I’ve Been Vintage Shopping for 30 Years. Here’s What I’ve Learnt.

I love vintage. I started shopping it at sixth form college and seemed to have an eye for it, so when I landed my dream job as a fashion buyer and began travelling the world for inspiration, I used to pinch myself.

My first piece was a lipstick pink Dannimac. It belonged to my Nan. I didn’t know it then, but that mac started something. Over the following decades I’ve hunted down charity and second-hand finds everywhere from Portobello Road to Paris, Cape Town to New York, and plenty of quiet finds right here in London too. I’ve bought for myself, for clients, and during my years as a buyer at Topshop, ASOS, and Office.

I enjoy sharing that knowledge and experience to guide my clients toward slower, more considered fashion, showing them where, and how, to find their own one-off pieces.

Here’s what all that time has actually taught me.

Don’t get downhearted

I hear “it’s too hard, it’s a mess” a lot. Fair, that feeling actually has a name, thrift anxiety, the tight chest, the overwhelm of a rail you don’t know where to start on. Completely normal, and it usually only lasts until you find your rhythm and learn how to shop vintage, or thrift. A quick word on the smell worry too, it’s usually fixable. A wash, a steam, or an airing sorts most things out, and plenty of stores now clean pieces before they even hit the rail.

Here’s the good news, it’s getting easier. Vintage is on the rise, and stores know it. More curation, less chaos, than the rummage-heavy rails I grew up with.

And here’s the bit worth remembering when it feels like too much, that overwhelm is the flip side of the thrill. That little dopamine hit when you spot something no one else has, it’s a different kind of shopping.

Don’t get downhearted if you don’t find anything first time, that’s ok, there’s always next time. Go with something in mind, but stay open to the piece you didn’t know you were looking for, that’s always a “where have you been all my life” moment.

Go around again

Literally, go around again, have another look. You may have missed something the first time and check rails that haven’t been cleared from the changing room yet too, I’ve found a few gems that way.

Before you go

Shop hands-free if you can, a rucksack or crossbody bag is ideal, so your hands are free and ready to rummage, no shoulder ache, and no bag getting in the way. If it’s planned rather than an impromptu browse, this is worth thinking about in advance. Some of the US stores I shopped at as a buyer asked you to hand your bags in for a token, which I loved, no distractions, just me versus the rail.

Consider what you wear too, vintage stores and markets are often short on changing space. Think about what is easy to get on and off, and to pop something over if you do need to be out on show.

Sizing up the sizing

This is often the first comment I hear, “I can never find my size, it’s all too small.” Vintage doesn’t all run small. But some eras do, the 40s, 50s and 60s, are the nippiest of the lot. The 70s and 80s were roomier due to the trends.

I advise ignoring any sizing labels. Use your judgement, investigate, try it on, give it a go, you just never know. And if something’s close but not quite right, don’t rule it out; alter, repair, or customise it. Companies like The Seam and Splendid Stitches offer this, so do local dry cleaners, you may be a dab hand with a needle and thread yourself.

Attention to detail

Button design, stitch seams and the weight of the fabric, the best pieces were made to last, and it shows the moment you look closely. Shoulder pads finished in the same fabric as the garment are a real treat, and the type of seaming used tells you a lot too. Sometimes the fabric itself is nothing special, even polyester, but the finish and the detail are what actually make the difference.

On the off chance

Go regularly. Go without expectations. Some of my best finds have come from a quick browse, just passing, not a dedicated vintage shop. The Anne-Marie Beretta trench I found in Oxfam Blackheath is one of my favourite pieces. The best bits go to whoever happens to be looking that day, you’ve got to be in it to win it.

Reason to buy

Sometimes it’s worth buying a vintage piece that might not see much light of day, but it’s a show-stopper and it’s there when you need it. I bought a sequin bomber jacket [pictured] in Long Beach, LA a couple of years ago. It has the knack of being able to work different events, pictured here on the walk home after dinner in Brooklyn, New York.

Make it modern

I always make mine modern. A vintage blouse with jeans. A 70s skirt with a plain white t-shirt. A dress modernised with the right footwear.

It used to be that a charity shop was where you went for a fancy dress costume. You still can, but it’s changed. Now it’s just as much about slower fashion and finding pieces that make your everyday style unmistakably yours.

A handful of my favourite stores

Reign Vintage, Beyond Retro, Melrose Trading Post, Buffalo Exchange, Goodwill, Good Jo Paris, THANX GOD I’M A V.I.P, Rose Market Vintage.

Don’t want to go thrifting or second-hand shopping alone? Let me take you on a fun ride through the rails, book a free style talk and let’s go treasure hunting together.