These two women wandered between boutiques, designer stores, and lastly, vintage shops.
What struck me was that the woman settled on a vintage dress (albeit, a strikingly beautiful and flattering one) for a couple hundred dollars.
Now here's the absurdity, and I apologize in advance if I point to the stupidity of American culture - it's one I call my own.
It amazes me that in our society people will shop vintage but won't be caught dead in a thrift store, used clothing drive, or (gasp) garage sale.
Now before going on a rant at the stupidity of these social norms, I did a little research on what the actual difference between vintage and thrift is. I found that some categorize vintage as being from one era and thrift from another.
My point is that regardless of what you label it, where, who, or when it is from, it's used. And if you think paying hundreds of dollars at a store that calls itself vintage is classier than paying five bucks at a vintage store - here are the main, and most interesting differences I found:
http://vintageclothing.about.com/od/vintagebasics/qt/retailtypes.htm
Used, second hand, or vintage; they are all different terms for the same thing, and there are several types of retail entities that sell them. Privately owned vintage shops or boutiques, thrift or charity stores, and consignment are the major places to buy vintage, but there are a few differences between them.
Vintage Shop
A vintage shop/boutique is a privately owned store in which all of the items for sale were purchased by the store and are being resold at some sort of premium. The store can get their merchandise from any number of sources, but the most common source is a rag house through which they can purchase large bails of clothing. Other sources of stock include swap meets, vintage fairs, and individual hunting at estate sales or flea markets.
Thrift Store
Thrift and charity stores sell used clothes that were donated by individuals. Depending on the individual store, profits from the sales that go directly to charity vary, but all sales contribute in some way monetarily to the charity who owns the thrift.
Now, fyi, an estate sale is essentially a garage sale, held inside a house. It may be of someone deceased, foreclosed, etc.
So while this woman bought this dress at a vintage shop, the shops owner may have saved the dress the fate of sitting in the closet of a thrift-shopper, while he payed for it thrift shop, estate sale, flea market prices.
So the next time you're tempted to pay a hundred bucks for a pair of cool vintage jeans... consider it's origins.
Oh, and another thought - not everything vintage is quality. Some may have designer labels, while other things have no labels. And just as it amazes me that people will shop vintage and not thrift, it amazes me that people will shop vintage, and not Marshall's, TJMaxx, or (insert other).
