{"id":287285,"date":"2026-09-16T12:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T12:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/287285\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T12:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T12:36:08","slug":"big-rubes-philly-style-iconoclast-charlie-lichtenfels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/287285\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Rube\u2019s Philly: Style Iconoclast Charlie Lichtenfels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I always tell people: \u201cBe stylish, not fashionable.\u201d By that I mean: Wear what makes you happy, no matter what everyone else is wearing. The moment I saw Charlie Lichtenfels of Charlie\u2019s Vintage <\/a>at the Labor Day Vintage Design Market, I knew they had style.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Listen to the interview edition here:<\/p>\n

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What they wore: Ralph Lauren shirt, vintage J. Crew tie, Todd Snyder jeans, Glen check jacket, Weejuns, standing. Where they were: a booth of classic, 90s separates backdropped by vintage awning fabric with a brown and orange stripe and a Hermes vibe sourced at the last minute from Fleishmann\u2019s Fabrics on Fourth Street. Also there: an impressive record collection: jazz, 90s hip hop, albums that were experimental and avant-garde in their day, and came to define their genres. Tasteful. Stylish.<\/p>\n

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When Charlie told me about growing up in Connecticut, I assumed: WASP. I was almost right. They did go to prep school \u2014 Fairfield \u2014 where they got to know \u201cswamp Yankees\u201d \u2014 \u201cincredibly wealthy people who live in New England, but they have at the same time no money,\u201d because \u201cit\u2019s tied up in a beautiful old house.\u201d These unassuming style icons wore old denim or Gant chambray shirts and \u201cabsolutely thrashed\u201d loafers. And, although Charlie had two effortlessly elegant, jazz-loving grandfathers \u2014 one who dressed like a Southern gentleman, the other who was very Ivy League, their family didn\u2019t come from money.<\/p>\n

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Then, there was Charlie\u2019s older sister Sheilagh, a model in New York, who Charlie followed by looking in magazines: Teen Vogue, Women\u2019s Wear Daily and absorbing the culture of clothing \u201cby osmosis.\u201d After high school, Charlie studied archaeology at St. Joe\u2019s, found a tech job that did not at all suit, and ended up a personal stylist for \u201cfriends, family, a lot of attorneys in New York and Philadelphia, and queer people,\u201d who want in on his \u201ccollection of clothing that really felt like what growing up in Connecticut in the 90s was like to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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When I run into Charlie again in Bella Vista, they\u2019re less popped pink polo collar, more retro cool, wearing Dries Van Noten rocker boots, vintage Marith\u00e9 + Fran\u00e7ois Girbaud jeans, John Lennon\u2019s iconic New York City ringer t-shirt (a score from the West Philly Bazaar for $2), an Issey Miyake watch, a Givenchy ring, a flea market ring, a scarf from Penhaligon\u2019s (a thank you gift for his fragrance purchases there), and a Gant shirt.<\/p>\n

The look? There isn\u2019t quite a name for it. But if you ask me, it\u2019s true style.<\/p>\n

West Philly born and raised with a slosh of Brooklyn,\u00a0Big Rube<\/a>\u00a0partnered with Mitchell & Ness in 2000 to help make it a global brand marketing and selling high-end throwback jerseys. He has been photographing Philly since 2009, including in a Daily News Column from 2011 to 2017. He\u2019s also a chef, preparing to open his own space in 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\" MORE FROM BIG RUBE\u2019S PHILLY<\/p>\n