Two Stories: Fashion Icon Diane Keaton + The Vintage Market's Transformation
RIP DIANE KEATON 1946-2025
Regular readers will not be surprised to learn about the impact that Diane Keaton's very recent death has had on me. I have paid homage to her before, but it's worth remembering again just how very cool-without-trying-hard-to-be-cool she was. She wore her fame as lightly as a swath of gossamer silk. And her pant suits with the conviction of Irish tweed wool.
Yes, she is and forever will be Annie Hall, but she is also the parody of boho-chic meets Russian literary heroine (her turn in Woody Allen's Love and Death should not be overlooked), as well as the unabashedly bold, hat-wearing icon well past seventy and still joyfully dancing around her creative edge.
Her New York Times obituary describes what she wore for her 1978 Academy Award for Annie Hall:
"She accepted her Oscar wearing a linen jacket, two full linen skirts, a scarf over a white shirt and black string tie, and high heels with socks." She admits to some regret for that in her 2011 memoir when she described it as her “‘la-de-da’ layered get-up.” I think it's a perfectly sweet and sassy look that was her own wackadoodle version of what passed for style that year, though I admit she was a bit underdressed for the occasion likely because she didn't expect to win!
Her lack of preciousness was her most endearing quality to me. She devoted an instagram post to a slide show of her own fashion "mistakes". I see them as accidental masterpieces! But then we are always more forgiving of other people's looks than we are of ourselves.
It's not particularly a lament about slow sales (though that's real for many of us). What she articulates so well is a significant shift I myself have seen in the last five years - namely that a large portion of the vintage market (which once implied Grandma's old dresses) is now dominated and driven by celebrity online hype and the brands it endorses.
Most of my buyers no longer want a cute and crisp 1950s shirtdress a la Mad Men (the bread and butter of my store for many years). Nor do they get excited about a 1940s beaded rayon crepe cocktail dress, which was considered a great find back in the day (like 5 minutes ago). These are now some of my slowest moving pieces!
Midcentury shirt-dresses that have come through the shop
Now, to be reasonable, of course many designer labels do signal quality and carry a record of excellent style, but for many that is not what this is about.
As Alex woefully relates, and I can confirm: "Die-hard aficionados in tip-to-toe 1970’s suiting have been replaced with shoppers in Lululemon leggings, carrying brand new Dior totes and hurriedly flipping past anything without an instantly recognizable label. "
Personal anecdotal evidence reveals that there are currently two distinct types of buyers for vintage. First there is the thrift-loving Gen Z crowd that is crazy for the 90s and the 00s with an emphasis on casual, ath-leisure, androgynous pieces, hoping to score things for under $20. Then there are the the uber luxury buyers who spend hours scouring the internet or weekends hoofing it through markets and popups to find an archival piece from Alexander McQueen that once sold for 10K, now selling for what appears to be a reasonable $2500. In other words, and as in many other aspects of society, the middle has collapsed.
40s embroidered dress that finally sold last year after being in the shop forever For fear of sounding like a cry-baby afraid of change, to say nothing of being a hypocrite who is trying to sell a rare and posh Fendi dress, I know this too shall pass. As soon as we sellers adjust to a new world (hello AI), another one will take its place. ChatGPT Couture is a matter of time.
On a bright note, I am happy to see that my best-loved vintage look that is sort of a general 80s avant-garde/New Romantic style continues to do well, as is anything that can be described as "Stevie Nicks" - another favorite. So, between jumpsuits and caftans we can still sell some stuff that's "in the middle".
Sold jumpsuits and caftans - the new "bread and butter"!
If you've read this far, and you're not my mom, congratulations! I will end with a brief word on the connection between Diane Keaton and the above little rant. Yes, she was a celebrity who became influential for her style, but note that it was HER style. Her thing. Her look. No brands involved, and apparently no stylists (she refused). She did it all seemingly without trying and with an extreme sense of humor.
Who is the Diane Keaton of today? What exactly have we lost?
I very much welcome YOUR thoughts on all this. As a buyer or as a seller of vintage, does any of this resonate ? What's been your experience? Chime in here.
