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Hey, We’re Vintage Now!

I was feeling sorry for baby boomers (it’s a chronic condition) when I came across a New York Times article on vintage clothing stores in Tampa, Florida.

It would appear that while no one wants to hear any lip from us, they are happy to take the clothes off our backs to fill up their vintage clothes shops. That’s right, your wardrobe is now considered vintage baby!

According to the owner of Sherry’s YesterDaze (gotta love that stoner reference!), she relies on baby boomers cleaning out their closets. For her, “every day is like Christmas.” Wow! So glad we can make your day like that. You don’t want our opinions, you don’t like our politics, you think we’ve squandered your inheritance (actually, the bubble burst did that, but we will bear the blame for that as well), but you are happy to take our old rags.

If you start seeing people walking down the street looking like a rerun of Saturday Night Fever, prepare to get the blame for that too. Platform shoes, mini skirts, white leather loafers, ankle-high mens boots, beaded bags, bell bottom jeans, pillbox hats, leisure suits, peace sign earrings, tie-dyed T-shirts, flower power prints, love beads, mod gear, headbands, patch madras shorts, go-go girl dresses (almost forgot those, didn’t you?) – what a legacy we are leaving behind.

Even our furniture is in demand. Molded plastic chairs, teak desks, lava lamps, orb lighting, anything with orange upholstery – it’s all there for the taking.

So it’s come to this. We are reviled by all because there are just so damn many of us (which I always take pains to point out is not our fault – they could have stopped at one baby!), but the generations that followed us are happy to relieve us of our life possessions.

We aren’t going to bequeath a lot of money – but it turns out that when it comes to clothing and accessories, we are cache cows!

Jay Harrison is a graphic designer and writer whose work can be seen at DesignConcept. He's written a mystery novel, which therefore makes him a pre-published author.

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