What Women Wear: Chiara Menage
Photos: Claire Pepper
This gorgeous, grey-haired woman is Chiara Menage, the founder of Menage Modern Vintage – an online clothing shop selling collectable vintage and contemporary pre-owned clothes, shoes and accessories. She has a classically cool sense of style and we bonded earlier this summer at Badgers Velvet Underground, when I was rummaging through her clothing rails for vintage Hermés and pre-owned Margaret Howell. (No purchases made, just yet).
Before launching her eponymous business, Chiara was a producer and editor in the film industry for many years, and I was most impressed when she told me that she worked on The Proposition (screenplay by Nick Cave). As a self-confessed sifter, collector and hoarder of clothes Chiara had reached the point where it was time to let some of her cherished pieces go, but wanted to find good homes for them. Embarking on the idea of a website, she subsequently encountered lots of other people whose treasured items had turned into clutter, and realised there was an opportunity to work on commission. After ransacking her wardrobe and raising £300 of seed money on eBay to buy photography equipment, Chiara set up a studio in her basement and launched Menage Modern Vintage, last year.
Here is Chiara Menage’s style profile:
Clothes are very important to me, a daily pleasure as simple as eating well. They are like old friends, I love them, look after them and keep them. I get enjoyment from finding the outfit that suits the mood or the occasion.
When I get dressed in the morning I’m thinking, Julie Christie in Don’t Look Now, or Angelica Houston/Faye Dunaway in absolutely anything. Classical, well-cut, coolly elegant. I tend to wear neutral colours and plain silhouettes, with maybe one special item or detail to make me feel cheerful. I love the Marni dress (in the above photo) because of it’s a great shape, but mainly because the fabric is so beautiful and the colours make me happy. I go for the feel of a fabric; texture is as important as pattern or colour. When scanning a clothes rail, I use my fingertips as much as my eyes. Comfort is important, high heels are a thing of the past and I wear trainers with everything unless I’m going somewhere special. I avoid anything with words, branding or logos, fast fashion, synthetic fabrics and overstated pieces.
When I worked in the film business I used to dress up more and buy quite expensive clothes, though I was never particularly interested in “fashion”. For some years now, with very few exceptions, I’ve only bought second-hand. I prefer finding, to shopping; you can afford much better in terms of design and quality, if you know how to look. I don’t think I’ve worn a new item of clothing for 14 years. Since I started the website, I’ve become increasingly aware of the compelling environmental argument and that clinches it, for me. I’m evangelical about slow fashion.
Menage Modern Vintage was a late career change. I’ve always collected clothes, and it was a friend’s daughter who suggested I start selling my unwanted pieces. I didn’t really think of it as a business initially, but I’ve learnt so much as a start-up. One thing I’m clear about is that I’m not putting any money in, I’m not doing anything – the business has to pay for itself. It’s so piecemeal!
People come to me to find one-of-a-kind items or whole collections. And I sell everything on commission. When I started talking about selling vintage clothing, I found lots of women had clothes they’d collected, or been given when friends or relatives had passed away. They felt quite emotionally attached to them and so wanted to give them to a good home.
The shirt in the first picture is vintage Hermés (exact vintage unknown but probably c.1970s) and it belonged to a very close friend, who died a few years ago. I used to love seeing her in it. It’s classy and fun and optimistic, very much like her. When I wear it I feel very connected to her. One of the things I love about wearing second-hand clothes is their associations with past owners, either imagined or real. I’m interested in the stories behind them, and so I’ve started a blog series called The Secret Life of Clothes on my website. The white trousers are by Loro Piana, they hold their shape and go with everything.. They’re from a charity shop – a real find as the quality is amazing and Loro Piana is usually unaffordable.
What women like Chiara wear (a few future vintage pieces):
Please note: Affiliate links in this post may generate commission
Hair & makeup by Louise Heywood. Louise does one-to-one makeup lessons in her south London studio for ‘women who like to keep it subtle’.
Discussion (19 Comments)
Oh no! Thanks for letting me know (I can see photos, that’s weird) – I’ll get the experts to have a look…
What a great story. That Marni dress is a beauty. And thanks for the links, Alyson, I’m really enjoying Chiara’s blog posts and Catherine Buckley’s site.
Caroline says:
Please oh please let me someday look as beautiful and content and confident as Chiara does in these photos!
I just love this series, Alyson. How fabulous to read about women “thinking out loud about clothes.” I first read that phrase in Linda Grant’s book The Thoughtful Dresser. Grant seemed a kindred spirit to me with her analysis of the idea of clothes, how we feel about them, their importance in our lives beyond the latest “haul” from a fast fashion store. I hate it when fashion bloggers refer to their “haul.” Chiara seems the antithesis of that. Thanks for introducing her to us.
Love your new site and especially this post. Visited Chiara’s site and wow! she has a fabulous collection of both contemporary an ind vintage fashion. I, too, am a believer in second hand and I also appreciated her post regarding fast fashion. It’s sad how the industry is polluting our world. Again, great update to the site – much easier to navigate.
Hope says:
Fabulous post. And do you have any idea when something you have, like something you inherited from your mom, actually does not fit your size and you still want to use it for sentimental purposes instead of giving them away? I have some great pieces but they are two sizes larger than mine.
Katherine C. James says:
Wonderful, inspiring post. I love reading that clothing recycling is becoming increasingly accepted. I’ve read a lot about it as a way to buy among people in Generation Z. My clothing is purchased with an eye to longevity, no synthetics or inexpensive pieces that will last for a season and then be put in landfill. I have pieces from the 1980s and 1990s—which is when I bought the bulk of my pieces—which I still wear. The central pieces in my wardrobe were made by women with whom I had a connection—Lynn Mizono, Carol Lee Shanks, Ariel Bloom—who made/make clothing, sometimes referred to as art clothing. I like supporting working designers I know. For some reason, a lot of my 1990s/2000s pieces, distinctive cuts in good fabrics that are beyond a specific season’s style are by Oska, which began selling circa 1998. I don’t care about designer labels, I do care about quality fabric and cut. My daily uniform is jeans or linen pants and cotton or linen t-shirts (it’s getting difficult to find quality cotton t-shirts) with a jacket or a coat, which help my core pieces last. I tend to anthropomorphize everything, including clothing, and that means I view my clothing as having life within it and treat it with respect. For years I’ve wanted fewer pieces but good pieces. My paternal grandfather was a tailor and my paternal grandmother was a textile maker, and my maternal grandmother and my mom were good at making clothes and knowing fabrics and cuts. My dad and my mom passed their parents’ knowledge on to me. At my niece’s 2014 evening wedding, which had a black and white theme, I wore a Lynn Mizono dress, Wolford tights, Ferragamo shoes, and carried a Bottega Veneta bag, I realized all of my clothes, even my Hanro undergarments, were from the 1980s, and older than my niece. You mention Loro Piano, I have a Piano black cashmere coat I got on sale (a very reduced price for a classic piece, stuffed onto a sad sale rack) at Neiman Marcus in the 1980s, and a black cashmere cape from the 1990s, both of which I wear and treasure. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with vintage and consignment stores as a way to add a piece through clothing recycling. I don’t know how to find pieces in this manner yet, but I’ll persevere. I’d love to find a classic black wool blazer in a vintage shop. I’ll take a look at Menage Modern Vintage.
Rochelle says:
Just a quick comment about the redesign. I read your blog on my iPad and find the type so small that it’s an effort to read. Is it just me?
Maryann says:
Hi Rochelle, I also read the blog on my iPad and you are right the font is much smaller. I can read it but the change in size is noticeable.
Hello Rochelle and Maryann, Thanks for your feedback. I will mention the font size to Tom the designer and review it with him on Monday.
Rach with an E says:
Yes I’m having to resort to glasses too (that is my age) . I enjoy a rummage around a vintage shop and my teenage daughter is more likely to find something in a charity shop than on line. Conscious shopping.
Mrs Tonia says:
Very interesting to read about Chiara and her business. I shall check out her website. I also have kept many good clothes I’ve had for a long time. Good fabrics and good colours endure and can be modified by a dressmaker or tailor so they are repurposed. The only clothing I’ve passed on to either friends, relatives as opposed to giving to a charity shop especially a Children’s hospice clothing shop are those which no longer fit or flatter me. The change of shape, for me larger bosom at menopause, means many garments feel too tight. They have all found a new home. I’m always glad to see people I know wearing clothing I’ve passed on to them. Win win.
Have now looked at the website. Very interesting post number two covering wastage and ocean contamination. Keep on the constructive recycling to charity shops and friends and relatives. And keep wearing the clothes one already owns.
A question for Tom the web designer. I’ve tried without success to add a picture. When I click on logo nothing happens. How does one do this ? And at what stage of posting a comment ? On other sites I’ve been able to do this with ease. That is click on logo, then have choice of which photo I want to use. Then click upload. And picture appears as I want. Advice for this site would be welcome. With thanks.
Christine Dodd says:
I totally agree with you – I mostly wear pre-owned pieces and love to think about the provenance of an item.
VC 
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
There are no photos on this page — settling in gremlins?