Who What Wear Podcast: Jenny Walton

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jenny walton's My love for fashion started early.

For the illustrator and designer, her mother's talent for finding jewelry at flea markets had a lasting influence on her.

"My mom always took me and my two younger sisters to flea and vintage markets in South Jersey, where I grew up," Walton said. “She was famous for it and very good at it.”

After moving to New York and graduating from Parsons School of Design, Walton began working as an assistant knitwear designer at Calypso St. Barths.

"They let us design it right away, which was really great," Walton said.

Walton had planned to spend her entire career becoming a designer for brands, but her career took a different direction.

For the latest episodes of Who Wears What Podcast Walton shares how she ended up on her current path, tips for vintage shopping beginners, and more.

Scroll down for excerpts of their conversation.

Start from the beginning of your journey and career. Can you tell us a little about your journey so far and what drew you to fashion early on? My mother always took me and my two younger sisters to flea and vintage markets in South Jersey, where I grew up.

She was famous for it and very good at it. we had a big van, [and if] When she saw a yard sale sign, she was able to do a dizzying U-turn.

She gave us about $5 each. Then she says, "Okay, now go ahead and get whatever you want."

I actually started by collecting vintage smoking pipes that old farmers had that still had tobacco stuck to them.

It's normal for a 7-year-old to go from table to table in the field asking, "How much does that pipe cost?"

I really liked the beauty of the curved surface. I just thought it was a beautiful object. I started with that.

We all just started collecting things. My mother really taught us to appreciate and cherish things. she is very artistic. She is an amazing quilter.

My basement was full of fabrics, and it was like a - I don't know - crazy sewing factory space.

She just let us play and learn how to embroider and sew.

So I ended up moving to New York and attending Parsons to study fashion design.

Thanks to everything I had, including fabrics and resources, I was able to start making my own clothes in high school.

That kind of unleashed a love in me that I could actually accomplish it. I used to always check style.com. fashion And put it all over the wall.

my whole room [was] Magazine covered with tears.

I loved this fantasy world and wanted to be a part of it. That's how it started.

What did you learn about the world of fashion and your own personal style early in your career? My first job was as an assistant to a knitwear designer at Calypso St. Barths, and there were only four designers. It was a small team.

They immediately entrusted me with the design, which was really great. I was the assistant knitter [designer] And my boss, a knitwear designer.

All technologies were developed in-house.

So we're doing a whole tech pack of filling in all the measurements.

What should the shoulders and shoulders be? How should everything be?

I loved working as a designer. That's what I always thought I would do very strictly.

I thought, "Okay, now that I've studied fashion design, I'll become an assistant. Then I'll move up to designer. And what I really want to do is be a creative director. One day I'll be that way." Maybe you'll become a vice president, or maybe one day you'll become a designer for a brand. ”

After that, my career changed in different directions.

For vintage shoppers who want to get a little more into this, do you have any tips for getting started? For someone new to the game, what's an easy way to get started? Especially if you're on a budget and just want to try it out, if you're in the States, I think thrift stores are still great and fun and friendly and people like to scavenge through the trash and just play around. Just discover.

If you're just starting out, I don't think you necessarily need to invest in very expensive items. Maybe it's because I'm still searching for my style and don't know.

Maybe you don't want to pay $300 for an old Prada shirt.

Instead, I want to take that $300 and go to Goodwill. [online] You can find cheaper ones.

Think about the designers that no one is talking about right now, or that you think might be in the future. I think lesser-known designers from the 80s and 90s, such as Romeo Gigli, are starting to make a comeback now. People are looking for old Armani suit sets from the 80s and 90s. and you can find something like that [secondhand and] It's still not that expensive.

So I would start there, sorting the prices from lowest to highest, and don't invest too much in one piece too quickly. Because after I get it, this can actually feel like not me.

Autumn is almost here, are there any items you would like to get? I love a lot of what's going on. As I said earlier, I absolutely love Barbour coats, utility coats.

There are also a lot of corduroys. I really like the dark brown corduroy pants that look like cognac.

The Row has great shoes, but they're too expensive to buy. For now, catch me and my J.Crew. This is also great.

Wide-leg corduroy trousers

Barber

Barbour X William Morris Gallery Shelton Waxed Jacket

alex mill

Camden corduroy pants

I also loved that both Prada and Miu Miu had these kinds of feminine moments happening.

Miu Miu has cute little pearls on the neck. Prada had a lot of vintage inspired hats. The closing was also nylon-like, but it was a nylon-like fit and flare coat. There was a big flare at the hem of the coat, reminiscent of the 1950s.