Something old
As the resale market explodes, a plethora of high-end options has opened up for the bride-to-be wanting total individuality. Vintage experts share their insights.
After she got engaged, financier Carmen James didn’t start booking appointments at rarefied bridal boutiques and white glove salons. Instead, she began hunting on familiar ground. “My mum and I used to go vintage shopping every Saturday growing up and whenever we travelled,” she says. “I still have the 1960s twisted sculptural midi I picked up in Paris for my school formal, and antique kimonos from trips to Japan.”
A collector of pieces from the 60s and 70s, with a penchant for “Dundas-era Pucci, Tom Ford-era YSL and Gucci”, vintage was the obvious choice for James’s wedding looks, which include a rare fringed cerulean dress from Tom Ford’s final Gucci collection for her rehearsal dinner and an off-white 50s Lanvin couture gown with a bodice finished with delicate purple chenille embroidery by Lesage.
James can be certain she’ll look like no other bride when she gets married in Italy in July. “I’ve always loved the thrill of unearthing something special that reminds me of a specific time in my life,” she says of vintage’s allure, which a growing number of women is appreciating.
Online resale platform Thredup predicts the resale market will be worth US$350 billion by 2027, up from McKinsey & Company’s estimated worth of US$25 billion in 2022. “Our bridal clients want pieces that are unique and often look for a dress with a story,” says Roberto Cowan, co-founder, alongside Salima Boufelfel, of the highly curated Desert Vintage.
Growing out of Arizona and now with an outpost in New York, frequented by fashion insiders, they’ve seen firsthand the uptick that has global search platform Lyst quoting a 93 per cent rise in searches for vintage bridal in recent years. “We really have seen a difference. I think it’s because brides are seeking something one-of-a-kind – and that draws them to vintage.”
Someone who has seen her fair share of rare Tom Ford, the kind vintage shoppers like James obsess over, is Alexis Novak of
Tab Vintage. Since the inception of her online store four years ago, Novak has become a go-to purveyor of super-rare archival pieces from coveted eras and designer reigns – from 70s Halston, and 80s Geoffrey Beene to Versace under Gianni and Phoebe Philo at Céline. Her sourcing skills have even been enlisted by global giant Moda Operandi, which recently launched a bridal edit in collaboration with Tab.
Novak, who was married in vintage Céline before changing into a red Halston gown for the dance floor, attributes the surge in vintage to a new consciousness around sustainability, and a desire to escape the monotony of style fuelled by mass production. “One of my favourite quotes about the way people dress is: ‘I like this, therefore I am like this.’ We send messaging through our clothing about our unique individuality
and style, so it makes sense we would try and seek out dressing options that would set us apart,” says Novak.
Adding to this is the mainstreaming of second-hand. In the past, the ultimate dream in weddings was a carbon copy of your favourite celebrity’s Vera Wang confection. Now those celebrities are turning to people like Novak, who has sourced red carpet pieces for Kendall Jenner (Stella McCartney-era Chloé), Dua Lipa (Dior) and Megan Thee Stallion (Jean Paul Gaultier) among others.
“It used to be, if you wore used, it was because you had to and wearing the newest clothing was the ‘status’ symbol,” says Novak. “Now, dressing is more individual style-focused, and it doesn’t matter where you got it, it’s how you wear it.”
To that end, styling a vintage bridal look with contemporary accessories, agrees each expert, is crucial to making a decadesold dress or suit work for today. Cowan suggests a pair of “classic Manolo Blahniks”, while Novak says we should accessorise as if the piece is modern. “That’s what makes vintage so cool. You become a bridge between the past and future.”
Accepting, of course, that vintage can be very old in a purely physical sense and must be handled accordingly. Says James on her Gucci find: “Despite the fact that it still had tags, it was almost 20 years old [so] the tassel embellishments did need to be resecured, and during the first try-on twirl a few flew off!”
That’s something that the emerging breed of high-end vintage dealers know and cater to. “Our goal is to offer vintage clothing at the same quality,” Novak says of Tab’s wares, which are given a once over, and repaired where necessary, before they reach their new owner. “Pieces will arrive in excellent condition, fresh, mended and ready to wear.”
Opting for vintage, however, is not always a cinch and does demand a certain amount of patience and effort from a shopper’s point of view. With so many boutique sellers and sourcing services adding to the already existing choice of trusted dealers, auction houses and resale platforms like Vestiaire, The RealReal and Etsy, knowing how to avoid feeling overwhelmed is a good starting point.
Both Cowan and Novak suggest building a mood board, deciding what silhouette is most appealing, and preparing to be decisive, which deferring back to a central base of saved images can aid. If a bride finds themselves consistently drawn to one designer, Novak encourages them to look into their history and find out about their design approach to foster a connection to their work.
There is one foible, however, that can stand between a bride and the right look: abandoning a potential piece because of fit. “Tailoring is what makes the difference, always,” she asserts. “Getting a garment tailored to fit you or reworking it to make it exactly what you want is life-changing. Tailors are much more affordable than we think.”
Finding the prospect of trying on dress after dress daunting or uncertain about fit when shopping online? Bring a tape measure, and have your measurements handy. “You can measure the bust of the piece right there and compare it to your own measurements without having to try it on,” Novak says.
Other than that, the possibilities are endless. “The only real challenge was having enough time,” says James of her own experience. And with experts like Boufelfel, Cowan and Novak doggedly pursuing the best pieces from around the world, the hard work can today be mostly outsourced. “I’ve gotten up at 3am for Parisian auctions, I’ve flown red-eye to New York then turned right around and hopped back on a plane the same morning to ensure a piece got to LA in time for a fitting because overnight shipping wasn’t fast enough,” says Novak. “The hunt is part of the thrill of vintage. I’m like a dog with a bone, I won’t stop until I find what my client is looking for.”