By Christina Passariello
Wallstreet Journal
While vintage clothing is a hobby for many fashionistas, it's a job for Pamela Golbin, curator in chief of the Musée de la Mode et du Textile. She has selected thousands of items, including old Chanel gowns, Dior suits and Balenciaga coats, to be preserved in Paris's fashion museum.
Vintage fashion "is like my passport: It tells me the history of the person who wore it and who designed it," Ms. Golbin says.
But when it comes to wearing clothing from several decades ago, there are some big challenges. Women's body shapes have changed, making the fit of many garments uncomfortable. Old fabrics can be delicate to handle and to wash. Ms. Golbin limits her own use of vintage items to a few family hand-me-downs. Her favorite items are her mother's 1970s knit sweaters and accessories from her grandmother, including some jewelry and a pair of Hermès black evening shoes from the 1950s. "It's very personal," Ms. Golbin says.
Gorgeous as it is, vintage fashion can be impractical for modern women. Ms. Golbin's grandmother has carefully preserved a Christian Dior gown from the designer's first collection, more than 60 years ago, when his lavish use of fabric offended the French, who were recovering from World War II. But when Ms. Golbin tried it on, she fell to the floor under its weight. "When you look at vintage fashion, you realize how much modern technology has brought to the industry," Ms. Golbin says.
At work, Ms. Golbin painstakingly tends to her vintage acquisitions to help them stand the test of time. Each piece she buys is vetted for bugs. She says it's impossible to know how the clothing has been stored -- if it has been contaminated with termites or moths in someone's attic. So the first thing she does is have the item washed at the highest heat possible to kill any eggs. "If one piece is infested, it can infect the entire collection," she says. She fills her armoire with cedar sticks to keep her clothes bug-free.
Fragile vintage fashion usually requires more care than modern apparel. Ms. Golbin advises laying heavy beaded clothing flat, since the weight of the garment may break the foundation of the beading. Other clothes, such as coats, should always be hung up to prevent the fabric from folding in an awkward way. Use wood hangers that correspond to the size of the garment, Ms. Golbin says. Otherwise, the hanger could poke a hole through the fabric or stretch it. ________
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