My Relationship with Vintage
I remember when I first discovered vintage clothing. I was at university, frivolously spending my student loan on clothes that I definitely didn’t need, copying how my friends dressed and working part-time in a high street shop. I had a couple of friends who regularly wore vintage dresses on our nights out, but I didn’t know where to shop or what to buy. The shop that I worked for launched a small vintage concession, and I would spend my breaks flicking through the rails, admiring all the garments but not thinking I could pull any of them off. A bright red mini dress caught my eye, covered in a print of tiny plant pots. I tentatively tried it on and it fit perfectly. It was my very first vintage dress, and I wore it whenever I could.
After that, I was hooked. I started off by browsing high street concessions - I was a high street shopper and that’s where I felt most comfortable at the time. Eventually, new friends led me towards Manchester’s Northern Quarter, which was thriving with vintage boutiques at the time. Years flew by as I spent my wages on vintage dresses, skirts, tops, jumpers and shoes from Retro Rehab, Rags to Bitches, Pop Boutique and Affleck’s Palace. I soon had a wardrobe bursting full with vintage - my bedroom was full of crammed rails, vintage dresses hanging from my walls like art. Looking back over photos from 2005 - 2010, I’m greeted with fond memories of the dresses I wore by day and by night. Predominantly floral (a few gingham, a few stripes) dresses, patterned skirts, frayed tops and dozens of pairs of vintage peep-toe shoes (the bane of my life, with heels snapping on dance floors). That era is a blur of vintage dresses, broken heels and dancing to indie music on dirty dance floors. The bands that I loved and the clothes that I wore seemed to perfectly compliment each other.
When my wardrobe could take it no more, I set up a vintage stall at local markets with two friends. We’d spend our weekends setting up shop, dragging our clothing rails and bags full of vintage across Manchester in taxis, selling our wares in the basements of bars and in student unions. More often than not, I’d return home with a bag full of newly acquired vintage garments, either new purchases or swaps with fellow stall holders. Despite frequent eBay purges, my pile of vintage didn’t seem to ever go down.
I’m much more conscious of making a new purchase nowadays, but I still love buying vintage. Many of my favourite garments are vintage finds that I’ll never part with. My tastes may have changed over the years, but I still own vintage pieces that I’ve had for over a decade. The dress I’m wearing in these photos was purchased from a street market in Brighton for £2, five years ago, and is one of my favourite garments to wear on hot summer days.
Buying vintage is the ultimate way towards a more sustainable and ethical wardrobe. There are so many clothes out there that already exist, we need to put them to use rather than continuously producing and purchasing new garments. Buying vintage helps to reduce waste and encourages us to adapt a more circular way to how we shop. Vintage boutiques and online shops curate the perfect collections of second-hand garments, expertly curating collections that feel on-trend and stylish today - but you can also find vintage gems by browsing your local charity shops. I always think of the phrase one person’s trash is another person’s treasure when hunting for vintage clothing - the dress I’m wearing here was clearly of no value to the person who sold it to me for £2, but I love it dearly and wear it often.
To conclude this post, here are some of my favourite destinations for buying or browsing vintage garments.