Vintage Shopping Tips From Designer Daphne Javitch—Just In Time for A Current Affair

With tender ideas like authenticity, emotion, and individuality emerging as key themes for Spring ’16, there’s never been a better time to search for great vintage fashion. New Yorkers looking to revamp their fall wardrobes this weekend are in luck: Los Angeles’s revered vintage marketplace A Current Affair is setting up shop in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park for the second time. Founded by vintage shop owners Richard Wainwright of New/Found and Joey Grana of Scout, the concept is just as it sounds: Hundreds of vendors from around the country (thoughtfully curated by the ACA team) will converge in a giant warehouse complete with snacks, coffee, and music—all the better for us to spend a full two days combing through the racks. Vogue editors have been buzzing about the shopping event all week, and upon hearing that Daphne Javitch—Ten Undies designer, vintage collector, and all-around cool girl—would be cohosting the fair, we had to call her to get the scoop.

“If you’re into vintage, you’re going to find a truly great vintage community at A Current Affair,” Javitch says. “A lot of these vendors are not from New York—they might be from California or Arizona, so it’s this totally fresh infusion. And not just anyone can show there. It’s very curated, so it’s not like some booths are just okay and the others are amazing. It’s all really, really good.”

Javitch would know—her wardrobe is almost exclusively vintage, save for a few designer investment pieces from The Row or Maryam Nassir Zadeh. Having a good eye is obviously important when you’re scouring a warehouse of clothes, but Javitch also has more than a decade of experience. “I started my career as a costume designer and had really low budgets, so I would go to the Salvation Army and literally look at every single thing,” she says. “I’ll get so down and dirty to find a great pair of jeans. Not everyone has that kind of stamina! You have to conserve your energy and try not to get overwhelmed, but I love the hunt and the one-off aspect.”

As for the best vendors at A Current Affair, some of Javitch’s personal favorites include Collection, Desert Vintage, 9th Street Haberdashery, and Scout. She describes her style as “a ’70s mom” influenced by Woody Allen’s female characters, with a uniform of high-rise pants, oversize sweaters, and basic T-shirts. But her (self-proclaimed) vintage obsession goes beyond getting dressed. “I feel really strongly that vintage is the most ecological and human choice,” she says. “It doesn’t cause any additional harm to the environment, and there’s this karmic circuitry when you buy something used.” Plus, no one else is going to have it—and surely, anyone who has walked down Spring Street just to see another girl in the same sweater can relate. What could be more personal or luxurious than that?

A Current Affair Pop-Up Vintage Marketplace
Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, October 18, 10:00 a.m.– 6:00 p.m.
Industry City
220 36th Street
Brooklyn, New York
Tickets: $12 for a one-day pass or $20 for early entry; $28 for a weekend pass

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