MODE Spring 2016

Text & Illustration by Sasha Cheer
A Vintage Rose:
Clothing for the Unique Individual
F
or vintage shoppers and
second hand clothing
consumers, there is
something undeniably
exciting about wandering
into a store where you are
guaranteed a fashion
that will be noted as
both classy and
unique.Vintage stores
hold the secrecy of their
excitement within the idea
that not every article of
clothing is a duplicate upon
the rack, but a one­of­akind
piece just for you that
hides between the nautical
blouses and wool pea coats
and felt skirts. Like how a
seemingly simple blouse of
endless wear­ability might
sneakily hide sandwiched
between a ‘70s jumpsuit
and a bold patterned ‘60’s
"I'm a very carpe diem
kind of person."
sweater, so too do good
vintage shops tend to hide
among the streets. Despite
the prevalence of the
internet, not many know that
just a few blocks away from
our campus of Muhlenberg
College, located on Tilghman
Street (and marked most
notably by a Marilyn Monroe
statue boldly posed outside
the door) is a place called RC
Moore: For the Unique
Individual, so named after the
owners—a wild woman
named Rose and the heartfelt
Clayton Moore.
The very first time I walked
into RC Moore I knew
that the neighborhood
had been graced with
something unique.
The interior of the shop had
glass counters with all kinds
of shiny and beautifully grimy
and geared accessories.
There were shelves that
contained necklaces shaped
like fascinating animals and
fabrics that draped and
pinched and flowed in vintage
styles inspired from around
the world. And all around the
shop, presented on foam
heads on top of counters
and boxes and tables were
hats of fantastical
imagination: Silk top hats,
and cloches, cocktail hats
and woven sun hats and
headdresses with curling
feathers and bright
medallions, elegantly looped
chains and ribboned roses.
Music seeped through a 20’s
radio. It presented to me a
world that was different