About
For me, vintage clothing has always been about the stories - a form of escapism through fashion. And just as each piece of clothing carries with it endless possibilities of future connotations, meanings and contexts, it also arrives heavy with history. I love to unravel those narratives. From the traces of previous owners; someones name scrawled in ink across a label; someones neat or not-so-neat hand stitched repair to a hem or underarm or the careful alterations that reflect someones changing physicality. To the thumbed photographs that sometimes fall out of disintegrating tissue paper or scuffed cardboard boxes. These garments, often tailor made to someones exact measurements and carefully altered through their lives remind me of shedded skins. On the hanger, they manifest like shadows of their previous owners. They are history made tactile, penetrable and re-liveable. Fundamentally this is an obsession with time. Or the relentless passing of it.
As for the shop, Sartorial Matters started out as an overflowing wardrobe in desperate need of a ruthless culling and transitioned into what was to become a bit of mission. Located in central Edinburgh, I handpick all garments, an eclectic collection that very much reflect the vintage I love best, from art deco inspired 70s pieces, novelty prints, delicate chiffons, sumptuous bias cut velvets from the 1930s to bold dramatic 50s florals. I love how history will be carried on and passed forward with each new owner. And I love all the stories that will follow.
