Vintage-clothing aficionados are either pawing through piles of polyester looking for that one treasure, arms itching and aching … or paying an obscene amount for something that the passage of time has made fragile, even if it doesn’t have sweat stains (and it might!).
Robyn Goldberg, the owner of the Kit Vintage, shows a glamorous middle way. At her store on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, there are just a few racks, but what’s there, to quote Spencer Tracy in “Pat and Mike,” is cherce.
With the help of Ms. Goldberg, a special-occasions specialist who also does a brisk bridal business, you will discover the work of unjustly forgotten designers like Mary Ann Restivo, Bill Tice and Luis Estévez among the Vuitton and Versace. “Accessible vintage luxury,” is the goal, she said. “I want someone to be able to come in and take it home and not just wish for it.”
Among her devoted regulars is Lou Eyrich, the costume designer who supplied the much admired outfits for the FX series “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans.” These included an ice-blue Swedish couture ball gown for Demi Moore as Ann Woodward and a silk lounge set for Naomi Watts as Babe Paley, both from the Kit Vintage.
“I call her frantic: ‘This is what I need!’ And she sends the perfect Upper East Side elegant dress, perfect satin shine, perfect train,” Ms. Eyrich said on the phone between fittings for another production. “Thank you, Robyn!”
