Spotlight on
Michael Phillips of Toots Vintage

In a short space of time, Michael Phillips has brought a distinct air of refinement and fashion savvy to vintage outlet “Toots Vintage.” In a sea of resellers, Phillips imparts reference and undeniable style to every post on Toots’ rapidly growing Instagram, which has caught the eye of numerous high-profile fashion figures. With a flair for sparkle, sleeves, and the ever-chic color black, Phillips offers insight on the nature of knowledge-sharing, styling, and all things ephemeral.

This plays into the last question a bit. We were going to ask: What IS your favorite fashion era or eras, or a type of cut or silhouette you’re drawn to from a certain period?

I find it kind of hard to narrow it down. I’m super indecisive. I just like beautiful things. There are beautiful things from every decade. I see a lot of brands or fellow vintage businesses that focus on a specific decade, or they really focus on, say, pre-40s or pre-1900s even, which I think really works well for certain people. I just can’t operate that way, for the same reason: I just love pretty things. I would say that I focus mostly on pre-80s, and I definitely kind of skip the 50s and 60s because I think it’s like, “we’ve seen it.” Especially our generation, we’ve grown up with that resurgence: there was the 50s, which came back in the 80s, and then we saw a lot of that in the mid-2000s, and it was just...too much. There are sometimes that I find a really gaggy piece that I’m obsessed with, but I usually skip that, it’s just not my thing. But it sells really well for some people. I love antique Victorian; 1930s  sticks out; I’m obsessed with the 1970s. I think it can all tie in. I’m preparing this A Current Affair collection that’s this weekend, and I’ve pulled a bunch of random things from random decades, but it all kind of makes sense together. Like, there’s 30s dresses that look like 70s dresses, and there are 70s pieces that look like antique pieces. It all references itself, which is why I love clothes, and why I love so many decades—not afraid to reference or not reference. Put it in a blender. 

And obviously we recognize that a lot of the pieces you do end up showing have a through-line, in terms of certain cuts or the type of lingerie...It definitely seems like your curatorial eye has a natural flow to it. 

I think that probably comes from growing up seeing certain things, or aspiring to be certain things. I’ll see an image, or I’ll see something current—like on a runway—and I’ll want to create that look with these pieces of clothing. So I’ll put a 1930s thing with an antique Edwardian puff-sleeve jacket, but it’ll look kind of 80s, or it’ll look really current, so it kind of just blurs that line. I never want my stuff to look like vintage cosplay, like “We’re all dressing up in the 1940s and we all have our curly hair!” I just don’t want it to look like I’m “doing a costume.”

Totally. In terms of recognizing era and style and cut, how did you obtain the tools to recognize pieces or era? How much, when you’re searching for clothes, is that information made available to you?

That’s a very good question. I’ll see a lot of my followers or people in the community ask that question because they think it’s such a curiosity. For me, it initially came from my grandma, and going to antique malls with her, and seeing things. She had a mannequin in one of her bedrooms that had the most incredible antique Victorian puff-sleeve piece that she still has. I’m trying to get that (laughs). She wants to take a picture of it first, or something, so I’m like, “Okay!” I kind of was always surrounded by that. My parents were into antiques, that sort of thing. That curiosity for looking for information was always there. And I went to fashion school in Ohio, at Kent State, the most iconic school ever (laughs). Fashion capital of the world. I learned so much and I had a really great History of Fashion professor. I don’t know where she found them, but she’d have these illustrations from each decade, or each era, and they were super descriptive. I kept those notes, I kept those books. When I moved to New York, right after I graduated, I would just flip through and take a look through that stuff. My second fashion job in New York, I was working for an accessories company and the creative director would get invitations to the Manhattan Vintage Show that they do. That really opened the door for being able to touch things, and being able to look at seams, and all that sort of stuff. Then it just continued. I worked at Beacon’s Closet, so I learned a lot from that. 

We recently moved to LA from Portland and we’ve been to “the Way We Wore” a couple times, and, similarly, we’ve been around her and were trying not to freak out. she complimented a shirt of Ian’s and we were like, “Oh my fucking god!”

That’s so funny. I don’t know. You look up to people who are that knowledgeable, who have that many credentials and that much experience, and she’s got it. There’s definitely a lot of people like that in the industry, where I’ll just go on their websites and I’ll look through who they carry, and look at their designers, and I’ll look through what I have and be like, “Oh my god, I have that dress.” Or, “I have a piece that looks like that.” I think you have to learn from people like that, and you have to appreciate the people who came before you and literally paved the way for what we do. Big props to her. She’s like my number one. 

She’s so good at being like, “we don’t know the designer of this, but this is a piece worth recognizing.” Or, the potential for increase in value. Her instincts are so married with her knowledge. It’s so invaluable. 

She’s been doing this since like the 70s. The things I could’ve done...in another life (laughs).

What’s one piece you’d just love to snag?

I’m obsessed with Old Hollywood couturiers, the American designers that copied a lot of what was happening in Paris. Adrian. Kind of a number 1. Fortuny pleated gown...I mean, I could quit after that. Sometimes I’ll see them online for like $10,000 and I’ll be like, “That’s not that much!” (laughs) Any sort of iconic couture designer, a Balenciaga, anything like that. But I mean, if I saw an Adrian garment, looking through the racks like I do at my wholesalers or vendors, I would pass out. 

Love. In terms of the styling aspect of it, do you have plans or aspirations of doing more styling as opposed to just the vintage itself. Is there a certain person you’d love to style?

Yeah. I love to put things together like that. I think styling is a profession and an area that I haven’t explored professionally. I have friends that do it, so I know that it’s a lot of work, and it’s a lot more communication than it is putting pretty clothes together. To some degree I would, yes. I love lending clothes for shoots. I love when people put other things together. I enjoy it so much doing it on myself because it’s just like playing dress up. I like doing that on other people. Recently I’ve had a model to do that with, since moving to Florida, and it’s been really fun to play with clothes on someone else, because it just takes on a different form. They have a totally different body type than me so they can actually fit into the really tiny things. That’s exciting. I’m happy to do it for myself, and if the opportunity came about, I would say yes, but it’s a lot of work.

And it obviously is it’s own thing. The communication aspect of it is a good point. It’s different to do a shoot than to be someone’s stylist.

I’m still technically signed but I haven’t modeled in a long time, but I’ve been on shoots in New York, I’ve been in shows. I’ve been behind the scenes and I’ve interacted with stylists and stylists’ assistants, and it’s definitely an industry—and an area within the industry—that lacks (this isn’t supposed to sound mean) but it lacks a warmth to me that I don’t necessarily feel, rather than being on the design side, or actually constructing the clothes. But then I look at some people online and I’m like, “How did they do that? How did they put that together in this way that I would never have thought about?” I don’t know. It’s a complicated industry. It’s a whole thing in itself. There’s some great people out there doing great things. And there’s so much more vintage being shot now more than ever, and people are pulling a lot more vintage than they were before. I think everyone’s trying to find something different. We love to see it. 

In terms of the curatorial process, what’s your sensory experience like? We talked a lot about touch. But are there certain things that just really make you gag?

Anything taffeta. I’m like, “What is that over there?” I recently went on a buying trip, going to warehouse spaces where you go through every piece, and I think the things that grab my attention the most are rich textures like velvet, silk velvets, anything that has a sequin or a beading moment. Maribou, ostrich feathers. Anything really, really gay.

When they’re in great condition, too, like stones or sequinS, it is amazing.

Yeah. You’re a deer in headlights. It just shines and catches your eye. I have a system that I’ve learned, just with my own motions: You look at it, you look at the tag, you look at the skirt. If I see a tag that I recognize, that’s obviously exciting. Even if the piece isn’t necessarily exciting, if the tag is worth noting, then that excites me. I love black, which is so sad because there are so many beautiful, bright clothes, but I just love black so much. I’m always drawn to black. I’ll pull a rack and there’s always a ton of black in it. I just think it’s the easiest thing to wear. We all wear black.

People are always going to want it. Especially if it’s sleek, and in good condition. Everyone’s loving Helmut Lang right now, so anything like that is always good.

And I collect Helmut Lang (laughs). I actually love Helmut Lang. I have like 200-plus pieces.

Oh my god!

Yeah. It’s like my little side gig. I should send you some pictures. I wonder if there’s anything in this closet right now. I don’t remember how I was introduced to it. I think it was working at Beacon’s. Some pieces would come in, and I think the first piece I got was a puffer jacket … they priced it at like, $70 or something. And I was like, well, I need a new jacket. And then out of curiosity I looked up the label, and then everyone was screaming over it. David Casavant was super big in that moment, so I was like, “Okay, this is worth investing in.” So at Beacon’s it would just come in, and I would eye it, and I collected a lot that way. Then I just started going on the internet: Poshmark, Depop, eBay. Do the rounds. I’ll constantly go for it, if the price is right. I don’t like to spend more than...I think the most I ever paid for a piece was about $800 for one of the astro biker [jackets], like the crazy-long backpack strap-on from my friends at James Veloria, so I was like, “I’m helping a sis out. I can justify it.” (laughs). Why I love him is because his references are everything I love about clothes. First of all, it’s timeless, so it looks like it could be now. He was referencing a lot of couture elements, or garments and silhouettes that just referenced some of the greatest designers. He would also just take the most delicate and beautiful fabric and put it on a t-shirt, or something that didn’t make sense. That mix was really interesting. 

How has your curation changed moving from New York to Florida? I’m curious what you’re finding in terms of the different locales.

I moved down here last year, and I was finding most of my things either online, or I was slowly getting into wholesale right before I moved. I was working for a woman who repurposed vintage, cut it up and made it into something else. I got connected to a lot of wholesalers that way. I would travel to different parts of Ohio, Philadelphia, New York. I would get things that way, but I never really explored estate sales. But since moving down here, I’ve really gotten into estate sales (laughs). I’m so mad at myself for not doing that sooner, because I’ve found like really crazy amazing things from doing that. I’ve met a small community of people in Orlando that do vintage, and a lot of what I find now is post-50s, 60s, so not my favorite type of stuff, but luckily there is a lot of really great 70s. It’s a lot of double-knit poly, novelty printed sets, 3-piece sets. Montgomery Ward; Sears. Which I never really was into, but I have a real appreciation for it now. It sells pretty well. There’s definitely a customer for it. My boyfriend and I met in New York and he moved down here first, so we were long distance for a while. I would always go to vintage stores while I was visiting, and I would see all this polyester, and all these polyester knits and acrylics, and I would think, “Why the hell, in Florida, is there all this polyester? Who is buying this?” And now I’m buying it. It’s so funny that I would not have considered it, but I guess that’s the beautiful thing about the internet—your customer is everywhere. It definitely changed a lot in that way. I’m buying a lot of polyester (laughs). It’s great because you can throw it in the washer. It’ll lift the stains, it’s incredible. I’m a believer in it now, I get it. It’s a funny place. (laughs)

When you’re shooting either yourself or some of the models you’ve had, what’s your photo setup?

I first used just the automatic timer on my iPhone. I would set it up against a desk in the house, run in front of the camera, hit it again, and run...which was just super time-consuming, and not the way to go. Then my friend David was just like, “Girl, what are you doing? You need to get a tripod and a clicker.” I finally did that, and that changed the game. My setup is usually this wall here in my bedroom, and I will have to scoot the bed over. The light in this room is really the only wall I can do. I’ll set up the tripod on the bed. I don’t like to have the clicker in my hand, so a lot of the time I’ll put it on the ground and step on it with my toe (laughs). I’m really gestural with my hands when I shoot, which I think sometimes is a little too much…

No, it’s luxury!

(laughs) Yeah, thank you. I think it is. I feel expensive. That’s why. I have friends who are very good at either showing it, or hiding it behind their body, but I like to be hands-free. That’s usually the setup. If I want to get a more atmospheric photo, where I can use a lot more space, there’s some walls behind a record store down the street. I’ll get in my car, put clothes in the back, park behind the alley, and run in and out of my car changing. Natural light is free, so let’s use it. It shows clothes the best. I like when it feels sort of industrial, when there’s a lot of concrete. Going out in New York, we’d get a picture of our looks on the sidewalk or whatever, with the flash. And I love that look, so I kind of just want to recreate that all the time. That’s kind of where it comes from, I think: wearing a look to the club. I love that flash. It’s just good. I want to explore that down the road, but until then, the wall it is.

Are you using your iPhone for all your photography?

Yeah. 

That’s crazy, it looks so great. 

Stupid Love was shot on iPhone (laughs). And I’ll edit. I was first putting stuff in Photoshop, to edit wrinkles or a blemish, but I just use an app now, where you can just do it on your phone. I think down the road maybe we’ll get there [editing with Photoshop], but for right now, in my price range, with the community I’m in, we all kind of expect this sort of look. It works. I’m one person doing everything, so I can’t sacrifice a whole day to edit 20 pictures. That’s silly. That’s why natural light works. And a little bit of concealer. (laughs)

I’m sure there’s some sort of competitive spirit. Do you ever feel that?

I am very new to this, as far as my coming-out into the vintage society. I started this last year. It’s always been a part of my life, to some degree, but officially I think I started in April. Going on almost a year. There’s maybe some of the more seasoned queens that look at the newer girls...there’s definitely a little bit of that, side-eye or something, but for the most part I’ve had really great interactions with everyone. There’s a lot of really great people willing and wanting to help you, and answer questions when you have them. For me, I’m always gonna try to be as friendly as possible. When there are people who want to get into this, or people who aren’t my customer and just have a question, I’m always going to want to answer it to the best of my ability. That’s not always convenient, but I’m always going to try my hardest. I think there are some people that, for them, that’s a huge NO. It’s a trade-secret sort of thing. They don’t want to talk about things.

I feel like you see that in fashion, too, in photography or styling. Like, these are the tricks of the trade that you have to pay your dues to learn. Which is neither here nor there. Which is hilarious, because with someone like Doris, for instance, just the breadth of knowledge she holds, it’s like, “Come on!” We have to get that as spread as possible, it has to continue to be known.

There’s a lot of this idea going on, which is my biggest problem with the community, which is this idea that you should be paid for your knowledge. I’m seeing a lot of people talk about this, or repost. I just have the biggest problem with that. That’s not how trade works. You don’t just know how to do things. Yeah, you can pay to go to college, but…

But there’s a line, too. Giving a whole lecture is different than answering a question.

Right. But also, to that, there’s people like Doris, who you could pay for a Master Class—and you should!—but she’s willing and wanting to make YouTube videos as often as she can. After she got robbed. After she got broken into. I think it’s an attitude that I just don’t like. As an industry, if we want to make change, if we want to encourage people to buy used, reuse, pass clothes down to their friends and recycle—you have to share the knowledge. You have to make it conversational. When you put up walls, and put up barriers, and put up fees and funds, it becomes very, not elitist, but exclusionary. Only a certain person can access this, or buy vintage. I think for me, and I think for you, that’s the opposite of what the point of this is.

It reminds me of how Nick Knight is someone who is always disseminating information, with SHOWstudio and everything, and he absolutely does not have to be doing that. And no one’s watching. But we’re watching! (laughs)

That’s always so funny. It’s a content overload thing maybe. When it’s good, people see it. To that, too, Doris’s price point is a higher price point because she’s worked hard enough, and she does what she does, and to hire Nick Knight to do something would cost a lot of money. You can share that knowledge with the people who could never afford to book you, or to buy your clothes, and you can still be really successful. You can still become more of a household name. 

You can see that definitely in Your top vs. bottom proportions.

Yeah. I’ve been very guilty of chopping 70s Bill Blass mini, mini, mini because of Hedi Slimane. I fully am for that. I love that. I don’t know, there’s just something so...speaking of touch, when I’ve gone to the stores and touched those little mini-dresses, the quality feel really, really good. I see that a lot in the 80s pieces I get, or even the 60s pieces that I’ll chop or whatever, and there’s something so simple about the lines and the shoulder pads. There’s a sexiness to it that I just forever love. I love 70s Bill Blass, Steven Burroughs, 70s Saint Laurent. I look a lot at different 80s runway things; Lacroix, Oscar de la Renta. I love a sleeve. I know there’s so many more contemporary things that I can’t even name right now. That Saint Laurent collection is like, end of discussion. That’s it. 

What year was it?

2016. 2009 is also my favorite year in contemporary fashion. 2009 is like...those two Prada collections are up there for me. Those Balenciaga collections are up there for me. Fall 2009. Little black dresses. Iconic. Nicolas Ghesquière is one of my favorites, so I’ll often look back at his things. I’m recently into what he was doing at Callaghan, in like 2001 or something. That’s always really interesting to me. Oh, Rick Owens. Like shut it down. The best collections he’s ever done, the past few years. Hands down. I don’t really reference that a lot, that’s more of a personal thing. I would love to wear and own those clothes. It’s so glam, the references. The shoulder, the jeans. There’s a lot of Adrian in there, with the shoulders.