clothing is a form of recycling, and such threads generally last longer, anyway.
But despite the better quality of clothes from decades past, is vintage clothing a dwindling industry, or is the definition of “vintage” going to have to change? Probably the latter. “We see more fashion-conscious types wearing stuff from the late ’80s and early ’90s,” Jake says.

Lesson: if you’re going to wear a New Kids on the Block T-shirt, make sure it’s one from the band’s first time around.