Paula Ott, Rossano, Southern Italy.
I moved to Southern Italy so I could surround myself with vintage clothing.
I believe that, at its best, clothing made from the 1960s through the 1980s reached a level that modern clothing rarely matches. By the 1990s, something had begun to change. Clothing became faster, cheaper and more disposable. We moved from buying a few things carefully to buying many things casually.
Fashion increasingly became statement rather than elegance; attention rather than refinement.
I have always resisted that.
For me, what we wear is not only an expression of ourselves. It is also something we contribute to the world around us: to the people who see us, live with us and share our spaces. Beautiful clothing does not need to demand attention. It can enrich a room without pointing back at the person wearing it.
There is also a kind of self-respect in wearing something made with extraordinary care: good cloth, thoughtful construction, skilled hands, beautiful proportions. And there is something astonishing about finding such a garment fifty or sixty years later, still strong, still beautiful, still capable of being worn.
That longevity is not an accident. It is evidence.
It tells us something about the quality of the material, the craftsmanship with which it was made, and the care with which previous owners chose and preserved it.
That is what vintage gives me that I struggle to find in new clothing: an uncompromising respect for fabric, construction, craftsmanship and elegance.
For the sophisticated woman living in the present, I believe there is great freedom in recognising that progress is not always linear. Some things were already extraordinarily well solved half a century ago.
Clothing is one of them.
That is why I wear vintage. And that is why I search for it.
I cannot help having favourite kinds of garment. Over the years I have specialised in these, and I consider myself among the world's best at them. Each opens that part of the shop.
Paula Ott · 15 September 2026