Richard Herefeld and Steffi Kay live a vintage lifestyle – but they met in a very modern way.
The pair found eachother through Instagram after they both shared snaps of their old-fashioned style.
After chatting online, they soon fell for each other and Richard, 29, made a 4,000 mile trip from Germany to Canada just 10 days later.
He had planned to spend just ten days with Steffi, 26, but ended up staying for one month after the lovebirds hit it off over their mutual passion for the 1930s.
Now they live together with everything including their home, their style and the music they listen to reflecting their love for the decade.
Richard said: ‘I had never met anyone I could get along with so easily before.
‘Usually people in the vintage scene like more well-known 1940s songs, but when we first met Steffi had a playlist on in her car with rare songs from the 1920s and 1930s.’
The couple have been living together in Steffi’s art deco apartment in Toronto’s Sunnyside district – known for its similarity to Coney Island in the 30s because of its amusement park – since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Steffi has decorated each room in a different retro style, from the 1940s entrance foyer to the turn of the century, pin-up themed dressing room.
She said: ‘I’ve been into vintage since I was a teenager.
‘I remember my aunt clearing out the attic in her childhood home where there were lots of my grandmother’s dresses from the 30s.
‘My Aunt was determined to get rid of everything and I tucked my favourite 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 huge impact on how I dress.’
Usually, 30s vocalist Richard splits his time performing between his home country of Germany and Canada, which means he wears vintage clothing to work but he likes to wear the same pieces to relax at home too.
Richard has been into 20s and 30s style from as far back as he can remember and has always had a love of traditional menswear, having insisted on wearing his grandfather’s tie from the age of three to family gatherings, before beginning to wear dress shirts to school at the age of 17.
Over 70% of his wardrobe is now made up of original pieces and he has been dressing exclusively in a vintage style for almost eight years.
Richard said: ‘I take off my shoes 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 lockdown 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.’
Steffi added: ‘People will often come up to us in the street and say ‘that’s so 50s’ but what we be wearing will be from the 20s or 30s.
‘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.’
The couple regularly share their enthusiasm for all things vintage on their respective Instagram pages @richardherfeld and @steffi_kay where they’ve amassed almost 19,000 followers between them.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/08/05/couple-live-like-1930s-bonding-love-decade-13086902/
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