Jen Fox stands among the offerings at her new vintage shop, The Peaceful Pagan, at 6 Railway Ave. in Wiscasset. Fox said she hopes customers will discover a new form of self expression through shopping vintage. (Tiger Cumming photo)
After 20 years in the vintage clothing industry as a nomadic dealer, Jen Fox is looking to bring vintage clothing to Lincoln County shoppers at her new store, the Peaceful Pagan Vintage, which opened on April 4 at 6 Railway Ave. in Wiscasset.
Previously based in Brunswick, Fox has spent the better part of the last two decades traveling to vintage shows and meetings across the state. Now, for the first time, Fox has a physical location.
Fox hopes the Peaceful Pagan Vintage will fill a hole in the “vintage desert” that is the Midcoast, with no stores specifically dedicated to vintage clothing between Freeport and Rockland.
The Peaceful Pagan Vintage hopefully will serve as a way for customers to cultivate a vintage wardrobe that reflects their unique identity, Fox said, while also offering customers a more durable, sustainable and interesting alternative to fast fashion and online retailers.
“New isn’t better, and if you’re looking for something to last, vintage has stood the test of time,” said Fox. “Consumerism is killing the planet, and it’s killing people’s pocketbooks. The quality of yesteryear, you can’t mimic it.”
Fox focuses on acquiring clothing from the 1900s through the 1980s. Clothes made more recently than that are typically far less durable, and made of inferior ingredients, according to Fox.
“It’s refined plastic petroleum, it’s just the worst thing to put on your skin,” Fox said about online “fast fashion” options. “A dress might be $15 to $18, but it has zero quality.”
One of Fox’s core missions is to keep clothes out of the landfill and in people’s wardrobes, a goal made easier by clothes made with the superior craftsmanship of the past.
In addition to being more durable and better for the environment, Fox is drawn to vintage clothing for the stories and history behind the pieces she adds to The Peaceful Pagan’s shelves.
“We’ve removed ourselves so much from what we wear, as art pieces,” Fox said. “Back then, women had two dresses, and they were cherished for years and passed down.”
Vintage clothing offers a unique opportunity for self expression that isn’t found online or from large fashion houses, something Fox hopes will inspire customers to put in more work searching for and discovering new pieces for their wardrobe.
“It’s easy to go online and buy a dress for a wedding,” Fox said. “It takes time and energy and creativity to go and find an outfit at a vintage store, but you’ll be so interesting and look so great in the end, because you will have tried.”
Above all, Fox hopes that shoppers are willing to take risks and explore a new form of self expression with her at The Peaceful Pagan Vintage.
“Make it an adventure,” she said. “Make it something that nobody else is going to have.”
As a nomadic dealer, Fox formed many relationships with customers, and often attends vintage shows with an eye out for articles that match the styles of specific customers, another perk of shopping at local vintage clothing retailers.
“You have to find your clients and serve them well,” Fox said. “You have to build that relationship and go find quality goods that people are going to want to buy and know that they can’t find it anywhere else.”
The Peaceful Pagan Vintage is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and otherwise by chance. For more information and store updates, follow @the_peaceful_pagan_vintage on Instagram.
