Here is my latest article for the Sacramento News and Review. I hope you enjoy it!
Everything in the photo is available in our Etsy store.

Smack dab in the middle of the biggest recession in decades – neon, splashy prints, acid wash, and tight-rolled jeans are rampant. Ironically, this year spring trends are dilly-dallying in the late 80s and early 90s, times of comparable fiscal peril. Did we accidently take a wrong turn in a hyperspace DeLorean? How can we dabble in throwback fashion when all our Hypercolor shirts have permanent pit-stains and our bare wallets are the only accessories worthy of such concern?

For Jennifer and Marilyn Ayres, co-owners of local vintage boutique Thunderhorse Vintage, this irony isn’t a problem. The sprightly twenty-three year old twin sisters have been fans of 80s punk and thrift store vintage since their high school days in Davis, where the overriding fashion aesthetic was plainly “collegiate.” Both girls are known to sport a neon mishmash of punk-infused layers expertly altered for maximum impact – not for peripheral viewing. Jen, for instance, wears her hair in an angled modern mullet in bright auburn with panels of shocking turquoise. She has been spotted behind the counter of her store wearing spandex workout wear Jane Fonda might covet. Her personal style is an authentic expression of who she is: bright, cheeky, unapologetic, and obsessed with vintage.

Jennifer started Thunderhorse Vintage in a small room at the back of Bows & Arrows’ gargantuan premises on L St, but has now moved into its own real estate at 2522 J St. She describes her store’s collection as “artifacts” of the past, boasting an abundance of pristine specimens from every era. She continues to unearth such stunners from the Bush Sr. and Reagan era to keep up with increasing springtime demands. In case you were wondering, their prices are as reasonable as a beer on Friday.

For this spring fashion shoot (see photo), Thunderhorse and I took some of the store’s more obviously dated pieces and combined them in a modern way. Some may deem this pair of geometric-patterned tapered cotton pants —formerly known as “Hammer pants,” nowadays thinly disguised as “harem pants”— unwearable, but modern versions of this controversial shape have reached a definite height this season. To contrast their former life of beanbag chairs and matching pattern half-shirts, we combined these pants with a slim black tank, a metallic floral vest and a dizzying dose of unpredictable accessories. 

Thunderhorse argues that you don’t need to be part of the soulless consumerist machine to stay distinctive and hip. Vintage, a little creativity and a lot of balls go a long way. The result is a modern silhouette exploding with fun, nostalgia… and spring-like overtones of endless possibility.

Here’s a lil snapshot of me, Jen Thunderhorse and the model, Jillian at a recent MOD fashion show.