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Stephanie King: Sharing her passion for vintage clothing

Painted Bird Vintage

Stephanie King, owner of Painted Bird Vintage

If there’s anyone who knows how best to embrace Secondhand September with absolute style and confidence, it’s self-confessed clothing maximalist Stephanie King.

The smart-thinking sustainable stylist is a long-time fan of restyling. So much so in fact that what was once a hobby has now evolved into a thriving business.

Painted Bird Vintage is a carefully curated online clothing collection consisting of premium hand-selected vintage clothing from all over the world, including from Europe and the US.

The collection features classic and unique garments of the highest quality, with the philosophy that all pieces must be distinctly wearable. Condition is paramount. All items are quality checked and styles chosen that are easily incorporated into current looks. And better still, it’s almost guaranteed that you will never see another garment like it – anywhere.

Stephanie founded Painted Bird Vintage when she realised she wasn’t alone in her passion and appreciation for the ‘hard to find’ piece – bespoke styles, cuts and textiles found in premium vintage clothing from the 1940s to the 1970s.

“Clothes from these eras were designed to enhance and flatter the body form, swathe natural beauty, and produce a signature ‘statement look.’

“These creations were designed to last the test of time and represent a time where individuals chose patterns and fabrics, tailoring garments that created unique stories, and infusing designs with personality, identity, and occasion.”

Stephanie’s foray into the world of vintage started out when she was a teenage hairdressing apprentice, wanting to express her creativity through clothing but without the budget to support this desire.

“I was earning just over $4 an hour and quickly discovered that the only way I could afford individuality and style in my clothes was through shopping vintage.

“It was so much easier in those days; there was so much to choose from and I’d spend hours scouring the racks of vintage clothing.”

With her discerning eye for detail, Stephanie sources vintage clothing from private collections in Europe and beyond, including New Zealand.

“I’ve got a deep passion for working with people on how to incorporate vintage, secondhand, and recycled clothing into their current wardrobes.

“I also feel a responsibility to reduce the fashion footprint and promote clothing that comes from sources already produced and already in circulation.”

Painted Bird Vintage has more than 2000 unique and carefully chosen pieces, with more being added each week, ranging from everyday summer dresses to unique statement pieces or red-carpet event wear.

“Once complete, the site should have more than 5000 quality individual items, making it arguably New Zealand’s largest exclusively true vintage offering.”

Stephanie’s vintage clothing is mainly dedicated to garments created from the 1940s to the late ’70s.

“Authentic vintage adds a uniqueness, is an extension of personality, and provides a ‘style’ presence to the wearer. When the piece you wear may be the last of its kind or, likely all the way down here in New Zealand, the only piece of its kind, the look emulates creativity, authenticity, sometimes humour, or fun and a little bit of the risk associated with not following the rest of the fish in the stream.

“Wearing vintage brings a sense of what we feel fashion was in days gone by. The style, fit, and form equates to a kind of visual fashion magic.”

Some of Stephanie’s own favourite vintage pieces are highly evocative, both for design elements and the stories infused into them.

“Some of the pieces I love stem from the history that I made with them. For example, my favourite wool and diamante shirt. It was gifted to me by one of the collectors in Australia that I deal with.

Painted Bird Vintage

Stephanie in her favourite wool and diamante shirt

“She and I hit it off as kindred spirits and her ‘eye’ for her collection entirely resonates. Many of the pieces in her collection she was not ready to part with … yet. It is a feeling I can wholeheartedly sympathise with. The shirt is a wonderful neutral cream wool, has every original diamante still attached, fits like a dream, and makes me feel a bit ‘extra’. It is the perfect piece to wear with my equivalent of jeans i.e., leather trousers or a beautiful skirt if I am out for an evening.”

Painted Bird Vintage

This Quant style dress was bought from a vintage store in Silverdale

“My yellow kind of Quant style dress is always on summer repeat and a definite favourite. I bought it from a vintage store in Silverdale many moons ago now from a wonderful lady who was part of the inspiration for me to open a vintage store. She had the most fabulous things and a great eye. She came from the UK, had great suppliers and was an absolutely beautiful person. It was sad to see her go; she left a gap on the North Shore for a home for authentic quality vintage. This dress reminds me of her whenever I wear it. It originated from Italy and the large yellow flowers remind me of fried eggs.”

Painted Bird Vintage

A piece de resistance: the Oscar De La Renta dress

“I found an Oscar De La Renta dress when fossicking in France for beautiful vintage. Visiting foreign countries and bringing a tiny bit of history back with you is wonderful and for me, this is a ‘piece de resistance’. It offers memories of the store’s beginnings and my curating of the collection. This involved traipsing around Europe with my husband and meeting the collectors and suppliers, which took me years to find and communicate with. The dress is entirely my style and colouring as though it was meant for me – of course, it wasn’t! When you are confronted with mountains of clothing vintage, retro, and preloved (enough to clothe small cities), it is hard to say no to keeping all the fabulous things and trying to wear your way through ‘more.’ As a collector, it can be very difficult.”

Painted Bird Vintage

The crescent-shaped vintage bag was gifted by a collector in Italy

“When we were in Italy, I dealt with another collector there who gifted me as thanks a super vintage leather handbag. It is an unusual crescent shape and it walked me around several cities and gelatos. Memories seeing sights and dealing with warm generous people keep this piece high on the list of things I love in my wardrobe. It is one of the things I bring out to be cared for and attended to annually, along with my other leather items. It makes me smile whenever I look at it.”

Painted Bird Vintage is a uniquely addictive destination, which is part fashion house, part fashion archive, and wholly immersive.

Supporting Stephanie’s Painted Bird Vintage online collection is a new addition called The Aviary: a hybrid boutique solution in Albany on Auckland’s North Shore, designed to emulate the taste of an in-store retail shopping experience.

The Aviary offers one-on-one fitting room appointments where shoppers can book online to try on their choice of up to eight items from the online collection, allowing them to see and feel each piece before purchase.

“It’s all part of my desire to offer personal one-on-one styling sessions to help people create or adapt their own looks that fill them with confidence.”

Images supplied