By Margarita Neplokh
Current trends are nothing new. The things in style now are replicas of what our parents used to wear in the 1970s. All trends repeat themselves. The best thing about those trends is that they adapt to the new age and the individual who is wearing them.
Vintage clothes represent the height of fashion. In the Boston area, there are a lot of vintage outlets, but how does a student who doesn’t know much about fashion, and is not a Boston native, find their vintage niche away from the Abercrombie sweatshirt monotony?
James Rudnickas, a freshman transfer and English major said, “There should be more vintage at Northeastern and in Boston. I’m tired of seeing hoodies and sweatpants everywhere.”
Katelin Feifer, a freshman political science major said, “I like vintage, but I don’t wear it. If I could find a good store, I would go.”
Boston is home to many of these stores. One of those shops, Army Barracks, Inc. (www.armybarracks.com) is located at 328 Newbury St., a few short blocks from the Virgin Megastore on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue.
Fall trends range from military-inspired prints to warm colors, and Barracks Inc. is the perfect place for the fashion enthusiast to shop. This store has a great army pin and patch collection to choose from. Pins can be used to decorate bags and shirts. Cute, shrunken army logo T-shirts and all purpose army bags are also available for under $20. For outerwear, the Army Barracks has a great selection of Army coats to suit any Husky’s fancy with the practicality to keep you warm.
Further down Newbury Street is The Upstairs Closet and Planet Aid, located at 223 Newbury St. and 306 Newbury St. respectively. Both locations offer lots of different styles. The trends for fall in these boutiques vary from chunky knits and trousers of all lengths to modern gothic and romantic trends.
Both stores offer a wide variety of jeans and chords along with striped pants and the ever-so-popular plaid pant. Tie lovers look out, The Upstairs Closet offers a great selection of ties with many different patterns like stripes and funky graphic prints. They also have a large assortment of cute floral minis and accessories to suit any hippie or uptown shopper’s needs. Also available are lots of great costumes for Halloween: 1920s inspired flapper caps, bowling and oversized bags, and a vintage poster or two.
The best store for the throwback obsessed is across the river in Cambridge. The Garment District is located at 200 Broadway. Located between Kendall Square and Central Square in Cambridge. (www.garmentdistrict.com). The Garment District offers a wide range of clothes to choose form, including vintage 1960s and 1970s clothes (such as suits and pants, jeans as well as clothes from different eras such as swing). They also offer clothes from popular retails such as the Gap and J.Crew. The Garment District offers a great selection of accessories such as costume pearls for under $5. If that’s not enough, this store offers a great “dollar a pound” selection, where the shopper sifts through a massive amount of clothes all priced by their weight.
Will these stores change the way students looks at fashion? Don, a freshman music industry major, who favors bell bottoms and 1970s style, says no.
“I would like it to, but it won’t,” he says.
These few options give an outlet to those who favor being fashionable, but still want to look eclectic and original.
