Perhaps they sat in the closet for decades, forgotten or unwanted. But outfits that had their day in the sun are coming back from behind clouds of obscurity. From luxurious cashmeres to breezy linens, vintage clothing from one person’s past is becoming become the newest star of another person’s wardrobe. Zoë Levin-Deluty of Englewood, and Jordana Rabinowitz, formerly of Englewood and now a resident of Jerusalem, have both made businesses out of finding, curating and selling clothes made in the 1920s to 1980s that are turning heads in the 21st century.
Levin-Deluty got her first taste in fashion from her grandfather, a button manufacturer in England. She grew up in suburban Detroit, but spent summers with him in England. “I got bitten by the fashion bug, going to flea markets in the East End of London with him, looking for inspiration for his button designs,” she recalled. She also went to antique markets with her mother who is an avid collector of costume jewelry.
For Levin-Deluty, fashion was a hobby, not a career. She came to New York to attend nursing school at Beth Israel Hospital, and lived in an area of the East Village that was home to many vintage clothing stores. “I would buy things that appealed to me like 50s beaded cardigans and 60s shift dresses; fashions I could make relevant even though they were decades old.” Soon, people started coming up to her, asking where she got her outfits, telling her they wanted ones like that, too. “I became the vintage clothing personal shopper fairy,” Levin-Deluty said. She began going to estate sales and auctions, amassing clothes and accessories from each decade. She was a nurse at Beth Israel for 15 years and is currently a medical consultant for a law firm.
In the early 1990s Levin-Deluty began selling the clothes she collected. When she moved to Englewood in 1999, she took a more structured but still part-time approach to the business, and called it A Backward Glance. “I’m more of a personal shopping experience for people who want unique items to wear to an event, and don’t want to see themselves coming and going,” Levin-Deluty said. “My clients call me from weddings to say that people are telling them how gorgeous they look. I saw a niche opportunity based on people being taken by the uniqueness of the things I had that they couldn’t find themselves.”
Levin-Deluty only looks for one-of-a-kind items. How does she know? “I can judge by the fabric, the cut of the clothes, the condition, everything mint. I know what I’m looking for.” Like a handbag she points out that was made in the 50s by Kathryn Bourland of Ridgewood, New Jersey, one of the first women buyers at Saks in the late 1940s, who also designed and needlepointed her own handbags. The names on Levin-Deluty’s labels are top-tier designers from the past, although they may be unfamiliar to today’s fashion consumer.
Vintage clothing can solve a woman’s great fashion dilemma: how to blend in, yet be different—but not too different. “Fashion is cyclical, it’s based on decades gone by,” Levin-Deluty said. “But I am the curator of the prototype; I have the real thing from the 30s or 40s and I want to share my knowledge and treasures. The clothes were better made than with generous amounts of fabric and careful stitching. Nowadays, clothing is largely mass-produced abroad and skimpy on fabric, often with little room for alteration.”
Putting together an outfit gets her creative juices flowing. It’s about mixing and matching—decades, colors, accessories—and blending them into the perfect look. That can mean a 1940s sweater with a 2016 skirt. “I help someone find their unique style; I’m not trying to convert them. I open people’s eyes to another aspect of fashion.”
Just as she has clothes from all decades, Levin-Deluty has customers of all ages: people old enough to remember Jackie Kennedy’s pillbox hats to millennials who like the Woodstock hippie look, “even though their notion of Woodstock might be Snoopy’s little yellow sidekick!” The common thread is people who are searching for something unique. Some are more avant-garde than others, she observed, but they appreciate the quality of the textiles, and think outside the box.
Orthodox Jewish women who want to be fashionable but face challenges of modesty find that vintage clothes can be more to their taste—more elegant, longer hems, more covered up. A 1920s fashionable cloche can cover all of a woman’s hair, while a pillbox hat or fascinator, like the ones England’s Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, wears, can even be worn atop a sheitel. And there’s never a problem with shatnez; Deluty doesn’t bring in anything with a wool/linen mix.
Costume specialists in the entertainment industry are frequent customers. Levin-Deluty rented outfits to the television show “The Carrie Diaries” in 2012 and more recently to the series “Mad Men.” Customers have come to her for elegant Purim outfits and costume-themed parties.
Levin-Deluty’s pre-owned clothes are all meticulously cleaned and maintained. Some may be old but have never been worn, like the collection of 1940s hats she bought from a milliner going out of business.
Then there are the interesting back stories, like the one about a beautiful tunic and matching pants in shimmering gold fabric. They were made in the 1950s by a seamstress brought up in Lebanon, the first graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1946, who was courted by a prince of the Saudi royal family. He gave her the bolt of fabric as a gift. “Now she wants the outfit that she lovingly made long ago to go to a good home, along with the story,” Levin-Deluty said. To view A Backward Glance’s collection by decade, visit www.Zoëlevinvintage.com.
Jordana Rabinowitz grew up in Englewood, where she attended the Moriah School and Frisch Yeshiva High School, followed by a year at the Emunah V’Omanut Seminary in Israel learning Torah and art. She had always dreamed of continuing her education at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and attended the school when she returned from Israel. After graduation, she worked for an intimate-apparel designer. “I was doing everything I always dreamed of but I felt a void, something lacking. Whenever someone mentioned Israel, I had an envious feeling. I thought ‘maybe I should try seeing what it’s like living there, not in seminary.’” She went back for the summer and the experience “totally exceeded” her expectations. In 2011 she made aliyah.
Soon after moving to Jerusalem, near the shuk, Rabinowitz met Shira Kaplan and her husband, who owned Trumpeldor Vintage and Second Hand, a small vintage clothing and household goods store also near the shuk. After working there for two years, Rabinowitz became their partner.
“What I love about vintage is there’s a story with everything,” she said in a phone interview from Israel. “Fashion should tell a story.” Rabinowitz said her personal style is a mix of vintage and today, and since moving to Jerusalem she dresses much more modestly. “I like bold prints and color. I’ve been able to travel so I pick up a bit of things from different cultures. I wear what catches my eye.”
The Jerusalem store draws a variety of Israelis, Europeans and Anglos, Rabinowitz said. Israelis like the 60s and 70s free-flowing style, while Europeans and Americans like a more tailored look. She said the other day a New Zealand designer came in looking for clothes from the 1920s and 30s. And she has a customer who only wants clothes made in the 1950s. People find Trumpeldor by word of mouth and searching online. The website is www.trumpeldorvintage.com.
The partners get their clothing from estate sales in Israel and overseas trips. Rabinowitz said when they travel for any reason, they search for clothes. Amsterdam has a great vintage market, she noted. Paris and Romania are also good. Recently a partner was in Tennessee and came back with some great finds. The store accepts donations and what they don’t keep they donate elsewhere.
For the past few years, the partners have been rebranding the store, making it more of a presence. “We’ve done fashion shows in the shuk with live music; there’s huge nightlife there, really fun. Before that we did a show with clothing from different decades. We’re working on a logo and making ourselves into a strong brand image,” Rabinowitz said. Another goal is to publish a coffee table book and calendar. A former employee, who has moved to Denmark, was an accomplished photographer and took beautiful photos using customers as models.
Rabinowtiz said the store will soon be carrying a new line currently in the works. “‘Cloaked’ is a brand I am starting on my own. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to create a line, after having spent a few years working for an intimate-apparel designer,” she explained. “I want to fuse together my love for intimate apparel, vintage clothing and dressing modestly.” She said “Cloaked” will be “a line of slips and wardrobe basics inspired by vintage silhouettes made in all natural, breathable fabrics, manufactured in Israel. The line is being created to add beauty to clothes, not take away.” “Cloaked” will make its debut at Trumpeldor and then be available at boutiques in Israel and online.
By Bracha Schwartz
