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Fashion Shopping Uncategorized

A Spot of Vintage Shopping in London

December 28, 2012

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and a well deserved break. I had a lovely quiet one with my husband and girls, it was the most relaxed Christmas I’ve had in ages. I’ve had a few days off blogging so it’s nice to get back to it.

Today I did a little vintage shopping with my lovely brother. He’s the most stylish person I know and is great at helping me pick stuff and giving honest opinions! Definitely my favorite shopping buddy.

We hit the vintage hive that is East London, starting at The East End Thrift Store in Whitechapel. This is a great shop if you’re looking for a bargain. Don’t expect to find any vintage gems, the shop is full of eighties and nineties clothes with dresses priced at around £15-£20. They had a two day clearance sale this week with a few dresses for £5. After trying on heaps of dresses none of which were quite right I found a gorgeous red eighties does forties dress for a bargain £5. The dress fit like a dream and although it didn’t look like much on the hanger it was stunning on. I’m going to do an outfit post with it over the weekend once it’s been washed.

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We then walked from Whitechapel to Brick Lane and visited a few vintage shops round there. To be honest I’ve fallen out of love with the area. In all the shops I visited the only things I could find were over priced and not particularly old vintage. My dreams of finding a nice 1950s tea dress hidden amongst eighties tat just didn’t come true.

Beyond Retro

A few 1960s and 70s dresses amoungst an eighties explosion in Beyond Retro

This leads me to something I’ve been pondering for a while…

WHERE HAS ALL THE GOOD VINTAGE GONE????

When I first fell in love with vintage a few years ago it was cheaper and much easier to find. You could still get a bargain on Ebay, with fifties dresses at around the £30-£40 mark, now for a good tea dress you’re looking at around £50-£70. There also seems to be far less out there, I’m getting concerned that the world is running out of good quality vintage!

From now on I’m going to stick to vintage fairs, where you can still find great pieces and I’m planning a little trip to Greenwich market as soon as I can to see what I can get there.

Where do you go to get fifties bargains? Are there any still out there?

 

I also want to say a quick thank you to Mitzi at Mitzi’s Miscellany for mentioning me on her blog today. I love her blog and the quirkie little bits in her Etsy shop.

  • Reply
    Shelley
    December 29, 2012 at 5:48 pm

    I completely agree the vintage market seems to have lost its spark, it’s so hard to find that special reasonably priced vintage purchase now, I’ve also thought is the good quality vintage running out. More recently I’ve taken to buying of other traders rather than car boots or charity shops as they all seem to be the same price now anyway.

    As organiser of a vintage fair in devon I have seen the market change dramatically in the last year, people seem to be getting fed up with the same sellers and the same stock going from fair to fair. I hope the bubble doesn’t burst to soon! Or though if your like me and have liked vintage for quite a few years, we maybe able to get lots of cheap vintage wares from people that think they have gone out of fashion!!

    • Reply
      vintagefrills
      December 30, 2012 at 12:32 pm

      Thanks for your comment. I think all the vintage gems are still hiding in old ladies attics waiting to be discovered!
      In America they have more if a culture of ‘picking’ and I was wondering about putting an ad in the local paper asking people to look in their lofts for their old 1950s clothes to sell.

  • Reply
    Jen O
    January 14, 2013 at 10:59 am

    What you are seeing there is the same here in the US. I am in California, and it’s nearly impossible for me to find good vintage in the pre-1980’s range or earlier. I feel that the 50’s pieces are wearing out, with few estate sales left that have this era, so new ‘finds’ aren’t turning up like they used to. If I could fill my Etsy shop with 50’s dresses, I would. This is why you are seeing the higher price range–there’s alot of competition for those outfits!

  • Reply
    Glamour at The Fashion Museum Bath « vintagefrills
    January 25, 2013 at 11:36 am

    […] A Spot of Vintage Shopping in London […]

  • Reply
    Princess Pin Curls
    February 13, 2013 at 11:02 am

    I know what you mean about lack of 50’s and 60’s vintage…I don’t cal 70’s, 80’s or 90’s (I say this because I see it all the time being called so) vintage! I have recently found a vintage emporium that unearths great mid century finds (country estate sales etc) and sells them for quite reasonable prices..I will be visiting often. xx Shauna

    • Reply
      vintagefrills
      February 13, 2013 at 11:14 am

      I guess anything post 60s can be described as ‘retro’ but I do hate it when I see stuff that is clearly ‘second hand’ being sold as vintage. I guess it’s one of those things that gets debated A LOT!
      It’s great when you find a decent source of affordable vintage.
      xxx

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