The 'Clothing To Wear' Look

Right now, Philadelphia has something that I’m not sure exists in New York, Paris, London, anywhere. It’s a vintage showroom called Clothing To Wear, and while you could stop in quickly just to find some new bits, that’s not really the point. Instead, the space is a full-on playroom, where anyone can try out new colours, silhouettes, and outfit combinations, all within the privacy of their own appointments, encouraged by the enthusiastic and dialled eye of owner Conor MacCormack, an artist and former house painter who’s now able to focus entirely on styling and sourcing—for Alex G, for Coach, for whoever comes through his door that day.

This set-up—the privacy and space to truly get comfortable, some great options to pick from, and the helpful eye of someone 10% cooler than you—is harder to find than you’d think, and is also the recipe for an extremely productive afternoon. (In terms of experiential comps, MacCormack says he’s always been inspired by New York’s Lara Koleji and Amsterdam’s nhogirl, as well as by how inviting and scene-setting Hollister and Abercrombie’s stores used to be.)

What also makes Clothing to Wear different to your typical vintage store is the way MacCormack’s stylist eye informs his racks. Instead of organising items by category, he instead hangs them as suggestive combinations. “When I put pieces on the rack,” he says, “I’m hanging full outfits together, trying to show how you could wear it. There won’t ever just be a block of jeans or a block of shirts you have to sift through, that’s way too much noise. When you’re rummaging through a rack of hundreds of T-shirts, you kind of become blind to them.”

It’s the consistency of these outfit arrangements that made me want to talk to MacCormack this week. When we did, I especially appreciated how he didn’t pretend not to be influenced by what’s happening in fashion at any one moment. He actually loves all of it—Celine and Rier right now especially—he’s just careful, when it comes to his own wardrobe, to only incorporate the colours, cuts, and fabrics that feel true to him. “I really love when I see an outfit that isn’t a total one-to-one of what’s being referenced, but a combination of the clear inspiration, mixed with the character of whoever’s put the outfit together.” A nice pathway for us all. Enjoy our conversation, which also covers how to find great vintage denim (it doesn’t have to be Levi’s!) and some of the non-vintage pickups he’s wearing this summer.