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Articles
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| The Remix brings vintage to the Hill |
VOICE writes, "BY CAROL ABERNATHY
A warning may be in order here: Vintage is addictive.
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The most conventional shopper can find one fabulous one-off 1950s frock, and “new” is suddenly verboten.
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A new vintage emporium on Capitol Hill, The Remix, tempts novice and seasoned foragers alike, as the owner, Stacey A. DiTata, tries to make buying vintage less intimidating and more fun.
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DiTata, 44, recently moved her shop to the Hill from the chic Del Rey neighborhood in Alexandria and is, she hopes, in the vanguard of what will be a fashion destination rivaling others in the district.
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“Other areas have their fashion headquarters,” DiTata said. “I’m optimistic for the development of the Hill as one.” "
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An early interest in fashion design led DiTata to jobs designing store windows for Woodie’s and Macy’s, and both pursuits have made their mark on the Remix. “I come to vintage clothing with a hands-on appreciation for vintage textiles,” DiTata said.
Pieces are mended and carefully cleaned before appearing on the rack, and an experienced vintage treasure hunter will appreciate the integrity of the pieces here as well as the absence of the musty odor that ruins many a good find.
DiTata’s staging talents are also in evidence in the Pennsylvania Avenue shop, formerly a video store.
The front room boasts a well-curated collection of women’s clothing organized by color against a coral backdrop that manages to work well with all the decades in play here. DiTata has chosen as her shop’s iconic image a 1950’s woman — hair curled, brows arched, and mouth open in surprised excitement.
The picture’s provenance is unclear, and while her joy was most likely once manufactured to advertise a household product, she now guides customers through what can be the difficult process of finding vintage clothes that fit: “Tiny!” she exclaims from one skirt to would-be seam splitters.
DiTata advises customers that more essential than figuring out past equivalents to today’s sizes is deciding what decade suits them best. “I can wear 40s and 50s, but I can’t wear 70s,” noted the petite DiTata.
The popularity of vintage clothing has grown immensely over the past decade and is due in part, no doubt, to fashion’s regular recycling of decades past. “Designer 80s – probably the best part – is in demand right now,” DiTata said.
But, she claims, equally significant are two other factors. One is the adoption of vintage fashion by Hollywood stars as acceptable red carpet attire. The inevitable trickle-down, said DiTata, leads to vintage being “accepted by a wider audience.”
Most importantly, as clothing trends, like accessories and home design, skew ever more toward the bespoke, vintage clothing offers a reasonable alternative to custom design. Among her customer base in particular, DiTata has found that a bit of competitive creativity often leads people to vintage.
“Many of my customers are creative professionals,” said DiTata, noting that “they don’t want to look like everyone else.”
Craftsmanship is another draw for the Remix customer: “People seek and can perceive quality and value,” claimed DiTata. Not only was clothing more carefully made “then,” but DiTata finds the best vintage bargains to be accessories.
“All modern jewelry is knocked off of older designs,” said DiTata. “Miriam Haskell, Kenneth Jay Lane … their jewelry is constantly imitated, but the originals aren’t that expensive…In terms of being cost-effective, jewelry is the best.”
Cost-effective, perhaps, but vintage is no longer cheap. The most in demand items, such as a perfect 1950s cocktail dress, will cost as much or more than brand-new equivalents. As vintage design finds new customers, however, its purveyors must look harder and be more competitive to get the best specimens, DiTata said.
“I work with estate liquidators up and down the East Coast and even abroad … I’m working right now on a collection of bowling shirts from Chile.”
Certain pieces are inarguably rare: a 1920s silk velvet tunic set with marcasite beading, for example. “It needs a special person,” said DiTata. Other collectibles, such as a 1950s Lucite box purse, blend more easily with modern ensembles.
It remains to be seen whether DiTata can liven up the landscape beyond the doors of her colorful shop. But come winter, should the Hill look a little less gray and a little more glamorous, we’ll know who to thank.
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The Remix can be found at 645 Pennsylvania Ave., SE. Call (202) 547-0211 for more information.
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Posted on Sep 07, 2007 14:12pm.
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