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.
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