Something Old, Something New

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hese literal quotes from the past, along with more figurative ones like Kidman's dress, are part of the natural evolution of fashion, says F.I.T.'s Steele. She notes, "If you think of fashion as a language, you use old words to make new statements."

New Orleans mainstay Trashy Diva originally sold only vintage when it opened its doors in the French Quarter in 1996. The shop added its own two-piece collection — a "charm gown" and a silk-charmeuse flapper coat — in 1999, when it became more difficult to find used designs from the 1920s and '30s in good condition. Today, the store sells mostly its (expanded) Trashy Diva line, with pieces that look as if they might have been plucked from Daisy Buchanan's closet.

Even high-profile designers are no longer shy about their touchstones: Carolina Herrera proudly dedicated her fall 2003 collection to the women of Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder. "It's very funny how we talk," says Barneys' Gilhart. "We have been in that cycle of fashion where nobody says, 'Oh, that's so 2004.'"

So if you want to predict what's ahead, your best bet may be to look back. Just ask the vintage aficionados, some of whose best customers are fashion designers in search of inspiration. "Gucci bought [1960s] bathing suits and told us to look for [them] on the runway," says Sara George, a co-owner of Miami Twice, a 5,000-sq.-ft. smorgasbord of everything from new $8 tank tops to $2,500 Civil War — era Irish-lace wedding gowns. Anna Corinna is always on the lookout for pieces for designers. And though she won't name names, she will offer a glimpse of what could be on the way: "One designer called recently and wanted Cleopatra jewelry. Another was looking for anything with a starfish theme — bags, belts, shoes." Another asked for "Chanel-like things, but a little crazier."

Derivative? Maybe. But it makes sense. "Vintage roots us. It is an expression of our history that is wearable and gives us a sense of place and security in very insecure times," says Clair Watson, who heads the couture, textiles and fine-costume-jewelry department at the auction house Doyle New York. "Not only is fashion a business that breeds insecurity anyway, right now current fashion moves so fast that it is reassuring to wear something that has outlasted its period, that retains its allure beyond the dictates of now." And, come to think of it, it's so 2004.