Vintage in the UK

[MegamiOrchard]

When I was last living in the UK (2002-03) I was amazed at how cheap second-hand things were compared to Australia, but I was mainly buying books and glassware rather than clothing:eusa_doh:

It looks like we are hopefully moving back to the UK at the end of this year. I really have no idea what region yet (near an army base is all I can say!) so I am not looking for specifics, but can people give me an idea of how easy it is to get both real vintage and repro wear (1940s + 50s) in the UK, and if it is hideously expensive. Can you still find the odd bargain in an Oxfam shop or is everything now on Ebay or snapped up by vintage dealers? What about in Europe - are there any hot spots for picking up vintage bargains?

Also, I know there is a fabulous hairdresser in London, discussed here on FL among other places, who does 'proper' hair and does classes. Is there anywhere else this is available? If I have to wait until I move to learn how to do my hair, so be it.

 

[AllaboutEve]

Hi MMO, my experience with buying vintage in the UK is that you have several options:

1. Vintage fairs. There are quite a few of these across the country on a regular basis and the ones outside of London definitely sell things at lower prices. The ones in London that I go to are expensive and it helps to know a little bit about what you are looking for as unfortunately there are often some very over priced items. It's not ideal but the payoff is that there is a lot off stuff to choose from in one place so if you are happy to pay the extra 30% on the price (which I have often found is around the extra mark-up) then it's a good choice.

2. Find a good seller. This is what I would definitely recommend. Depending on where you eventually move to I would do some serious sniffing around and find yourself a good seller. I'm sure that the other ladies on the PR will be able to help you find some leads as they are a mine of information. My experience with this is that usually the more you buy from a seller the cheaper it gets, if they are worth their salt they will usually be able to hunt things out for you too and you can avoid the often hysterical price wars on Ebay!

3. Charity shops. I can safely say that I have NEVER found anything of worth dated later than the 80's in any of the charity shops that I have visited in the UK. I am usually in Suffolk or London and the only things that I have managed to snaffle have been "vintagey" as opposed to vintage. That's just my experience though and there is every possibility that there is a treasure trove of goodies elsewhere in the country waiting to be snapped up!

Good luck with your move, and do let us know where you eventually roost as I'm sure that the ladies here will be more than happy to furnish you with the details of all of your local vintage amenities!!

 

[Miss Dexeter]

I'm just back from an extremely productive shopping trip to the local charity shops. It depends where you are as to how good the stuff is, I picked up 2 stunning 50s jumpers today, plus a really rather fabulous handbag. You just have to know where to look (Salvation Army shop, Dudley). They were extremely cheap too, less than 10 quid for those and a skirt.

Some place have 'Vintage Oxfam' but I find it is far too pricey.

I'm not sure how much of this is help and how much is mad rambling...I apologise!

 

[AllaboutEve]

I'm just back from an extremely productive shopping trip to the local charity shops. It depends where you are as to how good the stuff is, I picked up 2 stunning 50s jumpers today, plus a really rather fabulous handbag. You just have to know where to look (Salvation Army shop, Dudley). They were extremely cheap too, less than 10 quid for those and a skirt.

Some place have 'Vintage Oxfam' but I find it is far too pricey.

I'm not sure how much of this is help and how much is mad rambling...I apologise!

Sounds like you hit that treasure trove I was talking about earlier!

 

[Miss Roulette]

Depending where you are you can still find vintage clothes in charity shops, although finds aren't as frequent as they used to be. In the past I've been lucky enough to find 1930s tea dress, 1950s day and evening dresses, 1960s evening dress with matching coat, as well as handbags, gloves, stockings. However, recently I've not come up with much. This is probably due to the area I've been looking.

A lot of older hairdressers, with old fashioned looking shops and an older clientel, will be able to cut and style your hair in a way you want. My previous hairdresser trained in the early 70s but her mum, who still worked in the shop, trained in the 40s and would often comment on the way the hair should be set and styled.

As for repro clothes at the moment I've been very lucky finding lots of vintage style clothes in High Street shops. I have a suit from House of Fraser that people think is an original 50s suit! But there aren't many shops or companies that specialise in repro clothing as there are in America. There are online shops and quite small independant companies but that's all really.

Once you know where you are living I'm sure people will be able to give you more advice.

 

[Ada Veen]

I think charity shops depend where you are - central london you have less of a chance of getting vintage than some nice backwater town, preferably with no students and lots of old people!

I find vintage here more expensive than it seems in the USA - I'm always surprised by the bargains I see people getting there in the show us your purchases thread.

 

[Laura Chase]

The hairdresser you are mentioning:

Nina's Hair Parlour

Me when I visited her:

 

[ShooShooBaby]

speaking of london shops...

sorry for the momentary thread hijack, megami!

do any of you london ladies know of a place for vintage glasses frames? here in portland we have several shops filled with deadstock, and a few eye technicians skilled in filling them with modern prescriptions. any such thing in london? i'm asking for a friend!

 

[lyburnum]

Yep, there's one place I know for sure that stocks purely vintage frames and there's an eye technician that works there too. It's in Covent Garden near Neal Street called Opera Opera. Not cheap though! I've actually found vintage glasses in charity shops before though, so it may be worth looking round.

Time Out London is really good for listing vintage shops and markets, it'll probably be worth getting it if you're going to be anywhere near London.

 

[MegamiOrchard]

thanks for all your great replies! I am getting excited already!

 

[Clara Noir]

Speaking of vintage fairs, there's a great one run by Blind Lemon Vintage. They are quarterly in about 5 locations, and some things are very very well priced. I bought a 50s wedding dress for £35 last week! Some sellers hike their prices, other are really cheap, but it's worth the £4.50 entry.

I always found the older the place you are the better the vintage shop choice is. For example, Bath was great. I don't know why, maybe people like us are just more into history?

Charity shops I, like AllAboutEve, have pretty much given up on for real vintage where I am, but silk square scarves for 50p always get bought. Also, Oxfam bookshops have books over a hundred years old sometimes for other resources.