Oklahoma City Woman Turns Her Passion For Vintage Clothing Into A Business

Buying second-hand is becoming second nature for many as a trend for vintage clothes grows.

"I just find these pieces to be so different, nobody can remake these," said Retro Blonde Vintage owner Megan Hines. "The material. down to the buttons, you can't find stuff like that anymore. And just the construction of them, they don't make things they used to."

From a cozy spot in her living room Hines often times lose track of time while sewing, patching, and repairing vintage clothes.

"I get very, very into it. It's like time is nothing whenever I do this. Hours will go by sometimes and I'll look at my phone and three hours have passed," she said while hand-stitching a pair of old Army pants.

Hines is a self-taught seamstress, who's turned a respect for all things retro into a side business of buying and re-selling vintage clothing.

"The handmade pieces are the pieces I look for, honestly... Patterns, color obviously. The colors alone, I love crazy. The crazier the better," she said.

Hines has an entire room dedicated to vintage clothing with racks loaded with pieces that span at least nine decades, many of which require some special TLC.

"It's fascinating watching a piece transform and bringing the colors back or fixing a huge rip," she said. "They're so fragile. So, it's a whole other beast loving vintage versus really loving vintage and preserving them."

Her love for vintage and flare for style comes from her grandmother.

"I always went through my grandma's closet and sort of touched all of her clothes and I'd like put on her jewelry growing up," said Hines. "And she's still fabulous today."

Hines started out selling some clothes for her grandma 8 years ago, then created "Retro Blonde Vintage" a year later to sell vintage items online and in Oklahoma City shops. Of course, she likes to test out the pieces and keep some when she can.

"I will put it on and I'm like, 'dangit it fits.' Then I have to do a spin in it, and I will wear it once, then I'll recycle it. I'll wash it, clean it. mend it and send it on its way," she said.

On Saturday she's taking her shop on the road, headed to Tulsa for the Time Travelers Vintage Expo at the Tulsa Fairgrounds.  

"I'm pulling all my unicorns out, which I have kept for many years because they're immaculate and they're so, oh my gosh, they're so beautiful, you just want to keep them," said Hines.

Hines says her business isn't about making money, her ultimate goal is to encourage recycling and reusing and to help keep history alive by showing you can take something old and make it new again.

"They need to be worn, they need to be seen and they need to be loved. Pieces now... they're not the same," she said.

The Time Travelers Vintage Expo is Saturday from 11 am-6 pm at Central Park Hall at the Tulsa Fairgrounds.