Five vintage buying tips from Coco Rocha
Model Coco Rocha is young - she just turned 20 - but her look is old.
When she's on her own time, the chameleonlike face of Phi, Barney's, YSL Beaute and Neiman Marcus ads, and the star of Fashion Week runways, wears vintage clothes.
Her mother told her, she recalls, that a history makes things interesting and exciting.As a kid, Rocha didn't always buy it, though. "I hated it when I was young. I only wanted new things."
These days, she prefers vintage clothes that are pretty, not sexy - perhaps even something Victorian.
She also is a buff of old-school romantic movies. She could envision herself dressed like Lizzie in "Pride and Prejudice" or Scarlett in "Gone With the Wind."
She shares five of her best vintage shopping tricks:
Seasonal shopping: Winter clothes are the best buy, says Rocha, thanks to their rich, often long-wear materials and more elaborate embellishment. "I buy a piece I can wear a lot - like a jacket. A jacket that's special, you can wear it with haute couture, H&M or Urban Outfitters."
Tailor to fit: Find a good tailor you can trust with sometimes delicate materials. Rocha's favorite green jacket is currently in Asia, in the hands of a talented seamstress.
It's a long way for a garment to go, she acknowledges, but vintage clothes have already had a long life and deserve to be treated well.
Ignore labels: Designer labels don't impress Rocha. An "investment piece" should be one that makes you feel good, not something that cost a small fortune.
"It's a question of, 'Do you like my outfit?' and if I'm comfortable in something. I think it's being comfortable that has given me my presence," she says.
Variety of shapes: Most vintage clothes stores have items from many eras - and women's body types have evolved and changed over time. Every item needs to be tried on, Rocha advises, and don't get hung up on the size on the label.
Suit your taste: There's no such thing as "trendy" in vintage shopping, so you can really look for items that suit your personality, Rocha says, such as her affinity for "Little House on the Prairie" pinafores and jumpers.
Her other obsession is capes. "I do wear capes whenever I can. We have to bring capes back - more people should be wearing them," she says.