Vintage Threads

Vintage fashion has never been as popular – or as accessible. Fashion once privileged the 'new', with only uni students buying secondhand 'rags'. But today even pop stars like Florence Welch favour clothes from bygone eras. Now Melbourne stylist Nadia Barbaro is publishing Vintage Girls, featuring a set of fashionistas who model, and talk, vintage attire – among them Kimbra, Australian ballerina Juliet Burnett, and Mad Men costumier Janie Bryant. Vintage Girls, available as either a limited edition text or as an e-book, will be launched at 2014's Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival, and its frocks displayed.

The versatile Barbaro has styled fashion editorials, ad campaigns and music videos (including for singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko, also profiled in the tome). “I got into styling because I really do love fashion,” she says. “My background was a Bachelor of Creative Arts at Melbourne Uni, so I did a lot of film studies. I ended up working in wardrobe in the film industry – and I still do that. [But] I also love the opportunity to do fashion shoots 'cause they're so different – they're just completely different ways of approaching the clothing.”

Barbaro's attraction to vintage began in childhood. She'd admire her Italian grandmother's old handbags and dresses. A teen Barbaro scoured Camberwell Market for clothing distinct from that sold in chain stores. Later, she became Creative Director of the online fashion mag Sesame – and Vintage Girls similarly originated as a “personal” project. “I knew that there are other women who are really interested in vintage fashion and I wanted to hear their stories and meet with them. I just think, especially now when there's so much fast fashion, [or] disposable fashion, it's really an interesting topic to focus on.”

Barbaro admits to having “a wishlist” of women she esteemed for their individualistic style and work. However, she likewise sought to represent women from different cities. As such, Vintage Girls has taken Barbaro around two years to assemble – and seen her cross the Atlantic. In London she dressed Sarah Owen, Lily Allen's older sister, who runs the vintage-hire outlet Lucy in Disguise. Barbaro holds that women, resisting the constant turnover of fashion trends, desire unique and timeless garments. Then, being of higher quality, and recycled, vintage appeals to those concerned with the environment and the ethics of manufacturing en masse. Collectors can raid op shops, markets and eBay, and curated boutiques exist, too. Vintage risks looking “costumey” but, as Barbaro's 'girls' demonstrate, carrying it off is all about the styling. “I wanted to share vintage in a new and contemporary way… It doesn't have that granny stigma to it. There's more beyond just '60s dresses at the op shop – there's a whole world of different, exciting clothes that are vintage to look at and to wear.”