Vintage is the new black

New York and Paris Fashion Weeks are no longer the only places where exciting trends can be found. Although the clothes presented at these famous spectacles are fantastic and always innovative, many consumers who are not part of the mainstream-fashion world feel isolated.

If you are one of those consumers, have no fear! In today’s market there are plenty of events and stores worldwide that cater to the alternative customer. London’s Alternative Fashion Week features trends for those who want something a little different. The clothes shown at Alternative Fashion Week are eccentric, exotic and in many instances out of this world. However, these fashions end up in many boutiques around the world, where they sell quickly.

In Bloomington, Cactus Flower, a locally owned shop in Kirkwood Manor, has a wide assortment of clothing for the alternative customer. It has an amazing vintage collection in its upstairs boutique, offering fashion from the 1920s all the way to present day.

Women can expect to find pieces such as sliver heels from the 1950s and jackets from the ’80s, among other fabulous pieces. Men will be glad to hear that Cactus Flower carries items such as Guess faded black button-down shirts and faded jeans in the vintage collection. The store has countless colors, cuts and shapes from different designers and time periods. It is quite humorous to be able to go into one store and relive the past few decades of fashion browsing through its collection.

Celebrities such as Feist, who will be playing on April 11 at the IU Auditorium, exhibits that edgy and funky sense of fashion that the alternative customer seeks out. She represents innovative fashions as seen in her music video “1234” from her 2007 breakthrough album The Reminder.

The shop also contains a more “current” section on the first floor, featuring collections similar to those that you can buy “off the rack” versus the vintage collections you can find nowhere else. The vintage collection is perfect for many of the alternative customers who prefer fashions that are not found in most malls and boutiques, but instead unique outfits that are edgy and have some flavor to them.

“(The clothing) are all one of a kind,” said Jill Schaffer, who has been the owner of Cactus Flower for about 30 years of the store’s vintage-clothing collection. She said modern trends tend to copy from vintage ones.

Usually when designers feature collections, they are inspired by previous decades and fashions, Schaffer said. That’s why the vintage collection is the first place many fashion-forward women and guys go to for their distinct needs.

“We definitely have a more unique look (than other boutiques) because we incorporate vintage,” said Riley Manion, the buyer and manager of Cactus Flower.

She wants the store to be a place where alternative-fashion-forward customers feel welcome and comfortable.

Manion said she definitely keeps the alternative customer in mind when she buys items for the store in New York and Las Vegas, among other places.

So next time you want to dress fashion forward, try taking some tips from the past.