HubThreads: Celebrating Boston Street Style

Meet Hthaiwon and Kate.


Photo by Diana Levine

Critics say this city has no style. We’re here to prove them wrong. Welcome to HubThreads, where we chat with the most stylish people we find out and about in Boston. Think you or someone you know has the best street style? Let us know.

HTHAIWON & KATE

You two own Recollective Vintage, which recently moved to a new location in Southie. 

Hthaiwon: We did! We’re at 416 West Broadway now. We were looking for a larger space where we could add home furnishings.

Kate: We paired up with a guy that we knew from SOWA who had such a cool aesthetic and we pitched the idea to him. And then he introduced us to a couple of other vendors who have awesome industrial lighting and use repurposed Model T headlights and stuff.

How would you two describe your style? 

Kate: Wackadoodle, ever since I was little. I used to go in my mom’s closet. She was boho and did a lot of traveling, so there was 70s alpine ski sweaters and embroidered v-necks, and then as you got a little further in the closet, it was that Maharishi Beatles stuff. I’ve never seen my mother wear it, but it was in the closet.

Hthaiwon:  I keep my clothing really simple and then wear unique accessories. I’m a sucker for a good vintage coat, I’ve been known to follow ladies down the street to ask about their coat. I wish Boston was more into the coat thing. It drives me crazy when I see girls dressed up really nicely, and they just have on a North Face. There’s a time and a place for that, but I hate when the outfit stops with the coat.

What’re you both wearing today?

Hthaiwon: The bracelet, earrings, jeans and blazer are all vintage; the bracelet is a Brutalist design and the earrings are from a vendor at Brimfield who specializes in Indian cottons and jewelry. The jeans are Levi’s and I cut the hems.

Kate: Rag & Bone booties and a 1980’s gas station attendee’s cotton jumpsuit.

Where did you get that bananas necklace? 

Kate: At this crazy import shop in Rockport that specializes in Mexican Day of the Dead stuff. It drew me in, I’m obsessed with Day of the Dead stuff. You should come to my house, my entire bedroom is decorated in it. Mexico City is my favorite city that I’ve ever been to and I’ve travelled most of the world. The guy also had pineapples and watermelon necklaces, I should’ve bought all of them.

Do either of you have any style icons?

Hthaiwon: I’m a fan of Jane Birkin and Leandra Medine from Man Repeller.

Kate: Rachel Zoe, I love her. I think she’s too skinny, but don’t tell her I said that. I love her boho theme and she mixes with glam so well. That’s what I try to do. I’m a hippie at heart, but I like a little glam. Another one that I think is amazing is Bianca Jagger, she’s just effortless and hot. I always have them in the back of my mind when I put things together.

What are your most favorite vintage finds?

Hthaiwon: I’m more excited about the things that we find for the shop and for othe people. I have this dress that I found at the Garment District like 20 years ago that is still sitting in my closet. It’s a black sheath and is Thai silk with these little tabs that go down the front, so it’s like jewelry. I got a cool bag recently, but then Kate got the same bag, so I can’t carry it because I will go home with her bag.

What’s the bag?

Hthaiwon: It’s a Louis Vuitton from the ’80s shopper bag. It has a trapezoid shape, it almost looks like a French market bag, it’s wide at the top, narrow at the bottom and it has long straps.

Did she get it unknowingly?

Hthaiwon: No, she straight-up copied me.

Where do you like to shop in Boston, other than Recollective?

Hthaiwon: My go-to is jeans and a cashmere sweater, so I literally go to a cashmere sample sale in Norwood every November and buy like 10 grey and black new seaters every year. And then I just shrink them in the wash. In the summers, its black and white t-shirts. I went to art school and wore my fathers vintage Levis and Hanes white t-shirts every day, my personal style has not changed too much.

You both have kids, right?

Hthaiwon: Yes.

Do they have a flair for the vintage as well?

Hthaiwon: My son works in the store, so he comes home with something every once in a while. He’s got a thing for 80s acid-washed denim jackets. My daughter is more into vintage street wear, so she’s grabbing sweatshirts and cutting them off.

What would you say is trending right now at the store.

Hthaiwon: Vintage denim. People are set on finding a pair of high-waisted, ’80s, mom jeans. We’re constantly adding them. I think soon it’s going to go to more ’70s bell-bottoms; still high-waisted, but with more of a flare and less of a taper. Also, I heard knee-length, pedal pushers are coming back. We have some 1940’s-1950’s high-waisted, but fitted, in stock, in chambray and denim.

What else is coming up for summer?

Hthaiwon: We’re going to stock a lot of nautical looks. We bought a big estate that had a ton of cotton shirt dresses in Oxford stripes.