Casey O’Rourke fell in love with the sustainability and uniqueness of vintage clothing and started a side hustle in 2017. Blue Suede Vintage quickly became her passion project while she worked her corporate marketing job at the time. In 2022, O’Rourke had her baby girl, and after coming back from maternity leave she was told they no longer had a job for her.
While trying to figure out next steps, her husband suggested she open up a brick-and-mortar version of her passion project. He already owned an event business, and O’Rourke was building her name from past pop-ups and online sales. They took the leap in November of that year. She had a retail storefront upstairs, and he had an office downstairs. They were able to split many costs, allowing O’Rourke to test the business. After building confidence and clientele, they upgraded their headquarters just last year, right off Broad Avenue.
O’Rourke’s most recent project is hosting a vintage market featuring clothing for as many body types as possible. A common thread (no pun intended) with vintage fashion is that it only comes in small sizes. At the upcoming market, vendors will be required to bring at least one rack of size-inclusive vintage clothes, ranging from petite to 4XL.
Beautiful vintage rings (Photo: Courtesy Blue Suede Vintage)
Sizes on the original tag of vintage clothing aren’t always what they seem, though. O’Rourke says, “Something that’s interesting about a lot of women’s vintage clothing, 1970s and older, is that a lot of it is handmade and tailored. We put a modern size equivalent on our tags, just to show you roughly if you’re in the right ballpark looking at a piece.”
And while sizes are more accurately discerned, nothing beats trying clothes on. Some vendors will bring fitting tents, but the fitting rooms will also be open in the store, so you can try everything on before purchasing.
O’Rourke’s journey to becoming an entrepreneur has been anything but easy, but she says of her child, “I hope that she can grow up and see both of her parents doing things that they love instead of being stuck in a grind, doing something for somebody else’s sake.”
Level up your style at Blue Suede Vintage’s upcoming size-inclusive market on April 4th.
Blue Suede Vintage Size-Inclusive Vintage Market, 486 N Hollywood St., April 4th, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.