Vintage Fashion Exhibit! (or, Anti-Fast Fashion!)

I grew up with a love of old things inherited from my father, a junker and antique collector. At a young age, I learned to see the beauty in something that had a story, a little wear and tear, and best of all, was handmade. It's only natural that my passion for old things and also love of fashion would lead me to be passionate about...vintage fashion. So last Saturday, we headed down to Columbia to see the Threads exhibit at the State Museum..

Vintage clothing with a SC story! I was so on board with that! And while sadly this exhibit is no longer on display - we caught it on the last day - I snapped plenty of pictures to share with you! I learned a lot about vintage fashion during our tour of the exhibit. It was thrilling to see so many handmade, slow-fashion items on display!

Handmade dress from the 1940s, for a woman who obviously had curves. Lack of curve love is a problem for me when shopping for vintage clothing; until I saw this dress, I was under the impression that no one was over 5'2 or 95 pounds until maybe the 1970s!

Gasp!  A fashion designer, in the 1950s of all times, from my own hometown! This utterly amazed me as I've never heard of her! A career woman in the 1950s, too! So many reasons to thrill at this!

One of her lovely creations. I definitely need to learn more about this lady!

While I appreciate the handwork involved in making this garment, absolutely nothing about it works for me fashion wise.. But it was from the 1800s, which of course, made it thrilling!

Squee! Flapper dress alert!!!!

This one, all day long. A little jazz and Fitzgerald anyone? I was so born in the wrong era...

Or maybe not. While I could dance away the night, my silhouette wouldn't have cut the mustard of the 20s standards!

But the 1960s? Now we're talking.  I could so rock this minidress!

Not at all sure what to make of this...

A little more perusing...

Do you see the famously Southern seer-sucker pants?

And we came to the belle o' the ball...a vintage clothes lover's lotto. A hand-embroidered petticoat from the 18th century!

Isn't this just all that and then some?

Those ladies were definitely not about fast fashion!

And while this exhibit is no longer on display, there is so, so much to do at the State Museum that it should definitely make your to-do list if you are in the Columbia area. I mean, where else could you take in a vintage fashion show and Megalodon in the same building?

After being in the presence of so much exquisite vintage fashion, I was a bit embarrassed to be wearing jeans. 

Art is everywhere in Columbia...

I remembered a quote from a former 20s flapper I read in a book recently, "Why does everyone want to go around now just dressing up work pants?" Of course she meant jeans, but maybe she hadn't seen skinny jeans yet? Nevertheless, this show renewed my commitment to not purchasing any fast fashion in 2016 and remembering to upcycle, recycle, refashion or shop thrift, vintage, and eco-friendly fashion labels only. And because so much money is being saved by not buying fast fashion, I can buy other things, like art!

This sugar skull kitty was calling my name!

Artists supporting the work of other artists is a time honored tradition I love participating in! Check out this wonderful art by Jay of 3 Crow! Jay and Rodney are regulars at Columbia's fabulous Soda City Market, so after you follow them on Facebook, be sure to visit them at the market. Just make sure you have plenty of wall space first! I'm trying to figure out where I can put more of Jay's work myself! Great guys and great art!

I hope you have a wonderful start to your week! Coming soon, some new show information and some thoughts on giving up something for Lent!