Sisters Cathy Peyton and Trudy Harte have a Love for Vintage clothes, so they decided to launch a business to bring slow and sustainable fashion to more people — and almost a year later, their TuLu Vintage had its first pop-up at Sunday’s vintage and collectibles market at the St. John’s Farmers’ Market.

“We’re really excited. We’ve been sort of gathering this stuff for months. And worrying and getting it all together. Getting the clothes ready and pricing it and figuring out how to do it all,” Peyton said.

Their table had jewlery on display, like brooches, earrings and watches. There were also racks of clothing and a few pairs of shoes and bags.

The appeal of vintage clothing is simple for Peyton; “I like the idea that it’s been around for so long, and the clothes are so well made.”

She said she understands the appeal of adding something new to a wardrobe.

“[But] I love having things in my closet that, you know, that I wore as a child or in the ’70s, because I was kind of in my prime in the ’70s. And now my daughters can wear what I wore in the ’70s, which is pretty cool.”

Unfortunately, she said, the sizing for vintage clothing tends toward smaller and medium builds but they’re on the hunt for larger fits.

“I want to be able to have it for everybody. I want to be inclusive,” she said.

Dating Vintage

Anything 20 years or older is considered vintage, said Peyton, adding they have a lot of clothing out on display from the 1960s and 1970s.

Peyton said she and her sister decided to start a business because they’re both energetic and wanted to do something new in retirement — and a vintage clothing business made sense.

“We love clothes. We love jewlery. We love fashion. And we liked the idea of, you know, reusable and sustainable clothing. And who doesn’t like to go and find something in a vintage store that’s a gem, right?”

Sunday’s market was the first event for TuLu — the name comes from a combination of the sisters’ childhood nicknames — but Peyton said they are in talks with other businesses around town to do pop-ups in.

“We want to keep it as a pop up because we want to move outside St. John’s too. Maybe go appear in Bonavista or Twillingate or something like that,” said Peyton.

Sustainable shopping 

Arlene Chafe and Julie Burnes were browsing through some of TuLu Vintage’s wares at Sunday’s market.

“We love vintage. We love looking for something unique,” said Chafe. “I’m looking for something more sustainable.”

For her it’s an environmental choice — she’d rather recycle something instead of buying a new product made in China.

“If we find something that nobody else wants, and I want, great,” added Burnes.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador