Since ’Vintage’ has become all the rage, it appears all vintage specialist shops have taken it upon themselves to double their prices and limit their stock. So I thought I’d give you a few little pointers on how to track down the best and most bargainous buys out there, in the good old fashioned charity way!

• If it’s genuine designer vintage pieces you’re after, then head straight for the posh end of town. Here you’ll find all those much treasured designer cast offs. Be warned they might not be as cheap as you’d expect, but normally in perfect condition and deffinatley worth it. 

•  The best charity shops are those off the beaten track. If in town, head away from the high street!!  My Boyfriend comes from the most divine little East Anglia village where the Charity shops are wholesome and wondrous, and filled with genuine treasures. I find  these locations tend to have an entirely different collection of  items than that I’ve ever found in a city and are also a hell of a lot cheaper so definitely worth a look!

• Don’t gently parruse the selection… Really get stuck in there and have a proper good rummage through the rails and piles of cast offs. I’m a bugger for not looking properly and then watching as the person next to me picks up a gorgeous cardie that I would have found, had I have looked properly!! Pull clothes OUT and look at them properly and don’t be afraid to try them on.

• THINK CREATIVELY AND OPEN YOUR MIND!  If it doesn’t fit you can easily adapt and adjust.  If it’s only  the fabric you like then think of using it as a trim on another garment or if there is enough of it.. make a whole new garment. Don’t be put off by stains, missing buttons and holes. All are fixable, and also gives you the right the haggle down the price.

• Check out local Markets. I’m lucky enough to live in the East End of London, the mother of all market locations. If you have the patience and time to look past the utter shit that some stalls sell.. then you’ll find some excellent buys at real knock off prices.

• Check out your local Car Boot and village jumble sales.  http://www.carbootsrus.com/

• Raid the lofts, attics and garages of your Granparents. The older generation tend to hord away some beautiful vintage clobber and also appear to have looked after it all incredibly well!

• Chat away to the owners of the stores. Ask if they have anything hidden away ‘out back’. Make friends and build up a relationship with them so they get to know who you are and your style, in the hope they will start putting stuff aside for you! They may also be able to source stuff specifically for you.

• ONLINE IS GREAT!  A few sites to check out are
• www.stardustonline.co.uk/ 
• http://www.absolutevintage.co.uk/  
• http://www.rokit.co.uk/ 
• and my faveourite  http://www.legacy-nyc.com/
• Don’t forget Ebay either for some brilliant Vintage Shops

Good Luck Troopers!! xx

I was so excited about the Angles Big Vintage Sale! Angels own Europes largest costume and jewellery collection and were clearing out 30 000 items to make way for costumes from the BBC. You purchased a bag  and filled it up with as much as you could. Thats 30,000  items of genuine retro clothing and accessories from the 1920′s, 30′s 40′s, 50′s, 60′s 70′s, 80′s and 1990′s, contemporary clothing and period military uniforms. It seemed far too good to be true. 

My biggest mistake was not doing my research. The 8am train to North Wemberly was already heaving with Londons most stylish, indicating that we hadn’t left as early as we should have. I’d dreamt of walking straight in (almost) to find vintage Chloe Bags and Christian Dior Skirts. The reality was a 5 hour queue to be greeted by empty boxes and the tatters the early birds didnt want. Gutted isn’t the word! The hardcore vinatge goers had braved the freezing conditions and camped over night to be first through the doors which opened earlier than advertsied.

To make matters worse, we had to spend the journey home in the company of those dedicated fashionistas who were the lucky few to get in first. Those vintage aficionados and their hundreds of bags brimming of vintage treasures. They took delight in pulling out beautiful retro dresses, 80′s tweed jackets and 1920′s boler hats, parading them in front of us with stories of how they had to fight tooth and nail for genuine pieces,  how they were so much more dedicated to real vintage because they were prepared to get there before the dawn chorus. I hung my head in shame.

All in all, it wasn’t a total waste of time. Because if anything i came away having spent the morning with the most amazingly dressed crowd… and thats got to count for something.