Katie Ibsen
Exploring A Current Affair Vintage Pop-Up Market: The Physical and Digital Spatialities of Vintage
In the 20th century, creative consumers rummaged their way through secondhand clothing in search of unique garments through which to express individual style at an affordable price. In the process of digging through old clothes, they found much more than anachronistic style from decades gone by; they discovered vintage.
Through a case study of A Current Affair, a pop-up vintage market in Los Angeles and Brooklyn, my thesis examines the geographies of vintage and the spaces in which it is found, arguing that associations with cities and historical buildings have become part of the re-evaluation process that turns secondhand clothing into vintage. Strategic venue selection has resulted in further mainstreaming of vintage, elevating it to the status of being simply fashion.
In addition, my research places vintage in the context of digital media spaces, given the rise of social media platforms in the 21st century. I examine A Current Affair's Instagram, shedding light on the dialectical relationship between physical and digital spaces that has come to influence perceptions of vintage. This in turn shapes the identity of the vintage consumer. Further, by exploring an event which occurs in two cities and online, I extend the discourse of vintage studies, noting that social media influence transcends physical boundaries. I ask the field to reconsider the way we conceive of geographical spaces in relation to vintage and to fashion more broadly.
Finally, I assert that this transcendence of geographical boundaries has advanced A Current Affair's mission of moving away from secondhand and making vintage, in the market's words, "relevant within the realm of contemporary style."
