MEADOW TAYLOR

The most memorable item Meadow Taylor found while thrifting in a small town was a Dodge racing jacket. Taylor, the owner and creative director behind Rogue Vintage, was in Rosthern at an estate sale when she found the jacket, which was priced at $15.

“That’s what kind of hooked me, cause that’s a huge find. Anyone will tell you those racing jackets are very expensive,” said Taylor.

Last September, she spoke with Monday Dearest about joining the Saskatchewan community after moving from Manitoba and how she’s embraced her creative role.

Two summers ago, Taylor connected with 4th Quarter Vintage, a local second hand store in Saskatoon that hosts the vintage market ‘Dated and Faded’. She had joined one of the markets with zero planning, and ended up being a consistent vendor the entire season.

She said that 4th Quarter and their community were welcoming in every single way.

“The people that buy your clothes, the people that don’t buy your clothes, the old ladies that come in and tell you they wore that sweater years ago and they tell you where it came from and how grandpa George bought it for them,” said Taylor.

While she noted that her clientele ranges from young teenagers to middle-aged women, she said that Rogue Vintage is for everyone.

Outside of vintage clientele, Taylor’s friends and family are also big supporters. With the market becoming larger, she said it’s difficult to stand out, but having a close support system has helped her evolve her business.

“If you’re not willing to adapt, it will be a challenge,” said Taylor. She’s found success in building one on one relationships with clients through styling appointments and photoshoots. She says these relationships have helped her maintain a strong presence in the community.

Rogue Vintage was originally destined for a physical store, but the goals quickly changed when she started branching out in the community. Taylor found that there’s a completely different market for clothing stores versus styling services. And she’d like people to know that although the online store will always be available, Rogue Vintage styling is where the business plans to head in the future.

She wants it to be accessible to wherever the client is; “Out of the home, out of rented office space, out of a coffee shop if you want… It’s something you can take everywhere and I’ve really grown fond of that,” said Taylor.

Taylor stated that she doesn’t want to create a new person with her styling appointments, but rather help her clients fall back into what already interests them.

During a styling appointment, Taylor will use what she calls a “Stylescope”. She described it as a set of magazine quizzes that help narrow down what colours, silhouettes and style best suits a client. Afterward, she’d move to either an in-person styling appointment, which can be done city-wide, or an appointment through her inventory at Rogue Vintage.

Her motto is ‘Let’s get you dressed in clothes you can feel good about’. She wants to help people rediscover themselves through a sustainable lens.

“There’s so many things you can just find at the thrift store that are just as great quality,” said Taylor. “The exact same brands that you love, but you can feel good about wearing them.”

However, Taylor’s favourite part of Rogue Vintage is working with different local talents and businesses on creative projects.

When working on creative projects, Taylor has people message her out of the blue to take part, “...just to simply uplift their own business [and] uplift everyone else’s business.”

By building community connections through local talent, models, hair salons, stylists and more, Taylor has found herself to be a part of a larger cycle that uplifts everyone involved. She says that there can be up to ten different streams of advertising from a singular photoshoot, which benefits not only Rogue Vintage, but everyone else.

By: K.Levesque