Monday 12 September 2011

A Good Vintage

The problem with my blog... (or at least, one of them) is that you only get to see a couple of aspects of my style. It's a lot easier for me to write about high street and designer items than it is one-off pieces, like those I've accumulated from sample sales, fashion shows, thrift stores, charity shops, vintage shops, boutiques and pop-up shops, my travels, and inherited items.

However, we live in the age of have-anything-any-time. Vintage shopping takes on a whole new dimension when you can access it via your trusty laptop. It's hard to know if an item has the right 'feel', the right look, the right fit, but there's no harm in browsing, and the beauty of vintage is that you never know what you'll find!

My Vintage is a site that seems dedicated to making vintage as accessible as possible. It gives you the option of searching by colour, era or size and has a range of designer and non-designer pieces and therefore a whole range of prices too. I love the 'Search By Era' option, and personally find the jewellery on offer to be particularly beautiful - I'm especially partial to a nice vintage brooch.

 Art Deco Handmade Stained Glass Crystal Swallow Brooch Handmade Reproduction Baroque/Rococo Swarovski Crystal Cameo Bracelet Reproduction Round Green Stained Glass Art Nouveau Brooch

Vintage Reproduction Silver Swarovski Crystal Lizard Bracelet  Monochrome Enamelled Dragonfly Vintage Style Brooch  Classic French Vintage Style Framed Cream Enamel Brooch

For similar finds in the real big wide world (well, in London at least), I head to the legendary Portobello Road Market (also my personal purse and clutch heaven), or to the antique shops and stalls on Islington High Street and Camden Passage (just off Upper Street, detailed in this link).


Rokit have been a staple of any London vintage shopper's list for quite a while. I personally visit their Covent Garden and Brick Lane outlets most often. Little did I know, trawling across the big smoke is no longer an issue due to their presence on the good old worldwide web. I will always love Rokit most for its leather goods - in particular bags, belts and shoes (below: Chanel, Bally) but more recently, for their astonishing array of leather shorts. Yes sir, there is indeed such a thing as an astonishing array of leather shorts - see for yourself.




In both the real world and the virtual one, I also visit Absolute Vintage for pretty dresses and cosy jumpers, and Beyond Retro for, well, everything. I got one of my favourite vintage finds - a cream satin and lace pencil skirt - from their branch just off London's Oxford Street.


Granted, these are some of the more 'commercial' vintage outlets (hence their web-readiness) and so can't offer the same bargains that smaller outlets, charity shops and thrift stores can, I know. They also sometimes deal more in 'reclaimed' garments than genuine vintage finds, but if you have money but no time (I have neither, boo-hoo), these are a great option as they minimise the trawling through endless rails (the most fun but most time-consuming part of any vintage adventure).

So take a trip to the past using the technology of the future and really upset the space-time continuum. I'm off to perm my hair, watch Back to the Future and crush on Marty McFly.

Ciao for now,
Charlotte

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