Winner Announced: ThriftEd Mag x East Village Vintage Collective Cover Contest
See the winning editorial behind the ThriftEd Mag x East Village Vintage Collective Cover Contest 2026.
Inventiveness, unapologetic confidence, sensuality, and a free-willing spirit only known to the secondhand community populated the entries for the first-ever ThriftEd Mag x East Village Vintage Collective cover contest.
Despite many unique entries, one editorial stood out for its vision for the vintage fashion community enhanced with a sublimely nostalgic setting and flair that New Yorkers recognize instantly.
Photographer Bridgett Magyar (bridgett on Substack) is behind the winning editorial. In Magyar’s words, the photoshoot celebrates plus-size bodies as both “the subject and the standard.”
In it, vintage clothing becomes the conduit for reclaiming identity.
“Every look is drawn from a lineage of garments that were made to be worn, lived in, and seen, and are presented here on bodies that have historically been excluded from both vintage fashion and its imagery. The project asserts that vintage is not limited by size, and that glamour has never been exclusive to one type of body.”
Set at Coney Island, the thrift editorial draws clear inspirations from 1950’s fashion. Retro prints (like polka dots dominating spring trends) and bust-skimming tops exude the era’s sensuality and “spectacle,” in Magyar’s words.
With a zestful wink and a tinge of Americana, the editorial seems to usher in summer.
“The boardwalk, beach, and amusement rides evoke the theatrical backdrops of mid-century pin-ups, while the styling pays homage to their bold silhouettes, fitted waistlines, and performative femininity. But where traditional pin-up imagery was narrowly framed, this work expands that language. The poses, styling, and attitude remain flirtatious and self-possessed, while the bodies themselves challenge the era’s rigid ideals,” added Magyar.
The message stands apart. “By reimagining pin-up aesthetics through a plus-size lens, the images disrupt the myth that vintage beauty was singular or exclusive. Instead, they propose an alternative history, one where abundance, softness, and visibility are celebrated rather than corrected or hidden. The models are not styled to approximate a smaller ideal; they are styled to take up space, to be decorative, powerful, and unapologetically present.
At its core, this project is about reclamation. It reclaims vintage fashion for bodies that have been told it is not for them, and it reclaims public pleasure and visibility for plus-size people in spaces historically coded as spectacle. By placing size-inclusive vintage on the Coney Island shoreline, the shoot positions joy, desire, and nostalgia as collective experiences, available to everybody willing to step into the frame.”
Credits:
Photographer: Bridgett Magyar
Collaborators/Models: Stela Nessim, C. Decleene