‘There are so many great, great vintage clothes to find; there’s a whole territory unexplored there’ – Lily Cole
Vintage shopping is something relatively new to me. I’ve always shopped on ebay and in charity shops but only really looking for high street bargains, I wouldn’t class anything I’ve bought there as vintage. I’ve never thought of Newcastle as very Vintage-centric although that may be because I just didn’t really know where to look. I saw an advert for Judy’s Vintage Fair at the Biscuit Factory on Facebook and decided to drag Steph along to see what it was all about.
Armed with just a £20 budget I was interested to see how fair I could make that stretch, Here’s what I got:
Collared shirt dress: £5
Red chiffon blouse: £10
Red & Green statement necklace: £6
Black 60’s shift dress: £15
Now, you don’t have to be Rachel Riley to work out that I went way over my £20 budget. It was the black shift dress that did it, I found it in the ‘Everything’s £5 rack’ but had been put there by mistake and was actually £22, sadface. I went back at the end of the day to see if was still there and was told I could have it for £15 if i could pay cash so I felt the fashion gods where looking down on me and it was a favour that I owed my wardrobe! Plus Steph made me do it!
So how did i find my first Vintage Fair? I enjoyed it, and would definitely go to another one. I definitely felt I found a few things I wouldn’t find in Primark and 60’s and 70’s styles really suit my curvy figure. It wasn’t too crowded and even though we got there a good two and a half hours after it started, was well stocked. I think I naively expected everything to be dirt cheap, with it being second-hand, so perhaps a budget of only £20 means you’re never going to come away with an armful of stuff. Most stuff fell between the £15-£30 price range. The location was ideal, good facilities (tea, coffee, cakes, a bar and toilets) and all the sellers were really knowledgeable about their items; where they came from, the era, designer etc. One slightly irksome point is that there were a handful of clothes that were ‘vintage inspired’ rather than actually vintage i.e there were loads of the same dress in different colours on one stall, so obviously made new to look vintage – a little bit naughty in my eyes!
It hasn’t however turned me into a vintage convert, I had to wade through a lot of shell suits to find that black dress, and I think you can find just as quirky one of things for even cheaper in charity shops or on ebay!
