Kaitlyn Hughes | features editor

Julie Boone came to Heinz History Center’s 11th Annual Vintage Pittsburgh event on Saturday looking for a piece she could add to her closet. After seeing the assortment of items, she decided to get creative and found a pair of sheets she would later turn into a dress.

“It’s been inspiring,” Boone said.

Dozens of local vendors took over six floors of the museum to sell their vintage goods. Everything from rolling pins to watches to a silver horse trinket was up for grabs.

“This year’s retro fair was our biggest and best yet,” Jessica Smyth, public programs manager said in an email to The Duke.

There were a record number of vendors and attendees present.

Everyone came out to the museum for various reasons, some for the love of the game and others for the environmental impacts of buying second-hand items.

William Hogle of Sunset Vintage has been attending vendor shows and markets for about 30 years.

“It was probably born in my blood,” Hogle said.

When he was a teenager, Hogle would attend shows with his godparents, who were antique dealers. At first, he would just help them set up by moving furniture, but his role in the vintage community grew from there. He eventually found himself spotting good deals for retro items everywhere.

With a focus on the unusual, the main items Hogle carries in his collection are furniture, lighting and wall decor.

But Hogle’s favorite part of this activity is not the buying component, it’s the selling — and not just for the money.

“My favorite part is when people find the right thing they were looking for, or sometimes they find the right thing they’re not looking for,” he said. “It’s like a big adoption agency. I’m trying to home all this stuff to the right people.”

For Jenn Morris of The Ardent Forager, it’s the memories each item evokes for the patrons. As attendees flowed in between different booths, some were taken back in time with a glance at a singular item such as glassware similar to something their parents owned or a toy they used as a child.

Seeing a folding ruler reminds Morris of her grandfather who could build anything, and aprons and “old hankies” make her think of her grandmother.

“Half the time I’ll buy them to sell and then I don’t end up selling them,” Morris said.

Morris drives about 40,000 to 50,000 miles a year in search of items she can share with others. Her collection comes from attending auctions, estate sales and word-of-mouth, as well as paying to get into flea markets early.

Morris used to buy vintage items in her free time before it turned into a profession.

“I always tell people to figure out what you want to do on your days off for fun and figure out how to make that a job,” she said.

But what got Morris interested in purchasing vintage items in the first place was the environmental aspect.

“For people to find something they love that’s not new. To be like, my new favorite thing can have been someone else’s favorite thing before, and we don’t have to just keep polluting the Earth,” Morris said.

The sustainability aspect is something Amber Gedman of Two Timers Vintage hopes attendees take away from the event. She hopes it inspires them to keep items with a history out of the landfill.

“It’s cool to keep those older pieces alive,” she said.

The reuse and recycling aspect is not the only thing about the event that was sustainable. With many of the vendors being from the area, Hogle said the money goes back to small businesses and local proprietors.

“The money stays in Pittsburgh. We buy from other people that live and work here,” he said. “The money also becomes sustainability because it’s all local vendors.”

Elizabeth Douty tries to attend as many vintage markets and festivals as she can. She had a thrifted Tigger backpack slung around her right arm. On her left, she carried a reusable bag full of the goodies she acquired from the day: a leather jacket and denim shorts.

After attending multiple functions similar to Vintage Pittsburgh, Douty noticed the community that consistently formed around these affairs. She has even begun to form relationships with the vendors she sees at multiple events.

“It obviously brings people together,” she said.

There used to be only a couple vintage shows a year, Hogle said, but now everyone is doing vintage. The best shows, he said, are Vintage Pittsburgh at the Heinz History Center and the Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer at David L. Lawrence Convention Center in the fall. Having the event at a museum creates a different feeling for attendees.

“This is much more intimate, and a more shopper-friendly environment,” Hogle said.

Both the attendees and vendors brought both energy and style to the atmosphere of the museum, Smyth said.

“It’s so exciting to see how this event brings together the community to celebrate timeless fashion, creative reuse and local makers in such a vibrant way,” Smyth said.

Kaitlyn Hughes can be reached at hughesk10@duq.edu.