Support your local businesses

Erin Ryan, local resident and proprietor of vintage re-sale shop Honey Head Vintage, loves all things vintage. And she wants others to fall in love with vintage clothing, accessories and small housewares, too. This Saturday, Sept. 16, Ryan will host the Driftless Vintage Market in Decorah, Iowa at the Elks Lodge located at 105 River St. The Driftless Vintage Market will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and will feature booths by Honey Head Vintage and several other vintage re-sale vendors from the tri-state area. Admission to the market is free, and the market is open to all. Dressing rooms will be available to try on clothing before purchase. According to Ryan, "the Elks' bar will be open!" Like many deeply held passions, Ryan's love of fashion and vintage began at a young age and was influenced by her family. "I've always loved fashion. I've always liked looking good," Ryan said. "My dad always loved it when we'd get dressed up and get fancy. [Her parents] would have date nights when I was a kid and I would have to go to bed early and I would dress them up for their dates." She also attributes much of her fashion knowledge to her mother. "My mom taught me classic lines, you know, like 'that London Fog jacket, you know, like, Ooh, that's a good brand.' And what makes a classic garment and what is going to translate from any decade to still look good and chic and interesting. Not that I always look good," Ryan laughs. "I definitely, you know, man, I went out of the house in Crocs the other day. Anybody who says 'absolutely no!' to Crocs has never worn a pair of Crocs!" Paramount to Ryan's connection to vintage was her grandmother, who taught her that clothing, accessories, and other items hold meaning and memories, and, specifically, that vintage items have stories to tell. "My grandma was very chic. Yeah. You know, I loved looking at old pictures of her," Ryan recalls. "I have all of her old patterns that she made her clothes out of. I would sit with her and she would go through her jewelry box, and she would tell me where she wore each piece. What she wore with it, maybe which boyfriend gave it to her. And so I always had these pictures in my head of what these outfits look like. And I just loved you know, piecing all that together." Ryan, however, didn't always feel confident in her love of fashion. "I always felt really guilty about being into fashion because it seems like a really shallow thing. But I also really see it as art," Ryan explained. "I don't just put on an outfit in the morning. I dress myself to be like 'okay, this is going to power you through the day. This is your armor for the day. This is you know, this is how you're presenting yourself.' They know at work [as the Folk Art Education Administrative Assistant at the Vesterheim Museum] that the better I look, the worse I probably feel!" Reclaiming her love of fashion and sharing it with others is a huge part of what Ryan does these days, as she curates items for her own re-sale shop, Honey Head Vintage. Honey Head Vintage began as a pop-up shop inside The Getup in 2021 and grew into a permanent shop within The Getup when it moved last year to 212 W. Water St. in downtown Decorah. Since then, Ryan's business has thrived, both in-store and online. With the growth of her own business came opportunities to connect with others in the vintage re-sale community. "It's been nice connecting with people. And I mean, the vintage re-seller community is made up of really neat people," she said. "You know, they care about sustainability. They care about, you know, the quality of what they're wearing. A friend of mine thrifts or makes 100% of her clothes," Ryan continued. "[...] And she's like, 'I don't want to know that a child made my clothes and that I went out and bought them brand new and contributed to that.' Like, she'll buy stuff thrifting she'll buy vintage or she'll make it, and I think that that's incredible. And it reminds me a lot of this community because for a lot of re-sellers keeping clothes out of the landfill, that is one of the biggest reasons they do it aside from the fact that they look so baller!" The Driftess Vintage Market on is an opportunity for Ryan to further the connections she's made within the vintage re-seller community and open up new connections for the Decorah community. "We've got vendors from the tri-state area that are going to be bringing some really cool stuff. And even just to see the Elks Lodge, which is such a cool space and it will lend itself so well to the vintage vibe, you know?," she said. "And you can find treasure, find something that makes you feel great and that you can feel good about getting because these other re-sellers are doing the same thing I am. They're loving the pieces. They're taking care of them. They're being custodians of these clothes [and other items]." Ryan is excited to share the joy, art and stories of vintage items with others at the market on Saturday. "I've just always loved fashion. And, you know, I'm a goat farmer. I have three kids. This, this has been my way of feeding that which I love, right?," she said. "Like, I love vintage. I love the clothes. I love saving them. And I love finding these treasures. And being able to share that with everybody? It's really fun!" To connect with Ryan and Honey Head Vintage, and to read more about the other vintage re-sellers who will be at the Driftless Vintage Market on Saturday, visit https://www.instagram.com/honeyheadvintage/.

Support your local businesses

Local re-sale shop owner to host Driftless Vintage Market at the Elks Lodge Saturday, Sept. 16