If you love vintage shopping, you already know that it’s like any other hobby….you put the time into keeping up with it regularly, seasonally, etc. Items move in and out of vintage shops and find the souls they belong to so I seek out the energy from these shops, both locally and out of town. Kansas City’s various districts are treasure troves of vintage delights. Because of the history and evolution of this fine city, historic items are in abundance there. Colorful, whimsical and displayed beautifully, I am always impressed by the variety. Sometimes, just the displays enthrall me. I might be out window shopping or just taking photos for inspiration. 

Talking to vintage dealers is informative because you will absorb their passion and enthusiasm for this hobby. Collections are often displayed in groupings of particular eras. The latter is both visually stunning and also educational as it gives you a sense of the artistry of those eras.The time capsule quality of vintage and antique stores reveal so much historic info. Body types were different through the ages. In early decades of the 1900’s, waists were much tinier.

Factoids about “vintage” and “retro”:

The word “vintage” comes from the French word vendage which was derived from the vintage of grapes, meaning the season in which they were picked. We refer to wines as having a certain vintage. When we speak of vintage, we are addressing the age of an item. It does not refer to a certain style of clothing but, rather, the age of it.

The word “retro“, however, connotes the style of clothing items and such. They don’t refer to a particular era but, rather, the style in which they are designed. For example, “80’s parties” we hold now are retro and celebrating retro styles. “Retro” is short for retrospective and the Latin word, “retrospectus.” Sometimes, the word “repro” is used which comes from “reproduction” or “reproductive”, meaning that a copy was made of an older item of clothing. For example, when there’s a resurgence in historical music genres, it revives an interest in vintage clothes so repros are made with new materials in a nod to the past….. fashion nostalgia,  you might say.

“Antique” is a term not used often in regards to clothing but technically, if something is antique, it’s from before the 1920’s. “Vintage” is anything 1920′-80’s. Something from the 80-90’s is “retro”.

photos by GIna Kingsley