From hacky sack performers to Greek life fundraisers, Speakers Circle is often filled with all corners of student life. However, on Sept. 21, passersby may have noticed something entirely different in the circle.

The Late-Night VNTG @ Zou event, which featured local vintage clothing vendors, kicked off in Speakers Circle at 3 p.m. As students passed by, many took a moment to browse the racks and piles of vintage apparel. 

Sophomore Aaron Volk, owner of the vintage clothing business Undr Skn, arranged the event. Volk’s exposure to vintage clothing stemmed from family members. 

“When [my grandpa] passed away, my grandma gave me all these shirts, and it was my first introduction to vintage clothing,” Volk said. “That connection with something that was my grandpa’s, it was priceless.”

Last January, Volk created Undr Skn and began selling vintage clothing. While Volk utilizes online platforms such as Instagram and Depop to sell clothing, he favors in-person customer interactions.

“As much as I like the online, I like the in-person more,” Volk said. “I always like going out there and talking to people, and I’m also able to throw people prices. Typically, they always walk away with it, and we’re both happy at the end of the day.”

With a love for face-to-face interactions and a desire to offer students a chance at shopping vintage, Volk was inspired to arrange the event in Speakers Circle. When arranging the event, Volk made an effort to plan a time suitable for students. Thus, he decided late afternoon to evening would be most accommodating.

Prior to the event, Volk invited several vintage business owners to sell at Speakers Circle. While some were local, others came from neighboring cities, including St. Louis.

Dame Dolla Thrift, a vintage clothing and items business based in St. Louis, sold a wide variety of clothing to customers. Owner Damian Winner-Johnson detailed what he looks for when thrifting products at the Goodwill Outlet Center.

“Tags, very colorful shirts, quality. It’s kind of just if you know you know,” Winner-Johnson said. “A lot of Nike, a lot of Carhartt, Harley Davidson. A lot of that stuff is very picked through, and you just gotta find it in there.”

Another vendor at the event, Edwin Castillo, has been selling vintage clothing for the past four years. After a shop owner introduced him to the style, Castillo started Vintage Bros. 

“I’m a full time student, so I don’t have enough time to source my stuff,” Castillo said. “So I support sellers that source, and I pay a higher price, but I also get to curate a better selection.”

Although vintage clothing may seem outdated to some, others find the style trendy. 

Sophomore Matthew Lewis, a shopper at the event, noticed how vintage clothing trends have rapidly popularized. 

“This specific kind of look is a big thing right now,” Lewis said. “There’s definitely a market for [vintage clothing], especially at college age.”

While some attended the event to shop retro apparel, others came to support The Wilson Park Rangers, a psychedelic surf rock trio. Junior Jordanne Steuck has photographed many of the band’s events. Steuck browsed the clothing racks with her friends prior to listening to the band’s performance. 

“We’ve kind of just been following [The Wilson Park Rangers] around,” Steuck said. “We heard that the band was going to be playing here, [so] we decided to come early and shop around prior to listening to the band.”

The event attracted a diverse group of people to Speakers Circle. Both fans of the band and vintage clothing lovers came out to the gathering area. 

“I feel like having a band play at this type of event is super helpful for the band and the event because it attracts two different kinds of crowds,” Steuck said. 

The band was scheduled to perform at 6:30 p.m. However, due to unforeseen technical difficulties, the performance was slightly delayed until 7:30 p.m. 

In an attempt to resolve the issue, the band called MU Police Department’s non-emergency hotline. Jalen Julian, The Wilson Park Rangers’ drummer, recapped MUPD’s concerns.

“[MUPD] got there and then they were like, ‘You guys should not be playing music; that might be too loud,’” Julian said. “So the cops were sitting out there on that road just by Speakers Circle, and they were just waiting for us to start playing to see what would happen.”

Shortly after the band began playing, MUPD officers left the venue. As they drove off, the officers praised the musicians over the loudspeaker. 

“Their acoustics were really good. It ended up going to late night,” Volk said. “It was supposed to be 3 to 8, and I think we went more 3 to 9:30. They played, everyone got to shop around and made a lot of cool connections.”

With the band’s background music, customers and vendors were able to spend time bartering prices, discussing fashion and more. While selling, Volk made an effort to foster connections over clothing with customers.

“I like the idea of vintage ‘cause I think it just lets people get a connection and lets people enjoy something more than just going into a normal store and buying,” Volk said. “It’s not just a piece of clothing, but it’s an emotion, it’s like a connection. You can’t put a price point on that.”

Edited by Alex Goldstein | a[email protected]

Copy edited by Jackson Cooper and Grace Knight | [email protected]