Nadia, famous blogger of FrouFrouu and internationally acclaimed for her streetstyle is actually, surprising approachable. At least that’s what I found when I spotted her at the Birmingham Vintage Fair held on June 5th at the Custard Factory.
Nadia Sarwar has been featured on Vogue Nippon, Forbes, Glamour and various other sites and mags. She mixed vintage with menswear effortlessly while maintaining a classic ladylike image all at the same time. Her use of hats is her signature, in my mind.
As I was browsing the dozens of fox tails, 80s prom dresses and vintage jewelry at the Vintage Fair, I thought I recognized Nadia as she wondered around the fair with a friend, equipped with a DSLR camera slung around his neck. I was a bit star-struck but my cousin who I was with had the courage to go up and ask her whether she’s a blogger. She smiled to ease us a bit and responded yes. After gushing for a split second and handing her my card for The Stylester, I asked to take her photo for my streetstyle section. She graciously agreed!
Check out the amazing photography and her streetstyle on Nadia’s blog: Froufrouu.
What is Vintage fashion? Vintage means various things. It could be a conscious decision to be Green and recycle clothing – may it be giving yours away or buying used, it could be an insatiable thirst to hunt for amazing fashion from the past or just finding great deals of great clothes that pass the ultimate sartorial test of fabric, fit and construction which is not easy to come by. For me, it a bit of all the three things above.
One thing that you can be sure of about people who are vintage fans is that they are into it because they truly love it and not because it’s a passing trend or a fad. One of these vintage lovers is Sammy Davis. I got a chance to meet up with Sammy in her hood (read about Spanish Harlem here) a little while back and heard all about her love affair with vintage. Even as an editor at a top online magazine in NYC, she didn’t hesitate when her love of vintage beckoned her to take a leap of faith, leave the security of a day job behind and start her own vintage line: Sammy Davis Vintage.
The Sammy Davis Vintage line celebrated it’s first year anniversary last Sunday with an inspiring party-slash-charity-sale complete with endlessly flowing wine and pastries baked with love. The highlight of the event was the fabulous clothing that was on sale and the fact that $200 of proceeds from the sale is going to Haiti to support a young girl’s education.
The event was a total success with influential fashion bloggers from in and around NYC stopping by to support and shop! I couldn’t resist trying some vintage goodies on myself and succumbed to a gorgeous sexy cropped jacket that I had to bring home with me. Not only would I never be able to find something like this in stores today but definitely not at the price I got it for – a mere $20! The jacket fits like a glove, almost as if someone in their past life tailored it to a future vision of my body. This piece definitely passed my sartorial test of fit, fabric and construction. It is my little gem that I dug up and found within Sammy’s haystack of fine vintage treasures.
Sammy D. Vintage collection on display
Sammy with Stylester - Ritu posing in a vintage red velvet and net hat and suede gloves.
My Vintage Cropped Jacket - my new prized possession.
