I opened Modest Typewriter Vintage 5 years ago after helping my grandmother clean out her upstairs bedroom and finding a plethora of beautiful vintage clothing, mostly never worn and still with tags. She was my favorite person on the planet, and we shared a special bond, mostly over our love of reading and shopping (and, apparently, hoarding clothing that we loved so much we couldn't bring ourselves to actually wear it- an essay for a totally different day) . With my trunk stuffed full of really-awesome-vintage-clothing-that-I-had-no-idea-what-to-do-with, I headed home where my husband suggested I finally consider that little idea I had to open an Etsy shop, which is exactly what I did.
Fast forward to the present, when my husband's job relocation found me leaving my job as a high school English teacher, and floundering around a bit before I decided to re-open this tiny vintage boutique among thousands of other tiny vintage boutiques.
So what sets me apart? Well, there's the shop's name, for starters. Although the title Modest Typewriter Vintage sounds odd to most (and can be a mouthful), it takes me back to my college days, where during a creative writing course's brain storming session, one fellow classmate threw out the phrase "the modest typewriter sat lonely on the desk." We debated for awhile the ridiculousness of a typewriter being "modest," yet finally decided that the phrase would really just make a good band name. Or Etsy shop.
Regardless of the shop's slightly ironic name, clothing, specifically vintage clothing, has always been my number one passion. I relish the thrill of the hunt to find that perfect item that I love and know someone else will love just as much as I do. Loaded up with plenty of anti-bacterial soap and reusable bags, I frequent thrift stores, where I do the digging that most people won't attempt (sometimes I don't blame you). Everything listed in the shop is picked based on wearability and style. Many of the items you find in the shop will be something that has a slightly modern take, maybe even something similar to what you've seen in the pages of Lucky (RIP) or InStyle. I do that on purpose, because I'm the first person to love a high fashion item but hate the price tag. This brings me to pricing, something that I try to be very consistent and fair about. The pricing test is as follows: if I wouldn't pay for it at X price, my customers shouldn't have to either (this tells you exactly how cheap, er *ahem,* thrifty, I am). I pick everything based on whether it will fit into an already existing wardrobe, which is something I also do for my own closet. In my opinion, vintage clothing doesn't have to exist on it's own. Rather, it should go with everything you already own so that you can wear in a million different ways and really get a second life out of it. Old stuff doesn't have to look "old." It can look brand new, especially if it's paired with just the right amount of new stuff.
I hope you have fun browsing the shop, and ultimately, I hope that you find something that you love and just can't wait to get your paws on and wear a million different ways, a million different times! <3