vanity

A guide to Vintage Shopping

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:18:33 +0100

Livi’s guide to vintage shopping

After a weekend jaunt spent in London’s wonderful Notting Hill and Portobello Road, I felt inspired to put together a brief guide to buying vintage items, as it can be a complicated, hazardous yet wonderful adventure. When you buy something from the high street you’re aware that it’s mass produced and that you’re bound sooner or later to spot someone else wearing the same item as you. Vintage items have a history, a wonder and individuality about them which I think is fantastic, and with a well trained eye and a little patience you can find some real treasures.

Try on any size

In times of old, people were a lot thinner. (Think 1920 to 40’s clothing, people were on war rationing and didn’t exactly carry a lot of weight) so something labelled in a size nowhere near your own can come up a treat. At the weekend I purchased a pair of dogtooth woollen flared Miu Miu trousers from a Portobello Road Vintage shop for £20, labelled a European size 38 (the equivalent of a U.K 12) I gave them a try expecting them to come up a little big as I normally take an 8/10. The trousers are in fact snug to my waist, lesson learnt both older size ranges and couture labels will come up really rather small so it’s always worth giving something a try on.

Helpfully, a lot of vintage shops have a tailoring and alteration service which they work with, so if you do come across a beautiful one of a kind item which is a little too short/long/ tight/ big, then you can pay for the item to be altered by a professional tailor. Be aware that not all items can be altered and can also only be altered to a certain extent, but have a chat and see what can be done.

Quality Control

You expect your vintage treasures to be a little, well, worn, naturally. Be careful that an item has been lovingly worn and is still therefore wearable for you, rather than an item which has been exhausted, stretched, marked or damaged. For example, many vintage handbags will show signs of wear on the straps at stress points and on the inside of the bag, particularly if they’re suede. Check carefully for marks on items and try to ascertain whether these can be removed with some loving care or if it is permanent damage which is going to affect your aesthetic appreciation of your new item.

Wool does not age well, mainly because it is a hand wash item only and not everyone looks after their clothes properly, Wool will naturally shrink and change shape over time. If it’s a pair of trousers then they won’t have been washed quite so much or suffer from wear.

Tip: Having worked in several clothes stores, we use baby wipes to remove marks from clothing such as dust lines, ink stains etc. as they’re water based and designed for delicate skin they will also be kind to your items of clothing. With leather shoes or bags, I find the distressed and worn look is much more attractive but keep your items looking their best with a good quality leather cream which you can rub in with a soft cloth to improve shine and appearance.

Washing

An item which has been worn before has been next to a stranger’s skin and worn and loved for many years. This is an incredibly romantic idea but for me it invokes mental flashes of germs, thus, read the care instruction label and follow to the best of your ability. Hand washing is by far and above the best way to insure your clothes stay their best, be it vintage or modern, sometimes only dry cleaning will do but some things can also be thrown into the washing machine.

Washing Instructions:

Items with contrasting colours such as black with fine white polka dots in a synthetic material are best washed at 60 degrees as the high temperature prevents the colour from running.

Generally, most items can be washed at 30 degrees, always use a good washing powder and fabric conditioner. Turn your clothes inside out before putting in the machine, especially trousers and outerwear, to help best preserve colour and quality.

Avoid the tumble dryer, as the high heat can shrink clothing, best placed on a clothes horse, on a radiator or hanging above a radiator.

Never machine wash or tumble dry any kind of wool, be it lambs, merino, or alpaca. You will only make this mistake once, and by that time you will have ruined an item of clothing that you love.

Haggle

Vintage shops don’t have fixed prices or bar code scanners so you can risk being a bit cheeky. Find your item, most shop owners will be a lot more attentive to their customers and ask how you’re getting on. Tell them how much you love it but that you’d only intended to spend ‘x’ amount of money and that this is just a little too much for you to justify. What’s the worst that can happen? You can always cave and pay the original price, they can only say no.

Also, don’t get carried away by labels. Finding a couture label in a vintage shop for a fraction of the price of a contemporary item is always a brilliant find, but remember to stay within your budget!

Shoes from Topshop Vintage, and scarf from Hemmingway Vintage Festival.

Never underestimate a charity shop

Vintage shops can be over glorified second hand shops, essentially the same as a charity shop but minus the warm fuzzy feeling of donating money to a good cause as opposed to a business. Scouring a few well chosen charity shops in nice areas can be a fruitful exercise (I found a Georgio Armani women’s Tuxedo style jacket in an Oxfam shop once, only in Knight’s Bridge.) Applying the same rules as you would to your usual vintage hunting, search through charity shops in affluent areas; I’ve found that you can grab vintage style handbags from a charity shop which is the same model is being sold in vintage shops, but at a fraction of the price. With the added bonus of giving to charity, everybody is a winner in this shopping scenario: The Charity, your purse and the second chance to be loved clothing.

This is my favourite slouchy top, it’s a vintage Levi’s small men’s jumper which I found in an Oxfam shop!

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Today I'm wearing...preppy

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 06:26:00 +0100

The weather is finally on the turn which means it is the opportune moment for some preppy layering to begin. I'm wearing the burgundy cable knit jumper from H&M's current ad campaign, layered over a classic white button down oxford shirt, leigh skinny jeans from Topshop and puritan-esque vintage shoes from Topshop vintage at Oxford Circus topped off with classic rouge noire nail varnish.
(You would be able to see the white collar detail poking over the top as well as the white cuffs and long hem but you just can't get the staff these days.)

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Lace and pearls

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:53:33 +0100

As the sunshine finally shows its face, the prettiest of trends from the Spring Summer trends is an ever so pretty and feminine touch of lace. For warm summer evenings or picnics in the park, a lace dress or lace ensemble is the very definition of pretty so following the instructions of Louis Vuitton from his catwalk collections, let’s break out the lace.

True lace was developed in the 15^th and 16^th Century and involves a thread being twisted, looped or braided into other threads resulting in a fabric with open holes in the construction. Ordinarily made from cotton materials which are natural, light and breathable, perfect for summer days, a lot of the lace items sold in the shops are synthetic materials which mean they are likely to make you warmer on a hot muggy day.

An additional difficulty with lace is that it is often quite see through, especially when the sun shines through it! An on trend pair of cream shorts, lace dress or t-shirt will often come with a synthetic lining or slip to go underneath which can add another layer to store heat. If your lace dress is see through and hasn’t come with a slip underneath or a lining, invest in a nude or cream slip (think Mad Men or Marilyn Monroe with a sexy body con slip underneath an extravagant dress or shirt and skirt combo).

Either match pretty lace with floral enamel jewellery or delicate silver necklaces and bracelets, or bridge the transition between Spring Summer trends into Autumn Winter by matching with grungy biker boots and a leather jacket.

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The Striped Breton Top

Sun, 19 Aug 2012 14:12:36 +0100

All about and how to wear the Striped Breton Top

One of fashion’s most classical of looks, steeped in French heritage and an item which remains the perfect top to match with a simple outfit for the chicest, simplest of looks.

The origins of the Breton top can be traced back to 1880s France where fisherman wore the tops to protect them from the harsh winds on the Brittany coast. First made fashionable by Coco Chanel, the look was then adopted by European and American visitors to the French Riviera.

Today Breton tops can be found all over the high street as well as high end stores, it is a look which is classic, versatile, timeless and perennial. The classic striped Breton is ¾ sleeves in navy and white stripes but variations of stripe, colour and sleeve length mean that there is plenty to choose from to tailor to your individual look and taste.

I prefer to wear the Breton top with simple cropped black trousers and pumps á la Audrey Hepburn or with flared black trousers just as Coco Chanel did.

Livi xoxo
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Step into your Spring Summer Wardrobe

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:01:47 +0100

The Spring Summer trends are looking distinctly feminine and romantic for 2012. Florals,
pastels and lace are the perhaps nnot unpredictable but most definitely beautiful themes
which will be adding a touch of lady like charm to our wardrobes this season.

Florals, for spring, 'ground breaking', is the blunt retort of Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears
Prada but 2012 Spring Summer is definitely looking fresh and floral with more colour and print
combinations then ever. Mixing prints such as at Dries Van Noten and Antonio Marras, and clashing
colour at Mary Katrantzou are the way to get your flower fix this season.

Cropped Tops These were all over the catwalks and be it with a '50s style flared skirt, or atop a
peasant style maxi, the way to wear your top this season is short. From ruched bandeaus at Prada
to structured long line bras at Nina Ricci, this is the time to get your abs in shape.

Pastels Perhaps the strongest trend of the season comes with a softly softly approach.
Sugary shades on sweet pastel pieces are the perfect outfit for a summery day with
everyone from Chanel and Louis Vuitton to Jonathon Saunders and Alexander McQueen
showcasing sugary sweet colours.

Yellow Be it pastel, banana, custard or lemon curd, every collection had a pop of yellow.
Yellow can be a difficult colour to wearso make sure it's a shade and tone that suits your
complexion.Most importantly, have fun with the effervescent colour so that even if the sun
doesn't shine through our British summer, you have a drop of sunshine in your wardrobe.

Lace Beautiful and intricate lace patterns were prolific in the catwalk collections and is
a trend which the high street has really taken to, so the availability and variety is endless.
Valentino and Miu Miu showcased head-to-toe colour pop lace or super-sized broderie
anglaise at Louis Vuitton and Giambattista Valli, lace should be an outfit's main event for
Spring Summer 2012

Louis Vuitton ad campaign 2012
Livi
xoxo

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