Finding Archival Vintage With “SNL’s” Chloe Fineman

Vintage has become increasingly popular on red carpets, and is a way for celebrities to signal their fashion knowledge. The rat race to put celebrities in archival pieces feels disingenuous at times, but Fineman has been a tried-and-true thrifter since growing up in California. “I’m from San Francisco. It’s in your blood,” says Fineman, who looks quite coquettish while trying on a John Galliano-era Dior denim bedazzled jacket and matching saddle bag with a pleated denim Chanel skirt. “I have been buying vintage since middle school and I was definitely a weird kid wearing vintage in high school.” Her favorite piece is a vintage fitted cardigan from the ’50s which she’s had since high school. She notes it “kind of looks like a Celine cardigan. I was onto something”

Most recently, Fineman was inspired by Cate Blanchett’s tailoring-obsessed character in the Oscar-nominated Tár. “I took it to a crazy level. This summer I discovered a vest and pant combo. I just went absolutely insane, so I have so many vests. But then it got cold in New York so I turned into Annie Hall,” she says. “The main thing for me is to not wear sweatpants at work.” 

She likes a lot of the same things as her colleague Heidi Gardner, referencing the gray Rouje bag she brought with her to Vintage Grace. (Gardner has a version in leopard print). “We do copy each other on some things,” she says. “We wear it very differently but we like a lot of the same things.” Most recently, she has been lusting after a Saks Potts fur-trimmed coat à la Gardner. Instead, a vintage gray Emanuel Ungaro jacket with a hulking fur collar is doing the trick. “This is cooler!” she says. 

Fineman looks like a late ’90s siren in a strapless Christian Dior dress with a draped train gathered into a bubble-hem. For a minute, she appears that she just stepped off the Cannes red carpet. She seems to be getting used to her new “act-ohhr” aura, too. “Being here today I feel like I’ve become more myself,” she says. “It was a self actualization, self awareness fashion afternoon. This is me in clothes!”