“Those are awesome,” I remarked.
“Those are awesome,” he remarked back about my shoes — a pair of Vans slip-ons adorned with the cover of the 1976 Kiss album “Rock and Roll Over.”
The fact that Holloway’s wares are starting to show up in national fashion magazines tells me I might actually be more of a fashionista than I let on. (Wait. I literally just looked down and noticed an old stain on my shirt left last summer by some particularly juicy Polish sausage. Note to self: Take this shirt out of rotation.)
A longtime collector of vintage clothes — “They’re old Florsheim,” he said of his shoes, “when Florsheim was good” — Holloway opened his store, Vintage of the Past, a couple of months ago, having outgrown his original location.
The boutique began this past fall as a display in the middle of the mall, kind of like Hickory Farms for “Mad Men” aficionados.
It’s a unique addition for the local mall.
“There’s not one stitch of clothing in here from China,” he said.
More to the point, though, if my wife is to be believed, the Upper Valley Mall isn’t exactly synonymous with high fashion.
“My store is a New York store in Springfield, Ohio,” said Holloway, who was born and raised here. The prices, however, would seem to be in line with Springfield expectations — a hand-painted chiffon dress from the ’60s sells for $35.
“In New York City,” Holloway said, “it’d probably be $350 or more.”
Vintage prom dresses have been a big seller this spring, especially those from the ’70s and ’80s.
“They want unusual,” Holloway said of the girls buying prom dresses from him.
“They don’t want to be caught over there,” he added, looking to the bridal and tux store directly across from his shop.
His most loyal customer, locally based fashion photographer Misti Leigh, was skeptical when her sister told her about this guy selling vintage clothes at the mall.
“It wasn’t just old, used clothes,” Leigh said. “It was vintage fashion.”
Leigh regularly buys clothes from Vintage of the Past for her work and stops by every week.
“I’ve been to a lot of thrift stores and I don’t go back,” she said. “He’s doing something right.”
A girl’s dress from 1950, purchased in January, turned up in a four-page photo spread by Leigh in the March issue of New York-based Ellements Magazine.
“When she told me,” Holloway said, “I about dropped through the floor.”
Holloway, who didn’t want to divulge his age, comes across as the kind of unique individual who can rock a pair of white patent-leather loafers from the ’60s and a giant belt buckle. As a kid, he used to hit the church rummage sale across the street from where his grandparents lived on South Fountain Avenue.
“I used to find furs for $1,” he marveled.
In 1978, he started selling vintage clothes at the Springfield Antique Show and Flea Market, and continues to this day.
After all, vintage fashion has never been hotter.
“At the last Extravaganza,” Holloway said, “I sold over 500 purses.”
“Put 250,” he added quickly. “I don’t want people thinking I have lots of money.”
Contact this reporter at amcginn@coxohio.com.
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