Vintage fashion – By Kate Bryant
Kate Bryant owns the eclectic vintage fashion store – Ziggurat on Cuba Street. She’s a true ‘Poozeler’ (scavenger or collector) and loves both vintage and contemporary clothing.
Wellington born and bred, I’ve lived in other places (Bristol, Auckland and London) but Wellington is home. I started working for Ziggurat in 2004 and two years later in 2006 I bought it!
When I arrived home from London, what I noticed first on the streets of Wellington is how each person had their own style, their own idea of what they like and how they wear it. Quite different from London – people there seem to follow all the trends – each season a new trend comes in and every man and his dog would head to the nearest high street shop to acquire the latest look.
Not in Wellington. I’m not saying us Wellingtonians don’t follow trends; with the way communication is nowadays we can see what is on the runway in London, Paris, Milan and N.Y.C at a click of the button. So we can be inspired but we can’t just walk into a high street shop the next day and buy it off the rack, so we improvise with our kiwi ingenuity and create our own take on it, mixing things from our existing wardrobe with something from a second-hand shop, something from the house of G (Glassons) or buying a key piece from somewhere special like Good as Gold.
It’s a pleasure to own a shop that’s filled with such a wide range of clothing, where there is something for everyone from my 89 year-old grandma to the 14 year-old school boy/girl, each with their own idea of the look they want to go for.
Buying second-hand clothing for some people is just what they do, for others its a whole new experience. It’s becoming much more acceptable in the main stream to buy second-hand items thanks to celebrities, the fashion industry and the trend towards recycling.
Shopping for second-hand items depends on time and willingness to trawl. There are so many second-hand shops in Wellington, including the many charity shops which you can always find a bargain in (if you have time!). For those of you with less time, there are shops like Ziggurat (of course) and Hunters and Collectors, who have done all the trawling for you and supply the most interesting and quality vintage and contemporary items for you to peruse at your leisure.
My fave vintage buy? A pair of fortys croc skin shoes I bought at Hunters and Collectors years ago in Auckland – sexy and beautiful.
What’s your fave vintage buy?
- By Guest Blogger, One comment
- Posted 2 June 2010
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Kate - everything I've bought at Ziggurat is a favourite! But I will tell you about one coat in particular: A late 1940s black El Jay wool crepe and velveteen coat with a mauve pink satin lining, influenced by Dior's "New Look". It had rounded, extended cap shoulders with set in sleeves, curved panels falling below a padded hip into a flared skirt, and velveteen collar and cuffs finished with braiding, braided buttons also. As you know, this went from me into Te Papa's collection... and when I was in Auckland recently, I found it in the wonderful "Looking Terrific: The story of El Jay" exhibition at the eponymous Gus FIsher Gallery. The coat is featured in the book that accompanies the exhibition. The exhibition runs only for a day or two more in Auckland, but then it's coming to Wellington in September to Kirkcaldie and Stains. It was wonderful to see my lovely coat looking so fantastic on display, but I did have a little pang of regret for a few seconds until I remembered that a second late 1940s black El Jay wool gabardine "New Look"influenced coat (also from Ziggurat) is still in my possession… because it really is my favourite. I wore it when I met up with Gus Fisher last year and he remembered every detail of it – he’d thought it a terrific design back then, and still thought it so.
By Shelley Jones, 15 July 2010