Say what you may about people obsessed with vintage, but one thing seems to be a universal truth: they just love the thrill of discovering and sharing. Stache's Jennifer Mielke couldn't be a better example of what it means to be a vintage-lover to the core. Check out her own carefully curated stash every week at the market and let her show you what she's got.
A&F: What's the story with Stache?
Stache:
I had a boutique in South Beach on Lincoln Road from 2003 to 2005. I am a designer and I was working with independent designers and selling their work. But I soon realized that that concept didn't really work in Miami because people there weren't interested in buying things by people they had never heard of. They wanted name brands and the big names started to come shortly thereafter.
A&F: A sad state of affairs for indie retailers. What made you get into vintage?
Stache: I grew up in the midwest in a pretty rural town in Ohio and the main avenue for creative self-expression for me was through clothes. When I moved to New York, I worked for a knitwear designer for Anthropologie and I realized that there was tremendous value in unique vintage items. For 10 years, I basically bought items that I intended to resell but I never did start to sell them until I started Artists & Fleas and going online late last year.
A&F: Where do you keep everything?
Stache: Box Butler.
A&F: What's your style?
Stache: It's a little eclectic. I have a very romantic attachment to Audrey Hepburn and Ginger Rogers, old movie stars who were very feminine and very classic. But I also seek inspiration from the neighborhood and I find that the combo between classic and this new edgy thing works really well.
A&F: Where do you find inspiration?
Stache: The L train. New York City. I'm a picker and I will go through a rack a mile-long to find the one thing that speaks to me.
Check out the goods from Stache including vintage clothing, jewelry and accessories, and an exquisite collection of housewares. New finds appear every week. Stache is in the house every Saturday & Sunday from 12-8pm at the market.
