Shooting in Los Angeles: Veni Vidi Vintage

VENI VIDI VINTAGE

By CELINA PLAG, photos EVA BAALES

September 26, 2022 • Pool, palm trees, a mansion and a 360-degree view of Los Angeles: Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills is the right setting for eclectic fashion of the moment.

From yesterday for today: good prospects!

All vintage?

But yes!

All of the dresses featured in our shoot are from the Aralda Vintage boutique in Los Angeles.

All of the people featured in the pictures work in this cabinet of curiosities not far from the Hollywood sign.

Founder Brynn Jones, a fixture in the Los Angeles fashion world, also wears some of her iconic pieces from the store for us.  

The fashion of the moment is not new - and yet very up-to-date.

There are a number of reasons for this.

In recent years, fashion that has already been worn has primarily been discussed in the context of price and sustainability.

Outfits from thrift stores are often more affordable than new.

They also counteract the environmental impact of fast fashion.  

Thrifting, i.e. shopping in vintage shops, is a form of ethical consumption, especially for younger people.

According to online retailer ThredUp, Generation Z accounts for around 40 percent of the $28 billion global vintage buyers market.

While it used to be frowned upon to wear clothes several times, today it's more about developing your own style.

This runs through, from the inexpensive band T-shirt to the elegant evening gown.  

Sara in Embarquement Immédiat gown with low back draped in pink satin by Thierry Mugler, Fall/Winter 1987, pearl necklace by Courrèges

Brynn Jones sees it that way too.

"Wearing vintage clothes is always an expression of individuality," says the shop owner, who, apart from basics, only looks at designer creations from the past decades.

The fact that second-hand clothing today has a lot to do with good style is also due to the madness surrounding the it-pieces of the respective season.

Short schoolgirl skirts at Miu Miu or chunky boots in bright colors at Bottega Veneta?

Thanks in part to social media, anyone with even the slightest interest in fashion can now identify the parts of a season.

If you have enough money, you can simply buy the parts – or a cheaper reference.  

"Wearing vintage clothes is always an expression of individuality."

BRYNN JONES

For vintage clothing, on the other hand, you have to deal with fashion and ultimately with your own taste.

Even on the red carpet, it has now been understood that it is not enough for them to make the right purchase decisions with the right change.

More and more celebrities are being photographed there in vintage dresses.

Most recently, Kim Kardashian caused a stir – in a dress that Marilyn Monroe once wore.  

Brynn Jones recently outfitted Amber Valetta for the Met Gala and Bella Hadid for the Prince's Trust Global Gala.

Her way there was paved by perhaps the most media-savvy coup to date: Olivia Rodrigo's stylist loaned her a pink vintage Chanel suit that the pop star wore to an appointment at the White House.

The American press praised Rodrigo's outfit for just the right dose of teen idol with a political mission and role model function.  

Abby wears a rust colored velvet corset with fur jacket and wool pencil skirt set by Vivienne Westwood Red Label, Fall/Winter 1998 and chunky velvet and wood platform Mary Jane pumps by Balenciaga, Fall/Winter 2006.

And something else helped make vintage fashion Hollywood-ready.

Wearing new designer dresses on the red carpet and similar official events has recently been just a gigantic marketing hype anyway.

Brands rewarded celebrities handsomely in some cases for wearing their old designs – so it was and is no longer about the clothes, but primarily about money.  

In this context, it is not about making the cheapest bargains.

The more expensive and exclusive the niche, the better one can see how the concept of luxury is shifting: the clothes hanging in Jones' Aralda Vintage shop are not just any clothes, but Vivienne Westwood 1998, Gianni Versace 1992 or Comme des Garçons 1997 To be able to buy everything with money?

That's passé.

Today, luxury also means: knowledge.  

Brynn Jones, who never attended fashion school, has acquired this knowledge herself, "with a number of books and what feels like a thousand years on the Internet".

She can talk shop for hours about a pair of shoes and who wore them when and where.

This will benefit her today.  

She herself has always dreamed of working in fashion.

Jones grew up in a Mormon family, "close to the church."

As a child she always looked forward to Sundays when she wore her favorite dress to church services, a black velvet dress with large sleeves and sequins.

After school she lived in Hawaii for a few years, where she modeled in a shopping mall and thus came into contact with designer fashion for the first time.

She never really liked modeling herself.

"But it allowed me to wear Dior, Chanel, Versace, all the designers I could never have afforded myself."  

Brynn in a light pink 70's pale pink chiffon dress by Zandra Rhodes, pastel tartan plaid skirt by John Galliano, crystal embroidered platform pumps by Gucci Spring/Summer 2017, mint green transparent ankle socks private

Brynn in a striped bubble top with sheer panels by Comme des Garçons, Spring/Summer 1997

Grace in a dragon corset dress by Vivienne Westwood

When she moved to Los Angeles in 2006, she first tried her hand as a stylist, but it wasn't for her.

Then more and more friends and acquaintances asked if she couldn't pay them a tour of the city's thrift stores because she always found such great pieces on her forays.

In 2017 she opened Aralda Vintage, since 2019 the shop has been in its current location.

She named the boutique after her grandfather, Aralda Jones, who lives in a trailer in Eureka, Utah and wears a striped jumpsuit, polo shirt and navy bucket hat every day.  

Unlike Grandfather's trailer, Aralda Vintage has eclectic robes, lots of glitter and sequins, but also simpler blazers and trousers.

"There's something for everyone here, really," says Jones.

So: anyone with the wherewithal.

Not all pieces are for sale.

Jones is a collector, her fashion archive is vastly larger than what she exhibits at Aralda Vintage.

She also lends pieces from her collection for fashion shoots or red carpet events.  

A particular challenge is the sizing, i.e. finding the right size.

"Not all customers fit in the primarily small sizes, especially vintage fashion from the 40's and 50's is just made for smaller women." Kim Kardashian also drew a lot of criticism when she wore the Marilyn Monroe dress because she good piece had allegedly damaged.

The private museum that loaned her the dress later clarified that the seams had already been damaged.

Apart from that, the dress is timeless anyway - unlike the image of women that Kardashian embodies.

In order to fit in, she is said to have lost more than seven kilograms.  

Lily in a deconstructed backless dress made from heavy cotton fabric by Comme des Garçons, Spring/Summer 2013

Nanor wears black cut-out dress with Medusa buttons and leather cone bra by Gianni Versace, Fall/Winter 1994, starfish clip earrings by Gianni Versace, Spring/Summer 1992.

For an avid collector like Jones, the thought of having rare and valuable clothing returned damaged after being loaned out is terrifying.

She probably inherited her passion for collecting from her parents, who were professional collectors of antique furniture and design objects.

"Our living room was like a movie set from the 1920s," she says.

Much like her parents, she finds clothes at specialized fairs;

many things are also offered to her by professional dealers or private individuals.

And of course she spends a lot of time on the internet.

She would only not buy anything in other curated vintage shops – because the margin there is no longer worth it.

And because she herself knows how much heart and soul goes into putting together a selection.

"I would feel like a thief."  

For a long time, Jones had a rule not to buy clothes that were less than 20 years old.

In the meantime, she no longer sees it so strictly - which is certainly also due to the fact that vintage fashion is no longer supposed to look too "vintage" or "old";

rather, a timeless visual language is required.  

James in an embellished bustier mini dress by Blumarine

Lily in a floral and kissing-mouth print silk gown by Christian Dior by John Galliano, Spring/Summer 2005

Snakeskin bondage-style sandals with appliqué bows from Christian Dior by John Galliano, Fall/Winter 2003

Collecting fashion is now also an investment for a growing number of people, says Jones.

"A while ago I bought a Chanel dress and it has tripled in value in a very short space of time." This also explains why some of the price tags in her boutique are eye-popping.

"Some people shake their heads in disbelief when a used dress costs $4,000," she says.

"They don't see that this dress hardly exists in the world anymore in this condition.

Approaching vintage fashion is ultimately a question of having the right mindset.”  

Her own mindset – and her feeling for the right material – also bring Jones commissions that go beyond the work related to Aralda Vintage.

For the second season of the popular series "Euphoria" she furnished an entire dressing room in which the actress Alexa Demie slips into various clothes in one scene.

She recently curated a vintage corner at Marc Jacobs' LA store.

It came full circle for Jones, who has always been a fan of the designer.  

James in a yellow and gray striped silk corset gown with a draped neckline by Vivienne Westwood Gold Label, Spring/Summer 1998, New York Yankees cap private, silver necklace with welded pull tabs by Maison Margiela, circa 2008

It can be observed more and more often that designers are also increasingly selling vintage dresses in their boutiques.

Why should they miss out on the coveted vintage clothing store?

Some fashion labels remain true to their own brands.

Under the motto "Valentino Vintage", for example, the Italian fashion house has been offering a curated selection of its own vintage clothing at pop-up events since last year.

Others are taking it a step further: In 2018, Dior relaunched the iconic saddle bag from the early noughties in response to the explosion in searches on vintage platforms.  

With the new old things, however, it is the same as you know it from the car or furniture industry: Of course you can buy a brand new Porsche or Eames Chair.

Anyone with knowledge, taste and money will probably reach for the vintage collector's item after all. 

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