From their clothes to the place where they live, everything about them makes you travel back to the beginning of the last century.
Richard Herefeld and Steffi Kay met in a very particular way, which marked the style of their relationship forever. They met after seeing each other on Instagram, where both of them are seen wearing old-fashioned clothes.
They quickly contacted each other, started talking online, and then very quickly fell in love. Richard, 29, traveled from his homeland, Germany, to Canada only 10 days after meeting 26-year-old Steffi. His original plan was to stay for two weeks, but he ended up staying for a month.
Their mutual passion for the 1930s allowed their love to blossom like a flower in the spring. After a short period of time, they moved in together into a house with a style of construction that was faithful to that past era. Also, their music and interior decoration transport you back in time towards that period that seems so distant today.
They’re currently both living in Steffi’s art deco apartment in Toronto, where she’s decorated each room with a different retro style. The entrance foyer, the rooms and even the bathroom has a pin-up style that belongs to the beginning of the previous century.
“I’ve been into vintage since I was a teenager (…) I remember my aunt clearing the attic in her childhood home where there were lots of my grandmother’s dresses from the 1930s (…) My aunt was determined to get rid of everything and I tucked my favorite pieces aside because I knew I needed to have them (…) My style is also inspired by Jean Harlow and the golden age of Hollywood. Films have a big impact on how I dress.”
– Steffi Kay told Metro.co.
Richard, meanwhile, makes a living as a singer, performing songs from the 1930s. As a result, he has to travel constantly back and forth between Germany and Canada to put on his nostalgic shows. This also means that he wears vintage clothing all the time, both for his work and during his leisure time.
For as long as he can remember, this young German has styled himself with 1920s and 30s fashion. He’s always liked traditional men’s clothing, so much so that, since the age of three, he insisted on wearing his grandfather’s tie to family gatherings. By the time he was 17, he wore a dress shirt at school. Over 70% of his wardrobe consists of original pieces and he’s been dressing with exclusively vintage clothes for almost eight years now.
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“I take my shoes off when I get home, but I’m still wearing the shirt and tie and trousers. It’s how I feel most comfortable, and more importantly, it’s what I like. People during lock-in were asking if we dressed up for the grocery store because it was the only time we could go out. But the truth is, we dress like this all the time.”
– said Richard Herefeld.
People often come up to them on the street and compliment them on their “nice 50’s outfits” when they’re actually wearing clothing from the 1920’s and 1930’s. “Those early decades of the 20th century are almost forgotten and eclipsed by later decades. We don’t stick our noses up or correct them. We appreciate that people enjoy it anyway,” Steffi explained. Together, she and her partner have accumulated almost 19,000 followers between the two of them on their Instagram accounts (@richardherfeld and @steffi_kay).