It's a community resource you won't find in a museum. It's a vintage clothing collection going back to the 1860s in a corner of the Seattle Goodwill Store. It's not open to the public, but KING 5 photojournalist Randy Eng was given a peek at the fashionable treasures.
People within our community are pretty excited to find out we actually have a vintage selection, says Goodwill spokeswoman Katherine Boury. They have a passion for vintage and they like the fact that they can keep some of this history alive within our community.
She displays a button-up woman's boot from the early 1900s, a woman's sailor-collar swimsuit from the 1910s, a beaded chiffon and silk flapper dress from the 1920s and Springalator shoes from the 1960s. There's even a pastel pink lace dress worn to tea at Buckingham Palace, complete with a laminated invitation.
The collection's manager, Carla Moar, opens a barn door revealing shelves of boots and shoes. There are racks of hats and purses. She demonstrates a 1960s clutch. It looks like a folded (Vogue) magazine, but you open it, and it's a purse!
The vintage collection is tapped for frequent fashion shows put on by volunteers.
Volunteer Kaye Ostgard models a smart, 1950s era red, silk-wool coat dress with black velvet collar. I love the hat, the gloves and the way women dressed up at this time, she beams. So volunteering for the Goodwill gives me the opportunity to dress up, wear these beautiful clothes and be a lady.
