You will be introduced to a different Team member in each new post. Please check out our Team Gallery page here.
Today's featured seller is Mary Henderson and you can visit her shop The Vintage Merchant here.
She also sells as Kitsch N Collectibles.
1. When did you first get interested in vintage fashion & why?
A school I was attending was sponsoring a formal event; most of the girls brought their senior prom dresses to wear, including me.
The weekend before the event, one of my best friends wanted to go shopping, so off we went, to a large old building in a kind of scary part of town I'd never been to before...
Inside was a bit dark, and completely cluttered. Shelves and barrels piled high with housewares and luggage and lo and behold ~ clothes! Reba found the dreamiest tulle confection in a peachy pink ~ and when she entered the dance wearing it, she looked like a princess compared to the rest of us in our "Mall" dresses! that was it, for me: I was totally hooked on vintage from then on!
2. Do you regularly wear vintage?
When I managed a brick and mortar shop back in the 80s, I wore vintage from head to toe, literally, every single day, and every night at the clubs. Now, however, it's more of a mix of vintage accessories and separates with jeans, but, still, I do wear it nearly every day.
3. Do you have a Holy Grail?
No, I really don't have a HG... I'm so in love with "regular" vintage with labels like Suzy Perette, or Emma Domb, or Nelly Don, or even a well-made home sewn house dress from the 40s, that I really don't lust for big designer labels whatsoever.
4. If you could visit the atelier of any fashion designer (dead or alive), who would it be?
Jacques Fath. or Zac Posen.
5. What do you see as the future of vintage?
Some feel that we're spinning faster and faster when it comes to vintage, and that its "younger" than it used to be? but part of the formula lies in the fact that, of course, it's much easier to find a vintage garment from the 1990s (which is 22 years old, already) than it is to find a garment from the 1930s...we happen to prefer the earlier eras, but "new" vintage does sell, too, especially to our younger clients.
6. What is your favorite item in your shop?
My current favorite would be this 1940s pastel pink lace ensemble.
Here are a few more items from Mary's shops:
Authentic 1940s Turquoise Dangle Drop Earrings
1930s Dress Pattern Marian Martin
Vintage 1980s Yellow Floral Bubble Dress
Vintage Flower Garden Party Dress
