Vintage shopping has been described as a quite a mission: from the modest start, with teenage children deciding to buy second hand garments because they could not afford the high-street prices, to these days, in which it has grown to become a multi-million dollar business, which both equally gives off and prompts the universal order of the fashion business.
For starters, how did this happen? When was it that we developed care for smelly outdated clothes so sincerely, and why is a 1950s dress with holes in now worth over $100? The answer lies in the significant changes in fashion in the last fifteen years, and a widespread sense of ‘seen all of this before’ that existed at the end of the last Millenium. High end creative designers started to be influenced by the Great Age of Hollywood, leading to a revival in designer brands like Prada and Gucci, with powerful and innovative new designers reviving the 60s mod look and the 50s housewife style. Vintage really took off when Julia Roberts wore a vintage Oscar gown, and wow – everything started to click. Why would we wear all the inexperienced designers’ clothing when there are so many deserted masterpieces from classic eras to choose from, and we can all appear original and completely new? The rest is history; from the Olsen twins, to Reese Witherspoon, with a lot of women of all different shapes, size, background and style all falling over themselves for Retro.
1. Understand your own self. For a start, for people available on the market who happens to be fascinated, or enthusiastic in vintage clothes exploring, a piece of advice: know your self. Know your measurements, dimensions, and what could be available on the market, dislikes and what on is likely to be an error! Yes, well you know you are a sizing 8 in the UK, really do not be misled by the antique tag, because the women back in the old times are prominently smaller than us. You need to know your body measurements, the most critical for a dress is definitely your bust line size; for instance, if you are 34C, then you certainly should choose something that is 36 inches wide in bust. The main reason you might want to decide on something 1-2 inches bigger is that clothing before the 70s had no stretch. The material called Lycra had not been developed then. And so precisely what you could buy in the high-street, their dimensions would not comply to vintage. While you are choosing a vintage jumper, you will have to be sure that you measure your shoulder length, and measure your arm holes. Alright, at this point you have the courage to seriously appreciate and center on your figure, now lets find out what are your investments. Is your own bust your very best asset? Go for 50s dresses to showcase your shape. Do you have a pair of astonishing pins? Explore with a little something 60s in mind. Be ruthless, vintage are often very captivating, the believed that you presumably would own something simply for yourself is very appealing indeed. But that does not imply that you can actually work that dress into your wardrobe, you must understand what kind of modern fundamental components you have, and also be pleased with what are you trying to find. Don’t force yourself to bring in a dead animal coat back again just because it happens to be ‘on trend’.
2. Where would you go? If you are that sort of girl who loves browsing, as well as the feeling of a chase, areas like Portobello Market and Camden Market in London are amazing for vintage. Or you might actually search for a Vintage Fair around the country.
They usually happen a few times a year, and you can get some amazing finds. You can also find a wonderful and unique dress that someone had left behind in consignment stores, because there is always someone out there needing fast cash, so the bargains are there to have. Lastly, the charity shop around the corner might just have the item that you never could imagine there, and what an exciting prospect to find an original Karl Lagerfeld suit in a charity shop! I had a wonderful experience finding two pairs of Manolo Blahnik shoes for 5 each in a charity shop! That was a very good day for me, in fact, even though they are two sizes too large, I would never, ever throw them away.
3. Ebay comb. I will be a self confessed Ebay addict, the truth is, I can called personally an Ebay expert. Do invest some time, understand your size as well as have a terrific idea of what you’re looking for. I used to buy a lot of my vintage clothing from US, but in UK, there are just as many goodies to find. Do not be like Reese Witherspoon back in 2006, wearing a polyester/satin looking dress from Chanel, having been told it’s vintage, only to find out someone else wore it only a few years back! Do your research, for instance if someone is saying something from the 20’s is stretchy, it just would not happen, there is nothing made in the 20’s with stretch in it!
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