Saturday 6 September 2014

TWO GIRLS GO VINTAGE: 1: HOW TO SHOP FOR VINTAGE...

Have you ever wished you could find cool vintage bargains like the style icons seem to? Our two intrepid teen style reporters show you exactly how it's done…

Erin says:
Recently I visited Liverpool for the weekend with my friend Erin (yes, I know… confusing, huh?). We had a great time exploring and shopping, but some of our best bargains were from the vintage shops. Both of us love vintage style, but we don't wear fifties dresses or seventies boho chic… we like things that can mix and match with new pieces from places like Top Shop to create a more natural, low key look. For us, the vintage buys are unique style extras that can add something special to an outfit. We've shopped for vintage before in Glasgow and Edinburgh, but this was a chance to check out a whole new city for vintage treasure…

The first place we found was Grand Central, a garish, gorgeous Art Deco building housing floors of cool stalls and mini shops catering for every taste. There was lots of vintage to be had, from hideous crimpeline granny dresses to awesome fifties dresses with to-die-for prints. There were some amazing accessories, too. We moved on to Resurrection - super-cool and full of inspiring finds - and Little Red Vintage, crammed with cute knits, dresses and separates. One of our favourite finds was Pop Boutique, with a great mix of original vintage along with restyled pieces and retro-look modern clothing. In all of these shops, the decor was cool and made it fun to shop.

Shopping in specialist vintage shops can be expensive… they know the value of those one-off items! If you want bargains, charity shops are the way to go. We checked out a few, but struck gold in Oxfam which had great quality shirts, jackets and knits as well as some amazing hats and sunglasses! We even found an amazing shirt with gold embroidered dragon motifs… now we just need to find an occasion to wear it… maybe!

If you're going vintage shopping, take a friend who loves vintage too - you'll feel less shy and have more fun together. Check out charity shops as well as specialist vintage boutiques and don't be scared to try things on… you get a much better idea of how something will look. Even if you're looking for something specific, like a sundress for example, keep an open mind and keep your eyes peeled - you may just come across the perfect cutoff shorts or a great men's shirt to wear jacket style instead. Be flexible! Check out belts, scarves, bags and hats too… a bit of vintage detailing can make a big difference to your look. We loved exploring Liverpool's vintage stores… next time we'll show you what we bought and how we plan to wear it! See you soon!

Cathy says:
I loved following the two Erins on their vintage hunt - they're proof that everyone can wear vintage and that those vintage stores need not be scary or daunting! Are YOU a vintage fashionista? COMMENT BELOW to share your views!

5 comments:

  1. Wow that sounds so cool!!! II think vintage is really cute, cool and quirky! Hamdi:)xxx

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  2. Vintage is sool cool I went to a vintage shop yesterday.....very cool

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  3. I love vintage... and you only said "erin says" once because they're BOTH erin, right?

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  4. i love vintage shopping

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  5. I have recently started really getting into vintage clothes(no pun intended). My favourite outfit is a mix though: it's my blouse with birds on and my tartan blue skirt from the 70's. Now my aunty di's given me some of her old dresses for me to customise...it's pretty cool having a family member as short as me!

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