Do you buy / wear vintage clothing?

[Badgerloco]

I am a huge fan of vintage, as I like to wear something no one else will have and like the cut / quality. This became a profit making hobby, and eventually a pretty successful online business. When we bought a bigger house three years ago, business had dipped slightly- pre covid, so I went a got a pretty full on office job - it’s fine, security over living the dream I guess.

I am now considering opening back up, alongside my job with the aim of taking it to the next level, but with a different focus - I used to sell trend based items to students- volume over value.
I know want to sell the things I love, more luxury focused brands and fabrics, so if you regularly buy vintage clothing, can you tell me what you buy? And if it’s not from Etsy - where you look to buy? Many thanks in advance.

I buy on Vestiaire Collective, Rebelle, occasionally Depop and also eBay (which I find gets better results with practice). This way I can afford the quality I want but am rarely in a position to buy new (or if I am it means I can buy more of it ).

Recently I've bought a pair of Chanel patent loafers boxed and virtually new, a beautiful Louis Vuitton silk dress, a cashmere mix Burberry trench which was dirt cheap because the lining was torn (took me half an hour to repair it) plus an immaculate '60s wool coat with a mink collar and several very nice bags of varying ages. I mostly look at dresses because that's what I mostly wear, and I filter out synthetic fibres because that's what I don't want.

I also buy at Rokit Vintage and various physical shops near me, but I'm lucky enough to live in central London and have access to lots of choice. I don't think I've ever really looked at Etsy. Hope that's helpful!

Very helpful thankyou, you seem to have similar taste to me. Ebay was brilliant for selling at one point, maybe I will try again with more designer items. I was a top seller on depop for three years, but found no one wanted anything over £50! thanks again.

I've sold quite a bit on eBay myself after having a big clearout last year (because I was broke, as much as anything else) and I found that the good but slightly less 'headliney' brands went very well - Isabel Marant, Marni, that sort of thing. I suspect people are more suspicious of the flashier labels in case they're fake, so I stick things like that on Vestiaire or Rebelle where they authenticate things, although the fees are high and it's definitely slower.

My favourite buy from the last year or so is a pair of barmy looking leopardskin and patent black moonboots from when Moon Boot collaborated with Jimmy Choo a few years ago. They have been remarked upon .

@SocksAndTheCity well those boots sound amazing! I am a lover of a vintage fur coat / wool coat and a silk dress. Also Kimonos and maxi dresses and prairie tops from the 70’s. Not necessarily designer but quality. It blows my mind that 90’s and what they call Y2K is now vintage - I am officially ancient!

I love buying from e Bay but I'm mainly looking for a good bargain. Unless I'm REALLY sure that the item is in good nick and will definitely fit me, then I'm not going to spend anything like what I would if I could see the item in person. It's too much of a gamble.

It blows my mind that 90’s and what they call Y2K is now vintage - I am officially ancient!

Ha, me too, OP! But I'm also salivating over the fortune I could make by selling half the contents of my wardrobe; the '90s were my heyday. If only I had something like this Vivienne Westwood suit to sell! Good to see you have done so well in your trade and also, in general, how fashion is getting the respect it deserves as a collectable art form. For designers such as YSL I like 1stdibs.com for its clean, simple interface and the likelihood of finding the mid '70s treasures. But I also like niche stores such as www.sazzvintage.com that curate a lot of lost or forgotten brands and have a sense of humour.

I like to buy second hand and vintage - I use eBay, Vestaire and Depop and also some charity shops and vintage stores. I’m in London so there’s a good range of charity shops, some which have a lot of higher end items and obviously plenty of vintage shops too.

I do like eBay but use it more for higher end high street stuff - eg I got a second hand cashmere coat from there recently, rather than designer items because I’m wary of fakes.

I think an independent, smaller online vintage shop could do well - I think more people are looking at vintage and second hand as we become more aware of the environmental impact of fashion.

I buy and wear a lot of second hand but I only consider it vintage if it's pre 70s. (That's just me - I started buying when the treasures were early 20th century). These days I mainly look out for coats & jackets from 1940s-60s, 50s jewellery. Also for silk shirts of any decade. Obviously that's hard to get hold of now but what gets me into a shop - and possibly then looking at other stuff too - would be one or two items from those decades, even if they were display only.

Secondly as you've probably gathered, I like a physical shop. A lot of the enjoyment for me is in seeing and feeling the clothes. I also like talking to knowledgeable staff. I rarely bother going into chains like Rokit because the staff don't seem to care about what they're selling so why should I?

I may have to change - the last shop round here selling 'old school' vintage closed during the pandemic, but as long as there are still decent vintage fairs, where the stall holders are into what they do, I'll stick around on. I'm signed up for Vestiare and more recently Vinted but find them about as enjoyable as decaf coffee so what's the point.

So that's what gets me to spend. Possibly not very helpful as I realise I'm not really a typical customer. But if I were starting out, I wouldn't rule some kind of physical presence, especially as there are so many empty shops / market stalls going begging at the moment.

Mainly Cashmere on ebay, mostly 50's 60's. The quality of the cashmere is better than new pieces and I usually get the impression that all those years ago someone bought their mother a really special piece of cashmere which just sat in a drawer and never got worn.
Silk scarves are good too, loads of choice, beautiful patterns.

I used to when I was younger and slimmer, struggle to find anything in plus sizes now though. I did have the most gorgeous 1950s shirt dress in a novelty print, was gutted when I couldn't wear that anymore.

@Floisme I think you might have had bad luck with Rokit; I bought my first pair of vintage jeans from them when I was a teenager and they were a stall on Camden Market (and thanks to the success of that they have four shops now - hardly Primark), I've shopped there on and off ever since and always found the staff helpful and enthusiastic. That said, I go to look at the clothes, not chat .

I can't buy a lot of the pre 1980 stuff I like because there's so much rayon and polyester, but I was fairly surprised to learn that my Kate Moss/TopShop collab dresses from less than twenty years ago were considered collectible, so I suppose the cheap and cheerful bright sundresses of the time would have been assumed to be fairly throwaway if not actually disposable. When I do see a cotton one I'm all over it (and ditto a cotton or silk kimono).

I go for smart- mostly warm- coats,jackets, and for bags. I want to see items in a shop although I would risk online for some brand items ( e.g. Aquascutum) but only because I'm au fait with vintage sizing. I'm looking for quality that's hard to find in modern clothing. I get a lot of use out of wet/very cold weather clothing ! I agree about vintage cashmere and woollen goods generally.

Socks, it was not my intention to malign the friendliness of staff at stores like Rokit, and apologies to all such workers if it came across that way. I'm talking about knowledge, not courtesy. I find that in an independent vintage shop or at a vintage fair they really know their stuff because they've spent their lives working with it and they enjoy nothing better than telling you where they found it, when it dates from, what they think the fabric is, about the best way to wash it, about the small tear under the arm that they darned themselves. And so on. I'm not talking about holding up the weight n' pay queue while I chat!

I accept I'm probably not a typical customer - I already have a good collection of vintage clothes so I'm selective these days. But, if the op is thinking about going up a level then I think it's worth knowing what might get someone like me to part with my money.

I'd love to buy more secondhand/vintage but I find the sizing so tricky - I'm 5'7 with a large bust and a decidedly less than hourglass waist/figure. I'd say there is definitely room for an online store that could help with sizing and/or selecting pieces and accessories - so a more of a stylist type service with a vintage or secondhand twist? Eg you could have an online form where someone puts in their measurements, colour and style preferences and you could email what items you have that may suit. It would be more involved obviously so you'd need to work out a mark up that was worth it. Agree with Floisme that a physical stall would also work well and perhaps help you hone the service before investing in a website etc.

I think those are good ideas from Chocolate, especially regarding sizing. If you're aiming at a higher end market, I think it's about the service as well as the product and I find that's normally far superior in a physical shop, but I'm sure there must be ways of recreating it online too.

I buy a lot of vintage designer pieces many of which are sourced for me by a friend who knows me and my style well. I'm also happy to buy online from reputable sellers but I probably wouldn't purchase from Etsy.

I would (and do) find actual measurements a lot more helpful than dress sizes, which vary enough that even with new clothes I own an 'S/10' shirt dress that swamps me and an 'L/12-14' t-shirt that's too tight.

When the label size can span such a huge breadth depending on the garments age, style and maker/original shop, having a concrete measurement to compare against clothes I already own is a Godsend provided I know what the fabric is too (or at the very least what type of fabric) .