Vintage shopping guide part two!

6) Easy Ebay

When I started collecting vintage, my secret weapon was US Ebay.  As soon as the pound starts to look strong against the dollar get on there and get bidding, if you buy a few bits from the one seller you can ask them to post it all together and save on the postage and customs charges.  Not only is EBay a huge marketplace for just about everything its also quick and easy, also it can be done at home sat on the sofa with a cup of tea (sofa and tea are optional). Look out for detailed descriptions, lots of pictures and their refund policy.  Don’t be disheartened if you pick up a bargain and it isn’t quite as vintage as you had hoped, communicate quickly over eBay to get a refund or, if you’re looking to wear and not sell keep it anyway!  A great tip is to search for misspelled items, most of the time they will be an absolute bargain as no one else has found them.  Always check the item description carefully; vintage and vintage style are two different things. 

7) Start small

If you want to experiment with a vintage look bit aren’t sure where to start then pick up some cheap pieces of vintage jewellery.  Vintage rings and necklaces bring an edge to any outfit.  If you are wearing a plain black dress, put on a few chunky rings or a brooch and layer some long beads to create a completely different look.  Put your hair into a loose bun and fix some pretty tie pins in for a quick hair fix when you’re in a rush.  Spend a little more money on investment pieces, a leather satchel never goes out of style and is a great investment piece that you can wear again and again.  

8) Don’t limit your self to one era

Some people will pick an era and dress for it, whether it’s the glamorous twenties or the swinging sixties and that can look great.  However, for day to day dressing its not always practical or suitable to dress as a fifties housewife.  Personally I like to mix between eras, who says you can’t have a beehive and denim cut offs? If you are looking for varied, fun wardrobe choices, my advice would be to go with what you like not what a certain time period dictates.  If you look at high street shops now they will have influences from lots of different periods all in one season.  Just look at what’s in fashion at the moment, we have eighties style printed leggings with sixties Peter Pan collar blouses.  Mixing and matching is part of the fun of vintage shopping.  Mix a seventies heavy knit jumper with some eighties floral print leggings for an easy daytime look.  

9) Always check the small print

Checking the care label on an item before you commit to buying is a must.  Yes that mohair cardigan might be fabulous and in pristine condition but is it in that condition because no one could actually ever wear it for fear of the cost of dry cleaning?  If a vintage item says dry clean only then beware, this really does mean dry clean.  Factor it in to the cost of the piece, if it’s a fur coat that you will wear year in year out then it may be worth the extra cost but if it’s something that you aren’t 100% in love with then put it back on the rack.  Care labels are also a good way to tell the time period of an item.  If it claims to be a genuine twenties dress but has a care label that says do not tumble dry then something isn’t quite adding up.  A lot of the time the person selling it will be able to tell you roughly what year it is from but a check of the label and some common sense doesn’t do any harm either.

 10) Don’t be afraid to stand out

Some vintage items will come in bright, crazy patterns, especially anything from the seventies onwards.  Don’t let this put you off, print is always on the catwalks and will brighten up any outfit.  Just because you haven’t tried something like it before doesn’t mean it won’t suit you.  Look at the shape of an item, if you know that you suit a pencil skirt why not try one in a brighter colour or different material than you would usually go for.  Everyone else might not be wearing Hawaiian print cropped shirts with pin tucked shorts but I would look at that as a good thing.  Make your own trends, fashion always goes round in circles, what was in fashion in the eighties has and will come round again so even if you buy a vintage piece that you don’t want to wear straight away, rest assured that at some point it will be at the top of everyone’s wish list again.  One of my favourite stand out pieces at the moment is a fifties tropical print orange and pink mini dress.  On its own it’s almost too bright to look at, but put with some black tights, military boots and a leather jacket it’s a fun, easy to wear piece.

I am officially a published (sort of) writer!

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Fashion-and-Shopping/Fashion-blogs/Part-one-The-BoutiqueVintage-guide-to-vintage-shopping-26102011.htm

How to mix vintage and high street

To bag two trends with one item get yourself a pair of leopard print leggings.  Printed leggings are everywhere at the moment, as is leopard print.  They are a great statement piece that can be worn day or night.

A great daytime look is to team the leggings with a washed out tee and a cute over sized cardigan.  Print clashing is all about confidence.  I wore this look with some fur lined ankle boots and finished it off with a knitted headband and vintage Chanel handbag.  (Leggings - topshop, tee - h&m, cardigan - vintage, bag - vintage, boots - red or dead, headband - topshop)

All it takes to transform that look for the evening is to add some colour pop heels and a slick of red lipstick.  you could also add some draped beads or a clutch.  (shoes - topshop, lipstick - maybelline 530 fatal red)

A trend that looks set to stay is the cropped or tie front blouses.  I like the ditsy floral prints of summer however they can sometimes look out of place in your winter wardrobe.  Here are a couple of ideas to incorporate them in easy ways.  

I live in cut off Levis.  I love the contrast of bare arms and thick warm leggings.  If I was going out for a coffee  I would probably add a chunky knit scarf and possibly some mid length gloves depending on how cold it was.  (Shorts - vintage Levis, top - urban outfitters, boots - schuh, leggings - zara)

Too cold for just a scarf?  Add a printed over shirt for an extra dimension without getting too hot.  (Shirts - all saints)

For a wintery day pop on a cable knit cardigan over your tie-top.  This keeps you cosy whilst showing off the tie detailing.  I like a bit of colour matching with the fur of the boot but a bright colour would lift the outfit too.  

I always stack on some pretty rings and shove some earrings in before going out just to finish off an outfit.  I love vintage rings as they don't turn your fingers green, however the high street does some great, cheap vintage-a-likes too so mix them up to get more for your money.  (Eyeliner - maxfactor, foundation - bobby brown, mascara - maybelline volumizer, lipstick lipstick - maybelline 530 fatal red, rings - mixture of vintage, h&m, azendi and tiffany, earrings - vintage)

Shopping Vintage Part 1

 The BoutiqueVintage guide to: Shopping Vintage

Here is a jargon free, ten-step guide to getting the complete vintage look at a fraction of the price.  This guide wont tell you to get up at a ridiculous time in the morning, it also wont advise you to attend every car boot sale within a seventy mile radius or use a lead based paint on your face for that authentic porcelain skinned look, it will however suggest ways to re-vamp your wardrobe without spending a fortune.  The aim is to help you find some beautiful, original pieces along the way!

1) Raid your relative’s wardrobes

With their consent obviously, but this can be a great way to get started with a vintage look.  By the time I started to get really interested in vintage fashion my parents had thrown out most of their old clothes, only a few survivors remained which I pounced on and claimed as my own.  That old pair of Levis your mum has will look great cut down into shorts worn over a pair of patterned tights, with some brogues and an oversized jumper for the perfect autumn look.  Tie your dad’s old shirts up at the waist and team with some statement leggings and colour pop heels for drinks in town.  The key is to put your own spin on classic pieces.  

2) Let your imagination do the talking 

OK so that old full-length skirt of your nan’s might not seem that inspiring now, but if you just look past the cut and look at the colour and pattern the possibilities are endless.  Why not cut it into a cute skater style skirt and wear it with an off the shoulder printed tee and some cute ankle boots; or keep it long but wear it belted on the waist with a cropped bandeau top and a beaded clutch for an effortless day to evening look.  If you use a little bit of imagination when looking at vintage pieces you can create a truly unique but current look.   

3) Mix it up 

Some people may not agree with me on this one, but I am a firm believer of mixing high street with vintage to keep your look on trend but original.  Just as most would never wear top to toe Topshop, I wouldn’t wear a full vintage outfit.  I think that a little era mixing creates a nice balance however trying to get everything vintage can lead to a cluttered, confusing look rather than a well thought out stylish ensemble.  My favourite look for autumn so far has been a pair of super skinny spray on black Levis jeans with pair of cute fur lined wedge heels from Topshop, an eighties tan cropped blouse and one of my oversized seventies mohair cardigans; top this off with a printed bandana and a leather satchel and this look will take you to work, shopping, out for dinner or wherever else you please!

 4) Don’t be a charity shop snob

If you look at shopping in charity shops as a way of getting your statement pieces for the season at a fraction of the high street cost then you will start to see every item in there in a whole new light.  As we have already learnt, if you use a little bit of imagination you can pick up some great pieces and style them up to suit different occasions.  Most charity shops will block by style or colour sometimes both, which is even better.  As long as you don’t go in with a concrete idea of your dream piece then you will generally find some lovely bits.  Look out for branded items, they will always be good quality and last that little bit longer.  Make sure that you leave enough time to go to a couple of different charity shops and spend a little while looking through the rails.  Sometimes you need to put in a little effort to get the most out of it but it is definitely worth it to get the right piece.  The best thing about charity shops is they don’t have any rules on seasonality.  They will have shorts, coats, knitwear and dresses in all at the same time.  So if you spot the perfect winter coat in June, pick it up. Vintage never goes out of style.  

 5) Customise your way to cutting edge

One of the most important things I have realised is that customising is key.  This can be anything from cutting some jeans down into shorts, to making a skirt out of some old material.  I have customised almost all of my vintage pieces in one way or another.  The easiest way to customise is to cut it up.  Whether it’s cutting dresses shorter, taking the arms off of a denim shirt or cropping a blouse.  It’s the easiest way to instantly update a piece and make it your own.  I’m also quite fond of replacing the buttons on an item; you can pick up vintage buttons just about anywhere, and if you don’t want vintage then pop into John Lewis and visit their haberdashery, they have jars of cute mixed buttons that brighten up anything.  I recently replaced the buttons on one of my 80’s floral playsuits with some pretty, brightly coloured ones.  I had so many compliments on it I’ve now done the same with all of them.  It doesn’t have to be playsuits, it works with cardigans, skirts, shoes, you name it.  Just make sure the buttons you choose fit into the existing button hole.  A popular customisation at the moment is studs.  Its bang on trend and will instantly add a rocky edge to any piece of clothing. Distress some bleached denim cut offs and glue on some silver studs down one side or around the pocket for a quick and easy outfit update.  In short, you don’t have to be a whiz on the sewing machine to update your clothes.

.........Next instalment soon!

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OMG!!!!!!

my nan popped by my stall last week and said she had been clearing our her wardrobes and had a little present for me...BEST PRESENT EVER?! I have loved this bag ever since I can remember.  I have been trying it on along with all of her jewellery since I was about 5.  I love you nan! x

photos galore!

I haven’t put any pictures up here yet of what it is I do on my market!  Enjoy!

first day at school

I had my first proper market day on Tuesday and after all of the stresses and worries and problems it was AMAZING!  I literally have never enjoyed anything more (sorry Sam) it was vibrant and buzzy and fast paced…there literally was never a dull moment.  It was over all too soon and I was gutted when I realised that I had to wait another whole week before I got to be there again.  Setting up the stall was harder than I had anticipated as those boards are frikkin heavy and so big that you definitely cant lift them alone.  Luckily I had the trusty boyfriend and his rather lovely mum there to help out.  Sam’s mum runs a stall two days a week so her advice and experience has been pretty much invaluable.  We lugged the boards about for a bit and went through several different sizes before I found two that were perfect.  I opted for a hessian cover as I have brown package labels and crates as props and it all seemed to match quite nicely.  Another thing I hadn’t thought of was how high up the power point is, too high, as it turns out.  That was another job for Sam to compete with.  The rule of the market is that your stall should be ready to trade by 10am latest so we got there at just after 8am and started to set up straight away.  Its surprising how long you can spend fussing over the way a rope is tied or how your hessian is laying.  We were eventually done by about 9.45am which I was pretty happy with.  What struck me was how quiet the market was while everyone was setting up.  I had assumed it was going to be loud and brash with people throwing apples about and shouting “two fer a paaand” but it was completely different.  It was as if people were not only preparing their stalls for the days trade but also themselves.  It was peaceful and there was a sense of contentment in getting their stalls perfect.  The only real noise was from a guy selling records who was switching between reggae, Elvis Presley and what sounded like the entire dirty dancing soundtrack.  This all changed when tourists started wandering around the market, as soon as the first person stepped foot into the square it was like the market burst into life, as this is a Cambridge market there is strictly no shouting or touting for business but there was cheerful banter, music, the sounds of the sewing machines and smoothie makers and chat between traders.  I loved it.  As I said, I had Sam there but everyone was so friendly and we had so many people visiting us we shouldn’t have worried about any first day nerves, I had this dread about being “the new girl” but there was no sense of cliques or groups, everyone was there for one purpose and there was definitely a feel of all being on the same team.  When 4pm came around I couldn’t believe where the day had gone, it was all a whirl of meeting new people, tweaking the layout and chatting to people about vintage, I couldn’t have wished for a better start.  I cant wait to get back on there, the only thing I was upset about was having to go back to my day job!

confrontation station

Ok so I know I haven’t blogged in ages, this is purely down to my day job taking up my whole life.  As I’ve previously mentioned, I work as a retail manager full time and also run a market stall selling vintage clothing every Tuesday.  Due to this I spend a LOT of time interacting with the public and one thing I have noticed is how quickly people will turn when they don’t get their own way.  I don’t know if it’s the colder weather or the approaching threat of Christmas that has made people so confrontational, but yesterday I had a man literally shout in my face and punch over two displays because I wouldn’t give him student discount without seeing his student card.  Before this he had been perfectly nice, we had chatted as I showed him through our range of new stock, we had joked when I tripped over trying to carry him 8 pairs of jeans, we had bonded over our dislike of stale coffee, in fact by the time it got to the payment I was pretty sure I had made a new best friend.  As I was putting the transaction through he noticed the sign saying “20% student discount with valid student ID” (please note the part about a valid student ID) and so he asked “can I have the student discount?” “of course” I replied, “can I just see your student card” that was my fatal mistake.  How could I possibly have the audacity to request some form of proof that he was in fact a student? Why on earth would I need to see that he had just told me that he was a student, why would he ask for the 20% discount otherwise?  What sort of moron was I? What was I thinking!? This torrent of abuse came so suddenly that I was actually too shocked to speak for a second and as I was recovering myself he then demanded to see the manager.  To this I replied I was the manager and I would need to see some sort of ID card with an expiry date to prove that he was studying.  Well, not only did he not believe that I was the manager, he also started shouting “don’t shop here! They rip you off!” great.  Anyway, security were called, he shouted and swore some more, punched two innocent bystanders (my display racks) and was dragged out.  When security asked me how this came about all I could say was that I honestly didn’t know and that I had just asked for a student card.  They laughed and just said “its crazy what people will do for some money off” I can honestly say I have never caused such a scene and cant imagine a situation that would compel me to do so.  Yet people do.  They shout at cashiers when they cant give them a refund, they bitch at bus drivers for getting stuck in traffic and they look down on hairdressers for providing a service.  Once a customer randomly asked me what 30% off £67 was and when I couldn’t answer straight away they laughed, patted me on the arm and said “never mind sweetheart, at least you’re good at folding jeans” I could never bring myself to treat another person like that and so I ask again, is it the cold weather or the approaching threat of Christmas that has made people so confrontational? Whatever it is, next time somebody asks for student discount, I’m getting security in just in case.

fashion?

I have recently been looking at my fashion sense (or lack of) with an increasingly critical eye.  I think it was an inevitability seeing as I now choose what I sell so am essentially a walking advertisement for my business.  This comes with many pros and cons, for example; I now never leave the house without my jewellery on which does make me feel more “finished”, however finding jewellery that matches the mood/era/colours of the outfit that I have chosen means that I generally don’t have time to do my makeup which leaves me feeling decidedly “unfinished”.  I know that now I am scrutinizing myself more it would make sense to pick out my outfit the night before, maybe lay it out all ready to put on but nine times out of ten when I do make the effort to do that, the following morning I hate what I picked last night and cant see why I would ever have thought that looked good.  I envy these people that seem to be able to throw anything on and breeze into town with perfect hair and makeup while I run red-faced and out of breath for the bus and then end up searching around in my huge bag for about ten minutes trying to find my ticket.  As a lover of all things vintage whenever I feel like nothing looks nice I will always retreat to cut off shorts, chunky knitwear and cropped shirts, however this has never been particularly fashionable.  Until now it would seem.  Now everywhere I look there are cosby jumpers, burgundy knee socks with cut off high waist shorts, sheer blouses with button down cardigans and of course the classic re-worked satchel bag.  Suddenly  I’m seeing people walking around proudly showing off their faux vintage coin purses or raiding their parents wardrobes for anything circa 1980.  So I’m going to enjoy this trend while it lasts, and then when its over enjoy being out of date again even more.  

eBay trials and tribulations

Hello, so today I spent a large proportion of my time musing the correct etiquette for eBay.  I’ve been a fan and a user for some time now and some of my favourite pieces have been picked up from there, but there is always the dilemma of feedback.  Now I’m very much the, instant payment instant feedback sort of girl, however there seems to a be a growing trend of “I’m not leaving it until you do” and this can often lead to a kind of stalemate.  I recently bought a cropped blouse which was described as being “in perfect vintage condition” which can mean two things:  either it is in fact not vintage at all and has had its brand new high street labels cut out just that morning, or, more often than not, it is genuine vintage but in such terrible condition that it takes a lot of work to form it into something sellable.  This item was the latter.  It wasn’t a cropped blouse it was in fact a shirt that had been clumsily hand sewn at the bottom using the technique of what can only be described as a rusty spoon ramming wool through holes.  It was awful.  So as you can imagine it took a lot of work to try and salvage it, I had to unpick the stitching which was so knotted in places I thought I was going to rip the poor thing to shreds.  Then there was the laborious task of measuring, cutting and re-sewing it into a piece that I was happy to sell.  Seeing as it took ten days to arrive from Durham to Cambridge I wasn’t going to give it a glowing review, however, as a fellow ebayer I decided to hold back.  I simply put, “not exactly as described but a lovely piece nonetheless” how restrained of me, I thought, how generous.  Not according to the seller, “don’t expect feedback after that” was the message they sent me.  Now, I have been using eBay long enough to know that a standard positive feedback comment goes something along the lines of: ~*~*~*A+ super star ebayer~*~*~*would recommend J J….etc etc so I know that mine was a little shorter than they probably expected, but surely they must have realised that what they sent out was not “in perfect vintage condition” apparently not.  After a week or so of emails I managed to get a feedback comment of “paid invoice”…WOW.  Thanks.  So, a warning to all eBay fans out there.  Unless you want a lengthy battle, often ending in bitterness and bad feedback (is there anything worse? ) just put feedback of, “would deal with again” and carry on living your life.  I’m currently in a stalemate situation over an item that was described as “over sized granddad jumper” hmmm size 6, over sized for an eight year old wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.  I’ll let you know how I get on.

August

As this is my first post I feel like I should introduce myself and my world a little bit.  I’m Hollie, I live in Cambridge with my boyfriend Sam, and our hamster Travis.  I’m obsessed with vintage clothing and accessories.  This is where my small business came from, I own a stall on Cambridge market called BoutiqueVintage from which I sell clothing from the 20’s-80’s.  I am passionate about finding unique, quirky pieces that are wearable and beautiful.  I source all of the stock myself and never buy “job lots” as I’ve found that most of the time you end up with one nice piece and fifteen write offs.  I also work as a store manager for a denim retailer so at the moment my life is quite hectic!  This blog is just an opportunity for me to write down my thoughts, feelings, ideas, inspirations and frustrations about fashion, life, love and juggling two jobs and a social life.

While I have been starting up my new business venture I have become something of a social recluse communicating only through email, twitter and facebook.  My life has revolved around getting home from my regular work as quickly as possible so that I can trawl the internet for new finds to present to my long suffering boyfriend.  I seem to have finally built up a big enough collection to sell items and not have to immediately replace them with something else.  I‘ve got to say it’s a nice place to be.  I love finding my vintage gems but working full time and keeping on top of the stall and everything else that comes with it, the website, twitter, facebook, requests etc etc was getting a little tiring!  This week I went out to lunch to a little pub by the river in Cambridge and wore a beautiful 70’s yellow silk shirt tied at the waist with a plaited brown belt, it was a lovely sunny day so I wore it with brown brogues and a cute 80’s leather shoulder bag, here's a picture of the shirt, let me know what you think!