by Sasha Milena
Queen of Vintage: Kathleen Schaaf
The Queen of Vintage, Kathleen Schaaf, was joined by fashion lovers aboard the Queen Mary on Saturday, Feb 12th as part of the Inspiration 2011: vintage, fashion, art and culture event.
Vintage Clothing from Kathleen Schaaf's Retro Row 4th St. Shop, Meow
Owner of Meow and vintage fashion connoisseur, Kathleen Schaaf, was featured as the Queen of Vintage after the release of the book Vol. 2 Queen of Vintage. The book was produced by Rin Tanaka as a part of his book series, "My Freedamn" and features photographs of vintage clothing, accessories, and unique finds.
Vintage Accessories from Meow
Schaaf feels honored to be dubbed the Queen of Vintage and said, "Rin would come to me to find items to shoot for his previous books and I always had something he was looking for." The Queen has a broad and unique collection of vintage finds she has collected over the past 30 years. She says she finds all of her items the "old-fashioned way" and buys directly from old closed department stores or factories.
Vintage Boots from Meow
Schaaf specializes in finding dead-stock items and continues to find these type of items that have never been worn or used and many times still have the original tags. She says, "The vintage market has changed in the last decade and I see more of an eclectic trend." Although the market is changing she tries to cater to most people's eclectic needs whether it be military, surf, or punk.
Vintage Swimwear from Love Spy Vintage
The event featured many dealers and artists from the U.S. and other countries all using vintage as their inspiration. A very vintage couple from Colorado featured their quality items at this years show. Love Spy Vintage is owned by Samantha Perala sells vintage clothing and superior quality dead-stock swimwear. Maxwell Shesto showed off his custom wallets that are sure to appeal to any vintage lover.
Handmade wallets by Maxwell Shesto
Vintage Clothing and Swimwear from Love Spy Vintage
Ryota Sakai from Japan keeps his Shopper's Map handy
Vendors came from all over and Ryota Sakai flew in all the way from Japan to present his vintage clothing and motorcycle gear. He also featured a new line of vintage-inspired men's shirts.
OC Style Japan by Ryota Sakai
Artist, Jeff Decker standing next to his sculpture: "Flat Out At Bonneville"
Jeff Decker creates bronze sculptures of motorcycles, cars, or anything mechanical. The sculpture pictured above is a recreation of Rollie Free's record breaking ride in 1948 where he rode a Vincent HRD for 7 1/2 miles accelerating up to the speed of 162 mph and 165 mph with his clothes off.
Sculpture by Jeff Decker
Decker is a registered and endorsed artist for Harley Davidson and the only guy around that can put a Harley Davidson logo on his work. Visit Jeff Decker's website: www.jeffdeckerstudio.com to view more art or check out his Blog to view photos of his creative process.
Troy Lee Designs
Southern California based Troy Lee Designs presented their Steve McQueen clothing line. An amazing selection of custom helmets flew off the shelf along with bike inspired clothing made in the U.S.
"On Any Sunday" helmet designed by Troy Lee
Colorful and unique helmet designs by Troy Lee
Troy Lee Designs launched a new store last summer in Costa Mesa where many of their popular lines, including the Steve McQueen merchandise, can be found.
Bernard from Cyclone Coaster
Vintage Bicycles outside the Queen Mary
