Erick Vargas 

Professor Carr 

English 11000 

10 April 2019 

The Attraction on Vintage Apparel  

   Have you ever seen someone wearing light blue jeans folded at the bottom, long white socks, oversize white t-shirt, combat boots, and a colorful windbreaker as you walk the busy streets of New York City? Well these are characteristics of 90s vintage apparel, which is the new trend that is gaining popularity. Some believe that the attraction is caused because of its eco-friendly factors. However, its attracting society more for its ability to stand out in its originality than other fashion trends.  

   One reason why there is an attraction to vintage apparel is the irreplaceable factor. For example, a windbreaker is a wind-resistant jacket with a close-fitting neck, waistband, and cuffs. Windbreakers began to gain popularity in the 1970s, they come in very distinct colors. It makes vintage clothing irreplaceable, due to the time period and the quality it was made in. It is also irreplaceable in that even though companies today can try to remake a windbreaker to accommodate todays fashion, people still choose vintage windbreakers because they show originality. Because of its originality, it is a trend that cannot be replaced therefore it is attracting society. According to a HuffPost article by Darling, “you will never walk into a room to find another person wearing the same thing you are” (Darling). In other words, vintage clothing is in many cases different than other clothing you see today, it gives you originality. For this reason, it is attracting society more than its environmental factors such as long-lasting quality.  

   Others say that eco-friendly clothing plays a more significant role in attracting society. The mass-produced clothing that is being sold to us is hurting the environment. One way you can start helping the earth, is by purchasing vintage clothing. If everyone bought one used item this year then we would save “5.7 billion lbs. of CO2 emissions” which is the equivalent to “half a million cars taken off roads for a year” (2019 Resale Report). There can be a significant change to the environment if we all buy used clothing. Because of this suggestion of choosing vintage clothing over mass-produced clothing, this entails its longevity. According to Darling’s article 90s clothing focused on “quality over quantity, for reasons both financial and cultural” (Darling). In other words, 90s clothing has more character compared to today’s mass-produced clothing because of the better quality and more time it took manufacturing. The quality of vintage clothing is “simply unmatched by that of contemporary clothing, with the exception only of today’s highest end luxury designers” (Darling). When these clothing were made, it was a different time, culturally. At the time there were things happening that made a significance influence on the clothing. Because 90s vintage clothing is environmentally friendly, due to the quality and longevity, they are attracting society today.  

   However, when people want to buy vintage clothing, they buy it because of the uniqueness and to show their personality. They do not necessarily consider helping the environment while purchasing vintage clothing. Referring to the 2019 Resale Report, it is true that we could be saving the environment by engaging in the vintage trend. That way we could save billions of lbs. of CO2 emissions (2019 Resale Report). On the contrary, when people are buying vintage clothing they are gravitated to the style and its originality than to the idea of being environmentally friendly. Although vintage fashion is eco-friendly, it is not the main factor to its attraction to society. It is more about the originality and uniqueness it portrays.  

  Another reason why there is a recent attraction to vintage fashion is the ability to express yourself due to its originality. As Gina Daria stated on her blogpost, vintage clothing can help you express yourself because it is a “timeless trend that can be a part of any wardrobe” (Daria).  When wearing vintage clothing you are expressing a sense of uniqueness, because it is much more than old and used clothing. There are different types of vintage fashion, for example, in the 70s it was the “me” decade. The American people took a “step back from political movements, choosing instead to focus on themselves”. The fashion from the 90s took a more “minimalist approach”, the decade was called “The decade of Anti-fashion” (Kamal). Due to there being different types of vintage clothing it is allowing people to “express themselves while attempting to create a paradox of fashion; they fit in while also standing out (Daria). The paradox is bringing back the decades from the 1900s and it is creating a nostalgic feeling. Because you can express your personality using vintage clothing, it plays a significant role in the recent attraction to vintage fashion.  

   Others may say that when buying vintage clothing, instead of thinking about the style and how you can express yourself, you should think of how well it can help the environment. Expressing yourself through clothing is not important than helping the environment, it should be the first thing you feel when buying vintage fashion. The fashion industry is the “second largest polluter in the world, just after the oil industry” (sustainyourstyle.org). There is wastewater filled with chemicals from the factories that is being thrown in rivers, polluting our waters. “These are extremely harmful for the aquatic life and the health of the millions people living by those rivers banks” (sustainyourstyle.org). Eventually these harmful chemicals can contaminate the environment and can lead to death. But purchasing secondhand clothing will help the environment because since it was already manufactured, it is safe and eco-friendly. Based on graphical data on secondhand apparel, accessories and footwear from each age group on thredup.com, it is reported that generation Z experienced a 46 percent growth between 2017 and 2019 (thredup.com). Vintage apparel can be resold in order to preserve the environment. Even though vintage fashion is environmentally friendly, it is not the reason why vintage apparel is gaining such attraction.  

   The information about contamination of harmful chemicals that are effects of mass-produced factories could bring awareness to what we purchase, but it is not a significant factor in buying secondhand clothing. There is a 46 percent growth in secondhand clothing within 2 years, not because they are considering preserving the environment. It is more because of other factors such as social media and celebrities who are influencing them towards vintage apparel. Celebrities are wearing 90s apparel while sharing pictures on social media, which is seen by the massive audience they can communicate to. One example of vintage trend is round glasses, they were always connected with what a nerd would wear but gained popularity. “It first hit the sunglasses segment and is now a rage with prescription glasses too” (Ati). Since style is “always changing, the youth want to make sure they are always up to date with it. Young people want to look their best, so they look to celebrities in order to achieve that” (Roytman). In other words, celebrities are promoting 90’s apparel so in that way they are engaging them to become more attracted to vintage fashion. In addition, celebrities can afford high standard designer fashion and it makes it easier for them to explore different fashion. This could leave a negative connotation towards others who want to imitate celebrities because it is expensive. As a result, society can turn more towards the resale market and buy secondhand vintage apparel. While they explore the new fashion, people observe them, which builds up the attraction for the vintage apparel. 

   As previously mentioned, vintage apparel is attracting society more for its originality. So why not make current clothing better? Many believe that we can change the way we make clothing so that we can protect our environment, but it is not that easy. One reason why bettering current clothing would not be beneficial is because our mass-produced factories are already systematically built for our growing population, this would mean that we must change the gears and start again. Referring to the 2019 Resale Report, we could save billions of lbs. of CO2 emissions by switching to secondhand clothing. Using 90s apparel will help decrease CO2 emissions and provide us with time to produce clothing more environmentally friendly (2019 Resale Report). Another reason why we cannot make current clothing better is because of the circumstance we are in. At the time of making these ‘vintage’ clothing, there was a different focus on production. The focus was on “quality rather than quantity” (Darling). One could say it was because there were less consumers and there were also more resources. Since our population is always growing and our resources ae decreasing, there is a small chance that the clothing industry will change its ways of production. Although there are clothing companies that make their clothing organically, they cost more than regular clothing because of the time and focus it takes to produce them. Purchasing one high quality eco-friendly shirt, will “last for three years, but cost forty dollars could be a far sounder choice than buying one for $15 that will last six months, but how many consumers will make that decision while shopping?” (Russell).  There are more people who are bound to buy fast fashion because of how convenient it is.  But with vintage apparel people can buy clothing that have already been made, which is eco-friendly compared to fast fashion. Bettering clothing we make today is not beneficial because we have less resources, more population and it takes more time to change the way clothing is manufactured. Even though vintage fashion is eco-friendly, is it not the reason why there is an attraction to it.  

   It is as easy as noticing people wearing combat boots, an oversize t-shirt, and round glasses for you to see how vintage apparel is gaining attraction. It is important to express yourself because it is a way to stay true to one self by sharing our thoughts, views, and feelings. While they express themselves, they can stand out and show originality, which is why vintage fashion is gaining such attraction. Some say that since vintage fashion is eco-friendly it’s the reason why its attraction the society, this however is not the case. Before we can take care of our environment, we need to take care of ourselves or else, there would not be anyone to take care of the earth. But with vintage apparel many teens can express themselves through the variety of styles and colors.  So, if people buy vintage clothing because they want to express themselves, we should allow them to.

Work Cited 

“2019 Resale Report.” Thredup, https://www.thredup.com/resale  Accessed 24     Mar.2019. 

Ati, Pratima. “20 Best 90s Fashion Trends That Are Back In 2019.” Style Craze, 23 Jan. 2019,   https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/90s-fashion-trends-women/#gref. Accessed  14 April 2019  

Daria, Gina. “Why is Vintage so Popular.” Love that Fit, 2 May   2018,  http://www.lovethatfit.com/why-is-vintage-so-popular/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2019. 

Darling, E. Rebecca. “Five Reasons Vintage Clothing Is Not Just “Old Used Clothes” (Even Though It Kind of Is).” Huffpost, 6 Dec. 2017, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/five-reasons-vintage-clothes_n_6432122. Accessed 3 Mar. 2019. 

“Environmental Impacts of the Fashion Industry.” SustainYourStyle,  www.sustainyourstyle.org/old-environmental-impacts/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2019  

Fishman, Elana. “Why stylish stars are suddenly wearing old clothes.” PageSix, 23 Oct. 2018,    https://pagesix.com/2018/10/23/why-stylish-stars-are-suddenly-wearing-old-clothes/. Accessed 27 Mar. 2019.  

Godfrey, Ottilie. Vintage Fashion. United Kingdom, Arcturus Publishing, 2013.  

Hays, Kali. “Apparel Resale Market Expected to Hit $41 Billion by 2022.” WWD, 3 Apr. 2018, https://wwd.com/business-news/financial/apparel-resale-market-expected-to-hit-41-billion-by-1202642422/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2019. 

“Industry Statistics & Trends.” Facts on Fakes – NARTS: The Association of Resale Professionals, www.narts.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3285. Accessed 4 Mar. 2019. 

Kamal, Hana. “American Fashion Through the Decades.” InterExchange, 24 Sep. 2015, https://www.interexchange.org/articles/career-training-usa/2015/09/24/american-fashion-through-decades/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2019. 

Lux, Heidi. “Eco-friendly fashion: How is vintage clothing ‘green’?” Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, 21 May 2010, https://www.cltampa.com/news-views/environment/article/20734333/eco-friendly-fashion-how-is-vintage-clothing-green. Accessed 23 Mar. 2019. 

Roytman, Natalie. “How Celebrities Inspire Fashion of The Youth.” University of Iowa, 6 Feb. 2014, https://uiowa.uloop.com/news/view.php/112012/how-celebrities-inspire-fashion-of-the-youth. Accessed 14 April 2019  

Russell, Judith. “Beyond Sustainable: The Growing Demand for Ethical Fashion.” The Robin Report, 3 April. 2018, https://www.therobinreport.com/beyond-sustainable-the-growing-demand-for-ethical-fashion/. Accessed 15 April 2019