A vintage crop.

In a world where cheap imports and mass-produced 'fast fashion' rules, there remains a silver lining for those of us who don't want to blend in with the crowd. Vintage fashion has become somewhat of a saving grace in today's fashion industry. It provides a fun and sustainable way to curate an outfit that is timeless and distinctly different from the norm. 

Stylist, vintage clothing dealer, history teacher and ex-librarian - Mel O'Brien - has wholeheartedly assumed this stance and poured her love for vintage fashion into her local business, Librarian Chic. I imagine many Canberrans have come across Mel and her collection of beautiful vintage threads at local markets around town. That is how I first met Mel - over a mustard 1980s dress (below) at the Handmade Market. It wasn't long before I was scouting around for the Librarian Chic stall at Mel's next market stint, where I bought a gorgeous wool-blend, grey plaid coat (below). 

The reason Librarian Chic stands out among other vintage stalls is its careful selection of quality garments. Mel sources her pieces predominantly from Sydney and Melbourne, and clearly has an eye for edgy, classic and well-tailored looks.  
  

The Librarian Chic style is very true to its brand - it 'resonates with women who are into history and literature, or who just want a look that embodies femininity and elegance'. Mel speaks of a time when she worked at the National Library, where beautifully dressed women would come and go in their tailored suits, looking as classic and intriguing as the books they were reading. Like an old book, a vintage garment has a story to tell. Sometimes we may be lucky enough to hear the story, other times we are left wondering where a garment has travelled, what impact it made to others, how it was styled and where it first caught the admiring eye of its owner.  

Vintage collectors and cataloguers, like Mel, have an important job in the context of today's fashion industry. Like boutique farmers, they continue to feed our hunger for beautiful fashion by harvesting quality crops of vintage garments and sowing the seeds for future generations to reap the rewards of adorning a beautiful, classic look. It is our collectors who will help to stop future vintage crops from yielding cheap, rotten produce. 

If you would like the opportunity to consume the fruits of Mel's much-loved labor in life, come along to Hustle&Scout on 21 September and grab yourself a special vintage piece. 

http://www.librarianchic.com.au/

Books are the glass of council to dress ourselves by.  ~Bulstrode Whitlock