One of the things I am REALLY missing whilst being in lockdown is being able to wander around vintage and charity shops, not being able to trawl a car boot early on a Sunday morning or spend a day at a vintage fair in the country with a good old pub meal at the end of the day.
When in my early teens my friends at school spent their Saturdays hanging out in Top Shop and C&A while I was trawling around vintage markets, antique shops and charity shops on the hunt for that special piece of clothing that no one else would have.
I would turn up to parties in my second hand finds and get the strangest looks from my peers who were all in their high-street clothes but that never bothered me – that is the thing with vintage shopping – you will never look the same as everyone else and you never know what you may find.
Shopping for vintage fashion provides a rush like no other form of shopping knowing that you will find an item that is uniquely yours. The lure of a busy Parisian flea-market or a grey morning spent trawling piles of clothes at Portabello Market or a sunny Saturday wandering around charity shops – there is no other way of shopping that gives you the same sense of satisfaction.
The hunt has always been the thrill for me and anyone else that has a passion for vintage will tell you exactly the same thing – the feeling of anticipation when you walk through the door of a vintage shop or wander round a market and then that moment you spot something out the corner of your eye – it maybe the colour, the pattern or fabric but it draws you towards in, once you touch the fabric and take a proper look you can see the piece in all its glory and know that you have found that special item that will find a home in your wardrobe. There maybe times when you find nothing at all but that doesn’t make it any less of a thrill – you just go onto the next shop or wait until next time.
Never knowing what you will find in a vintage or charity shop will always give me a buzz – there is nothing exciting for me in high-street shops with rail upon rail of generic clothing – give me a store with a mismatch of rails, piles of bags or shoes in a corner and I am a happy girl.
Sunny weekends are spent at vintage fairs or car-boot sales – we are very lucky around Norfolk to have an amazing selection of antique and vintage shops, that lurk in the back streets on sleepy villages and house a host of fabulous items. Vintage fairs and brocantes are great sources of the unusual and we have one of the best in Norfolk – Little Vintage Lovers Fair run by the incredibly chic Zoe Durrant – I don’t think I have ever left one of her fairs with out something tucked under my arm!!
Such is my love for finding new places to hunt for vintage the very first thing I do when we are on holiday is google all of the second-hand places to visit – well due to my organised Virgo brain I have probably spent hours researching and making notes on where they all are and the best route to get to them from our hotel!!
Anyone who loves vintage and second-hand shopping will tell you once you get the bug for it you will never go back to the high-street again.
