Sigma Tau Gamma (STG), one of the nine chapters of the Interfraternity Council (IFC) at Saint Louis University, hosted three vintage dealers, two local to the St. Louis area, on West Pine to raise money for their philanthropy week. The market was open on March 20 from 11 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The vintage dealers brought clothing from a range of decades, offering a variety of styles. This was the first event of its kind facilitated by a fraternity on SLU’s campus. 

Jibby Bellante, a student at the market, was impressed with the wide variety of clothing they had available.

“They had t-shirts, jerseys, pants, and also going out tops and skirts and dresses,” Bellante said. Bellante “went all out” and found a pair of green sweatpants, a blue dress, a y2k going-out top, and her favorite, an old housecoat. 

Bellante said that the location “was perfect,” accessible and brought people together for a strong philanthropic cause. 

“I love it when I see all of campus [life] involved in fraternity and sorority philanthropy events. It can be hard to find something everyone likes, and the vintage market was a fantastic idea!” Bellante said. 

Adam Osman, president of STG, shared some insight into what their philanthropy is all about. 

“Every semester, we have a philanthropy with different activities each day, one of the events is Tomato-a-Tau, where you pay a little money to get to throw water balloons at brothers; another is the dunk tank where you get to throw a ball to try to dunk one of the brothers,” Osman said. 

These events are part of an initiative to raise money for Special Olympics Missouri (SOMO), a nonprofit organization that supports community members with cognitive disabilities in the St. Louis area. 

The events are “all in good fun, and at the root of it all, it’s an opportunity for us to give a lot of money to a good cause,” Osman said. 

The vintage market generated $6,000 in sales and 15% of that went to support SOMO. In total, STG raised $1490.78 from their philanthropy week. 

The vintage market was a new event organized by Cody Mendoza, the Standards chair of STG, in collaboration with Mark Lopez and Blake Zager, the co-owners of PIMPED Vintage. 

“This is something I’ve been wanting to do since I was a freshman. My friend Mark started selling clothes after college and it became a big thing in our area – we always thought a college campus is the perfect spot to sell directly to customers, just never had the reputation on campus to do it,” Mendoza said. 

Being part of the Sigma Tau Gamma executive board put Mendoza in a position to support the organization’s philanthropy while making this idea come to life. They said they hope to carry on this new tradition going forward.

“I love the idea of supporting our philanthropy and local St. Louis vendors. We hope to continue this thing going further, see how much money we raise and the opportunities we can create,” Mendoza said. 

Two of the vintage vendors, Ghost Soda and Riptide vintage, are local St. Louis vendors that sell in markets across the broader area. The owner of Ghost Soda, Hannah Valentine, has been in the industry since she started selling clothes her sophomore year of high school specializing in 90s and early 2000s women’s clothing. 

Valentine spoke on how vintage markets support a more sustainable future in an industry so focused on consumerism. 

“Everyone should be buying clothing secondhand, because the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry, right next to oil,” Valentine said. “It’s absolutely horrible how so much of the clothing we make and produce goes to waste because people want to wear it once and then get rid of it.” 

According to the UN Environment Programme, the fast fashion industry is the second-biggest consumer of water and is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions. This is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. The impacts of fast fashion on the environment are harsh, and consumers are left in a tough spot due to the lack of awareness of the availability of alternative secondhand clothing. 

The fast fashion industry is fueled by low-quality clothing made with cheap materials and exploitative labor practices. Vintage clothing markets offer a unique alternative for conscious consumers with clothes that oftentimes are higher quality and produced in a more environmentally friendly fashion. 

“It’s so important to help the earth stay healthy and also just keep the good quality clothes in cycle,” Valentine said. 

Valentine also organizes the Drop Soda Vintage market, a monthly market in St. Louis at The Garage STL that brings together 50 to 60 vendors of second-hand clothing. She encourages community members interested in changing their consumer habits to support local and sustainable causes to check out the event. 

“Not only are you supporting locally owned businesses, it’s also a great place to find the best quality vintage clothing and reinvent your style,” she said. 

Hayley Fizer, owner of Riptide Vintage, has been in the industry since high school as well and shared how sustainability is an important part of her business model. 

“Where I source my items is the last stop before clothes go away forever. I really love having the chance to rescue these pieces,” Fizer said. 

Sustainability is crucial for her, she said, operating with these principles in mind for all parts of her business, such as making sure packaging materials for online orders are compostable. 

With younger generations looking to be more environmentally conscious in their consumer habits, Fizer offered her perspective on what people can do. 

“I think there are more opportunities to shop sustainability than people think here. Do your due diligence when researching companies and you’ll find there are plenty of local businesses that don’t just sell sustainable clothing, but also make sustainable lifestyle products. If you find a shop you like, go back,” Fizer said. 

She encourages people to tap into the local vintage community that already exists and is growing in the St. Louis area. She added that she was happy to be part of the opportunity at SLU to increase their presence. 

“Having events like this on college campuses is so important for raising awareness of stuff you can get at an affordable price rather than shopping at Shein or companies like that. Events like these are really helpful to raise awareness and tap into the community,” Fizer said. 

STG and the vendors are looking to host more events like this in the St. Louis area. For more information on the vendors, visit their Instagram pages listed below. 

Hannah Valentine – @ghostsoda

Mark Lopez and Blake Zager – @pimpedvintage

Hayley Fizer – @riptidevintage