Q& A with Greasywaitress Vintage

Bridget Pizzo is neither greasy nor a waitress. The Philly-based photographer/stylist has a penchant for all things vintage, as well as a deep respect for people in the food service industry and their retro-fabulous style, so when she decided to launch her own eBay shop, Greasy Waitress Vintage was the moniker of choice. She offers pre-loved cocktail frocks and nostalgia-inducing finds for a starting bid of just $9.99, so you can get vintage style at vintage prices. Greasy Waitress also sells journals featuring album cover artwork from the likes of Carly Simon, Bob Seger, and La Toya Jackson for $12 a pop.The enterprising, multi-talented Bridget is also good-natured, as evinced by her willingness to participate in this Q&A. Her lightning-fast responses astounded and amazed me, and I wish her the best of luck.

So, Greasy Waitress . . . where did the name originate?
Greasywaitress is a reference to old school diner waitresses in cute uniforms who worked their butts off and got a lot of grief in return. It has a vintage feel to it that suits the clothes that i sell- and, i have a huge amount of respect for waitresses and waiters everywhere - its a tough job, and they deserve recognition.

Amen to that. Not that I would know . . . the only restaurant gigs I've had were a couple of hostess jobs, which required standing around in cute outfits in one instance, and a rather unfortunate vest in another. I had mad respect for the servers, though. Hungry people, no matter what strata of society they come from, are not fun to deal with. Anyway, back to the fashion. Who are some of your style icons?
My grandmother. she was always dressed to the nines, even for a trip to the market.
And my mother. She had been an airline stewardess for TWA in the 1960s back when flying was glamourous. My favorite activity as a child was to play dress up in all the fantastic stewardess outfits she had. TWA had different themed "uniforms" for the stewardesses depending upon the flight destination, a wild concept nowadays! My favorite was the gold lame Vegas dress, very over the top!

Wow, that's like my dream childhood. 1960's TWA stewardess outfits! I nearly wet myself when you said that. What are some of your favorite vintage shopping destinations nowadays?
I get lost looking through all the different etsy vintage sellers, thats a favorite way of mine to lose an afternoon!

What do you usually look for when shopping vintage?
I am a huge collector of accessories. You can make the same dress look totally different depending upon the way you accessorize it.

I totally agree. I wear the same American Apparel tanks in different colors every day, with different accessories. So far, no one seems to have caught on. It's one of my favorite Recessionista tactics, along with lunching on $2 hot dogs from street vendors more often than I'd like to admit. Speaking of which, do you have any recession-beating tricks of your own that you'd like to bestow upon us?
I love giving gifts to friends and family but that can get so expensive! So lately when I see something in a shop that I think would be perfect for a friend, before I pull out my wallet I stop and think, could make it myself? I've done that a few times now and I've found that everyone generally appreciates something handmade more. Or they may just be acting polite :)

Your own photos would make wonderful gifts -- they're really lovely. What's your favorite photo that you've taken?
Yikes! That's a really difficult question to answer! I can't say that I have a fav photo that I took in particular, but I do have a favorite found photograph. I found it when I moved into a new loft years ago, it was long ago abandoned by a previous tenant I suppose. It's a photo of a group of eight teenagers at their prom in the 1980s. They girls are seated at their table with their dates standing behind them. I smile every time I look at it because its such a perfect example of the fashion of that era, the big hair, pooofy dresses, bad tans and each kid has their on spin on their own particular style. Its just fantastic. I have it framed and when people see it they always look at me funny because I'm not in the photo and I don't know anyone in the photo. But it just always makes me smile and that's reason enough for me to frame and display it.

Your must-have item for the summer?
Beachy rompers!

And while we're picking summer favorites, your favorite warm-weather treats?
Mojitos, ripe watermelon, lemon water ice (its a Philly thing).

A summertime memory?
The smell of wet asphalt just after an afternoon thunderstorm's lifted always brings me back to being a kid in the summertime, watching and waiting out the storm inside, racing back out to resume playing as soon as the rain has stopped.

Thanks to Bridget for the interview. And now, some choice picks from her e-store:

Vintage 80's Black and White Polkadot Cocktail Dress, starting at $9.99. Size XS/S.


Vintage 70's One Shoulder Pleated Grecian Dress, starting at $9.99. Size M. Ties with bow at shoulder.


Vintage 60's Hot Pink Psychedelic Floral Skirt, starting at $9.99. Size XS/S. I would never have figured out how to wear this, but I love the way it's styled here.

Photo credit: Bridget Pizzo