Vintage buying has became a quite a venture: from its plain and simple origins, with young people buying second hand clothes because they could not afford the high street price, to now, where it has became a multi-million dollar business, which both equally feeds off and encourages the whole of the fashion industry.
Basically, how did this happen? When was it that we began to indulge smelly vintage clothes so sincerely, and why is a 50’s dress with little holes in now worth over $100? The answer lies in the huge transforms trendy in the last fifteen years, and a conventional sense of ‘seen all this before’ that been around ultimately of the endure Millenium.
1. Be familiar with yourself. Firstly, for people out there who will be interested, or specializing in vintage clothes hunting, a piece of advice: know yourself. Know your size, measurements, and what is available, your dislikes and what is going to be an error! Satisfied, so you appreciate you are a sizing 8 in the UK, do not be fooled by the antique label, due to the fact that the ladies back in the old days are distinctly smaller than us. You have to know your measurements, the most important for a dress would be your bust size; for instance, if you are 34C, then you should go for something that is 36 inches in bust. The reason why you should go with something 1-2 inches larger is usually that clothing before the 70s had no stretch. The material called Lycra had not been invented then. So everything that you would buy in the high street, their sizes would not comply to vintage. If you are buying a vintage jumper, you have got to make sure that you measure your shoulder length, and measure your arm holes. Okay, now you have the courage to really understand and center on your shape, now lets find out what are your assets. Is your bust your greatest asset? Go for 50s dresses to show off your shape. Do you have a pair of remarkable pins? Search with something 60s in mind. Be hardhearted, vintage can be very alluring, the thought that you potentially would own something just for yourself is very tempting indeed. But that does not mean that you can work that dress into your wardrobe, you have to see what kind of modern essential elements you have, and be comfortable of what are you looking for. Don’t push your self to bring a dead animal coat back just because it is ‘on trend’.
1. Be familiar with yourself. Firstly, for anyone out there that is interested, or specializing in vintage clothes hunting, a word of advice: know yourself. Know your size, body measurements, and what is suitable for you, your dislikes and what is going to be an error! Satisfied, so you appreciate you find yourself a sizing 8 in the UK, do not be fooled by the vintage label, due to the fact that the ladies back in the old days are considerably smaller than us. You have to know your measurements, the most crucial for a gown would be your bust size; as an illustration, if you are 34C, then you should go for something that is 36 inches in bust. The reason why you should decide on something 1-2 inches larger is usually that clothing before the 70s had no stretch. The material called Lycra had not been invented then. So everything that you would buy in the high street, their sizes would not track to vintage. If you are buying a vintage jacket, you have got to make certain that you measure your shoulder length, and measure your arm holes. Okay, now you have the courage to really understand and center on your figure, now lets find out what are your assets. Is your bust your best asset? Go for 50s dresses to show off your curves. Have you got a pair of amazing pins? Search with something 60s in the mind. Be ruthless, vintage can be very alluring, the thought that you conceivably would own something just for yourself is very tempting indeed. But that does not mean that you can work that dress into your wardrobe, you have to see what kind of modern essential elements you have, and be comfy of what are you looking for. Don’t push your self to bring a dead animal coat back just because it is ‘on trend’.
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 to find 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 hunt. I am a self confessed Ebay addict, in fact, I can called myself an Ebay expert. Do take your time, know your size and have a cool head. 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!
Find all the keywords possible, use all the eras to start with, and you can start from obscure designers like Bill Blass, Romeo Gigli, Trussadi, and before you know it, Ebay can pull out all the keywords that are related to those brands you are looking for. Look for something that is not popular now, so you can score yourself a great buy before someone does. Try things with a wrong spelling; sometimes there is a great find to be had just because someone has written the wrong keyword. What would you do with something that you really love, that has already got 10 bids on it, and has 7 days left? Chances are, you will be paying a lot more than it is worth, just because the picture looks particularly good. Do wait quietly without bidding and then bid at the last minute, then you certainly have a lot more chance – rather than bidding all you can afford at the beginning.
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