C'est Chic
People are seeking to turn back the clock,
longing to tap into that feeling of being more present. Some vintage-indulgers
never knew this feeling due to having been born into the digital age: the
moment they were born was being posted on Facebook, they're going to class
virtually, and/or they never know what it's like to click through TV channels.
The Louisiana
Vintage Festival held its inaugural event at House of Blues in August 2025,
and it was a smashing success. The rooms of the venue/restaurant were filled
with clothing, toys, and knick knacks that eager people combed through. This
event was organized by vintage store owner Chris Olsen, who felt the allure of
vintage his entire life. "My parents would always take us antiquing. There's
something about looking through those old stores, trying to find a piece that
you're looking for, that always felt like a treasure hunt," Olsen said. "Later,
my dad started a company restoring antiques. He would sometimes have priceless
artifacts hanging around our house that people had purchased for often more
money than our house was worth."
Olsen collected and
sold vintage items as a hobby until the pandemic. His day job of hospitality
industry advertising took a hit, so he took his side business full time. "We
have two stores. One is called Vice & Graft, where we sell things that are
basically from the 1970s all the way back to the Victorian era. Our other
store, Swamp Rags, definitely caters more to the younger demographic. It's
mostly '80s and '90s T-shirts and denim, and that is heavily in the Gen Z
range, but it's just as popular, if not more so, with even younger kids. My
kids, who are 10 and 11, really only wear vintage or vintage-inspired items,
and that's the same for all of their friends."
Old, worn T-shirts
aren't just a fashion statement. It's a stand against creating waste. Olsen
explained, "There's a huge segment of the market right now that really loves
the sustainability of vintage and often are buying vintage as a deliberate
pushback against the fast fashion trend of the previous years. People now want
clothing again that will last them for a generation or that has already been
used and loved. They want to be able to see that wear, that patina, that love,
in the clothing that they wear."
Louisiana Vintage
Fest sold out its first event with 2,000 attendees. The second edition will
cater to 5,000 attendees with double the amount of vendors over two days in
August. Olsen continued, "I think that this speaks to why retail stores in the
vintage world can be successful today, even with the proliferation of online
shopping. People want to feel a garment, they want to hold it in their hands,
they want that experience of trying something on. There's something in that
hunt, in the satisfaction of finding it, and, of course, in the nostalgia of
what once was."
Another con that
delves into nostalgia is the Louisiana Retro Con, which has experienced
huge growth in a short time, a testament to the surge in popularity of vintage.
The conventions have been able to add celebrity appearances, costume contests,
freeplay gaming areas, and Q&A panels in between the many vendors. "I've
noticed a lot of people come searching specifically for video games, and, a lot
of times, you'll notice Nintendo titles from the different generations in
people's shopping bags," noted Davey Lusco. "It's nice to see the fans that
come in looking for Sega products. We also have one of the biggest fan bases in
the area for Pokémon, with many attendees coming specifically to hunt
down that specific trading card to add to their collection or looking for that
specific title in the series' respective video game franchise."
Video games had a
hold on Lusco, now the director of the Louisiana Retro Con with Morgan City and
Gonzales events. "I can still remember playing a Pac-Man plug & play
that they used to sell at retail stores in the very early 2000s on a giant RCA
television that had the speakers at the bottom. My very first console was the
Nintendo GameCube, and my first-ever handheld device was a GameBoy Advance SP,"
Lusco recounted. "The very young version of me would end up never selling
several of the games played on these consoles from my childhood, and,
eventually, I continued to collect even further. I now own over 3,000 video
games for multiple different game systems, spanning across the ages before us
up into the present-day selections."
This drive for
gaming led Lusco to attend many comic book conventions seeking video games, but
he felt the selection was lacking. In 2022, Lusco planned to create a proper
retro-item convention where every genre of vintage-seeker could find something.
"I wanted to think bigger and offer something that would eventually be a retro
celebration for the entirety of the state of Louisiana to enjoy. The first
event was held in a small recreation center in my hometown of Houma, LA, where
hundreds of people ended up piling at the doors waiting to get inside and it
was even raining."
For both casual
collectors and serious thrifters, ThriftCon will be making its New
Orleans debut on May 9 at the Morial Convention Center. Over 100 small
businesses will be coming together to provide attendees with vintage clothing,
collectables, and so much more.
From hardcore
collectors to kids learning about the satisfaction of physical media, these
retro conventions appeal to a wide range of people. Lusco said, "I truly
believe that a lot of us have nostalgia for something that we grew up with or
an item that may take us back to a time where life was peaceful. Everyone
deserves that happiness returning into their lives, and I believe we're
assisting with keeping dreams alive for many generations to come. We thoroughly
look forward to serving any and all that attend."
Between big events, you can go back to the past at Ms. Claudia's, Funky Monkey, Junk's Above, Century Girl Vintage, Mad Liberation Vintage, bdffrnt Vintage, 90's Kid Closet, Old Kids on the Block, Glue, and Slow Down with Future Shock Video rental store inside. Happy hunting.
