Jennifer Fein is behind some of my best AMT Vintage outfits. She has an amazing eye and always pulls great pieces for me. Whenever she is working at the store I always see her organizing, putting stuff away, vacuuming, doing some sort of incense burning etc… She is clearly extremely passionate about the shop. Jennifer also has an amazing fashion sense, I love her Instagram selfies of her vintage pieces whether from her own collection or purchased at AMT. I find Jennifer to be very intriguing and mysterious, she kind of reminds me of a cross between Twiggy and a 1960’s Cher.
When did you start working at Another Man’s Treasure? Almost a year ago.
Have you always had a thing for vintage clothing? How did that start? Yeah, I’ve always been into clothing, but vintage specifically because of the quality and attention to detail is just different – the way of constructing clothes is different from now.
What do you do when you’re not working at AMT? I do a lot of different things I’m a painter, fine artist, I went to school for fashion design, I worked in that industry for a little while and then quit to start my own line. So I’m a designer, a custom fabricator for styling photo shoots for Vogue and this and that… What else do I do? Oh! I work as a professional seamstress for a tailoring agency in Manhattan where we do everything from the MET gala for celebrities, to doing fittings in the Vogue closet, to being on set for shoots and tailoring on-set. I did one job in Paris when I was there, so that’s another thing. But it’s all freelance and all kind of “sporadic”….
Are you from Jersey City? No, I was born in Livingston, NJ. My family is from Montclair, both of my parents grew up in Montclair. So I was born in Livingston and grew up in Connecticut, went to college in Chicago then moved to Manhattan and then to JC.
Do you have a favorite Jersey City hangout spot? Another Man’s Treasure and my apartment!
It’s funny, a lot of people say their favorite hangout spot is AMT. I mean, before I started working here, I was in here everyday anyway…
Is that why you decided to start working here? Well, no. The girl who was working here before was leaving and I had come back from almost moving to France, and while talking to Meika and Warren, Meika said “would you want to work a few days here? Before I ask anyone else, I want to ask you.” She knew how much I loved the store and how similar we are, in a way when it comes to being very detail-oriented and having an eye for certain thing, and feeling that the store was an extension of myself as well, as much as is it an extension of her, you know it’s her baby, it’s her love. And I love it so much as well. I was thinking about it and I had never worked retail ever…from then on I was the new AMT shop girl.
So what do you love about working here? What’s your favorite part? I mean, what don’t I love about working here?! My favorite, favorite part is when I have a magical day when, the other day was super magical; almost all the people who came in shopping, tried something on that fit SO perfectly that it was almost like it was MADE for them.
Was I one of them? was that the day I was here? That was a different day, but that was a good moment for me too. It was the day before that it just kept happening, It was crazy! And all these really cool people were coming in and it was just really great vibes and energy. The pieces that went home were pieces that had been here for a while that sort of were waiting for the right person. They found homes that day and I was happy about it.
That’s what I love about vintage, every piece has a story. Yeah. Even if you don’t know the history of each piece, you know its traveled a long way, maybe had an adventurous life and no it’s found a new home and lives to ave another story to weave into it’s fibers.
How do you stop yourself from buying everything that comes in here? I….don’t. I like to give things a chance to sell. Sometimes I can’t help myself and I end up going home with more clothes than paycheck, but that’s okay because that’s sort of part of the reason I like to work here. Because I get to go home with new treasures, too. And I would much rather find them here than anywhere else. I stop myself if I’ve been going crazy for a few weeks. But because I’m collector as Meika and Warren.
Can you tell me about the dress you’re wearing now? I’m obsessed with it! If you ever want to sell it, let me know. I generally can’t part with anything. I’m an epic hoarder. I think that runs in my family though. Well, definitely my grandma- who was in fashion as well.
Tell me about that. She’s the one who taught we how to sew when I was really little. And then- I didn’t even know this- but when I decided to go to school for fashion, actually changed my major from being a painter to taking the intensive 3-year program for fashion at the Art Institute of Chicago, my mom was like “Jen, you know grandma June went to Pratt for fashion design.” I had no idea, I knew that she was a home ec teacher at Maplewood Middle School in Maplewood, NJ, but I had no idea…shortly thereafter I found out about my uncles being tailors, furriers, having all these people in that industry in my family…so it’s in my blood, I guess.
So the dress…. It’s Tori Richards, it’s 1960s pop art maxi gown dress with a cutout tie-front. It was in the store for a little while and I kept looking at it, I generally don’t go towards black and white graphic, but I just kept looking at it and one day I tried it on and was like “oh….okay. Yeah, this is coming home with me today.”
Tell me about your design career? I wasn’t expecting to work in a corporate design world. Ever. I interned for Helmut Lang for 2.5 years as their only design intern, I think. For two summers and a winter break I would sit in a basement on Greene Street (the Helmut Lang store) I went through 14 seasons of mens , women’s accessories. Wallets, shoes, tank tops, inspiration, vintage, everything they ever had in the store, not in the store, samples, and had Polaroid pictures of each item, figured out which season it’s from, whether its mens or women’s….
It was an impossible job, but I created an archive for Helmut Lang alone in the basement. They offered me a job when I graduated college, but that didn’t pan out because Helmut sold the company to Prada, and Prada sold the company to Theory, then the company just wasn’t…what it was. Helmut Lang was my dream job. Everything about their aesthetic it was conceptual, it was minimalist, but also vintage-inspired, and I was a walking archive. I knew every season, every piece by heart. And still to this day I collect any piece that I can find that is Helmut Lang.
Do you think you’re going to back to designing more? I design all of the time. I just do more custom pieces or one-of-a-kind items.
Could you make that dress for me? Haha, I could, but I wouldn’t. There are things I want to remake when it comes to vintage, there’s a lot of pattern inspiration and things I’m thinking of doing in the future with that, but…most of the pieces I make are one of a kind. When I did my capsule collection, Rihanna bought one of my dresses, it was special; made from vintage fabrics, garments that I collected to take apart, I draped and made new patterns. My designs and silhouettes cut from fabric that was once something entirely different… So it’s not vintage reworked, they’re couture pieces.
Is there anything else you want people to know about you, about AMT? The thing about AMT is that it’s unlike ANY vintage store I’ve ever been in. Like, maybe there’s one or two or three out there that are a little bit as well-curated, organized, thought through, kept up- but I was in France all last year and I went to ever single vintage store in Paris. Any store I could find anywhere, there’s just nothing like it, like AMT. All I waned to do was come home and shop here. Because Meika and Warren just have the best eye for things.
Yeah! I told them yesterday that I can’t come here anymore- I’m addicted! A lot of people say that, and it’s adorable. It could be so much worse, so many worse things to be addicted to.
When you come to this store, it’s like, an experience, a pleasure… Sometimes to keep the energy flowing in a positive way, I like to light a bit of sage in the shop. People definitely walk in on me doing weird crystal/sage/candle moments. And when I tell people about certain stones in jewelry, they’re like “oh, right, okay. so you’re weird.” Which stones are good- tiger’s eye and turquoise, wearing copper is really good for your health and spirit..and they just look at me like “you’re crazy. I’m just a gypsy shop girl.
Well, it’s clear that you’re very passionate about your job here, and you love it. You’re good at it, I mean you’ve pulled some really good outfits for me! Well I love it, and I love Meika and Warren- and Biba. and I love Denny. And were a little vintage family.
To see more of Jennifer’s work check out her blog and website!
AMTvintageafterdark on IG
Another Man’s Treasure
353 Grove St
Jersey City, New Jersey 07302
(201) 860-9990
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