We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Virginia Chamlee a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Virginia , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?
I sort of grew up in the world of antiques. I was raised by my grandmother, who started a business buying and selling lost-in-transit containers of furniture when I was young. Eventually, she grew the business to a brick and mortar but early on, she was working out of our living room, which was styled like a store (complete with a cash register on a dining table). She would supplement the new furniture with vintage accessories she found at thrift stores, estate sales and the like. And she had a real knack for finding designer pieces: Milo Baughman tables, Christian Dior platters. Eventually she moved the business to an antiques gallery and I would go there every day after school. So it was just years of seeing all these vintage designer names and soaking it in like a sponge. Then, when it came time to outfit my first apartment, I of course went to the thrift store and found incredible pieces. I remember my first dining room table was an antique, black and white checkered wood table and I paired it with vintage, multi-colored chairs. Thrifting was always just a part of life, I never viewed it as a special skill until Instagram debuted. Then, I would share my finds, telling the story behind how I found them and showing how I styled them. And it really resonated with people. I would get so many questions and comments saying “I could never find something like that,” or “I could never pull that off.” And I always just thought, “Yes you can! You just need the right formula.” I am a writer by trade and have written for everyone from Buzzfeed to PEOPLE magazine so writing a book was always a dream of mine. It wasn’t until I realized there was a lot of demand for tips on shopping for vintage that I thought to write a book about that. I came up with the title first — “Big Thrift Energy” – and then crafted a pitch deck and started sending it to publishers. I got a lot of responses but I did get rejections — one publisher told me that they didn’t believe there was a market for a new book about old things. And I disagreed. Over recent years I have seen even younger people get into thrifting — buying and selling on DePop, sharing TikToks of their favorite thrift finds. I sell antiques as a side business so I know there’s a demand for vintage but also a demand for learning how to shop for vintage. Eventually, I found a good fit for BTE and two years ago, I signed my contract. The book debuted in late July. Now, it’s sold in stores like Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million and I get to share even more about my passion. It’s a dream come true.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am writer by trade. I currently work for PEOPLE magazine and have in the past worked for outlets including Bustle, Buzzfeed and Eater. I got my degree in English and immediately got to work as a staff reporter and have since focused mostly on the lifestyle space. But my side gig is selling antiques, which I got into first as a hobby, and then as a way to offload some pieces I didn’t have room for. But it kind of took off and at times my side business generated more income than my primary, salaried job. So I’ve been really focused on nurturing that for the past 5-7 years. A few years ago I also started selling my own original artwork and the response was kind of unimaginable. Now, my prints are sold at Anthropologie and through the Chairish Print Shop and I’ve sold works to everyone from Netflix actors to tech CEOs. My book, Big Thrift Energy, kind of marries everything I do — obviously I wrote the book so that makes sense, but all of the photos are of my vintage finds and how I styled them. My art is also featured prominently in the design of the book.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Early on in my vintage shopping and styling journey, I was approached by a writer at a big design blog, who wanted to feature my home. I was so excited and hired a photographer, did an interview, the whole bit. Then it published and there was a local, male interior designer who just absolutely slammed it. He posted the article on social media and said it was the ugliest house he had ever seen, basically. Oh man, did I cry. I was so upset. My grandmother and my boyfriend both reminded me that this person didn’t like in my home, so it really didn’t matter what he thought. They were right and I am so glad it didn’t stop me from continuing to share my finds and how I styled them in my home. A few years later, I got my book deal. I like remembering that story now because it’s an important reminder not to care what other people think. Design is so personal. If it makes you happy, that’s what matters.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
For a very long time, I really thought business was about pleasing other people and scoring brownie points, with the idea being that one day it all pays off. But the truth is, there will be people who take advantage of you, and you should know your own worth. I talk about that with vintage-selling a lot because there’s a big time component: you spend hours searching for items, and you should factor that into how you price things. The same thing is true of any workplace — if someone wants you to work overtime consistently, and take on more work, they need to pay you for that. It’s a lesson I learned firsthand at a really pivotal moment in my career and I never looked back. The notion of “paying your dues” is only true up to a certain point. At some point you have to get paid, too.
Contact Info:
- Website: bigthriftenergy.com
- Instagram: @vchamlee
- Twitter: @vchamlee
Image Credits
Agnes Lopez