Defunct/forgotten brands to buy secondhand

[flaks]

Most of my clothes and bags are thrifted and I recently discovered vinted. I wonder if there are brands that are particularly high quality that I am missing out on because I don't know what I am looking for. In particular I was thinking of brands that are gone (UK or abroad) that may not have been on my radar. I used to find obscure brands in charity shops but for online it would be nice to know to what search for.

I really miss Nicole Farhi and Romeo Gigli from the late 80s / early 90s. Such lovely shapes, colours and fabrics. Sigh.

I am today wearing an Armani black leather skirt that I bought in a personal shopping trip to Harrods in 2001. How about that for longevity! It is very simple and beautiful leather and immaculate condition!

@flaks My aunt was a dressmaker and as she got older whe became more popular and could start to pick and choose what she worked on... my favourite comment from her when someone brought her substandard fabric was, "I am sorry I cannot work with that, it offends my fingers!" And, I know exactly what she meant as I run my hands along some clothing in shops.

Why are natural fibres so rare on the high street these days? It seemed to happen very suddenly.

It seemed to happen to my thinking around 2006.

Dd was born then and when k went back to work l struggled to find decent clothes. I know Next moved downmarket at this time, so this may have been when the rot set in.

2006 sounds about right. I used to get lovely silk dresses from Kew and then they revamped their range to try to make it more yoof-appealing and that seemed to coincide with polyester and acrylic everywhere.

@Fairyvocals, Synthetic fabrics are cheaper.

Well, of course. But what triggered the decision to switch wholesale by apparently everyone?

There were problems with the cotton harvest at that time, but that’s recovered.

l don’t know why the prices for cotton and wool are so high. There seems to be plenty of sheep around!

I think growing demand in China is something to do with it!

I think that cotton production has been in decline for a number of years now. I don't fully understand all the reasons but I believe environmental concerns play a bit part because growing and harvesting cotton uses massive amounts of water. And then every so often you get crop blights on top of that - I think the last big one was about 10 years ago.

But also I think we're still living with the after effects of the banking crash. The early noughties high street was a fantastic place for fashion lovers (me included) but it wasn't a typical time, a lot of it was built on credit and it was never going to be sustainable.

Yes! When I read the words 'Thin Jersey' it makes me shudder. There was that awful trend a few tears ago for those thin waterfall cardigans that made everyone look totally shapeless. My Mum was obsessed with them and kept trying to palm them off to me too. I hated them with a passion. The £50 ones she bought from "Hello Madam, we saw you coming, QVC" looked just as cheap and chatty as the £5 ebay ones from China.

Incidentally, I've bought a few really lovely heavyweight pure cotton t shirts from Next recently. So hopefully they are listening. I say bought from Next; I mean I bought one for £15 from there then sourced a further four the same on vinted for £5 each (one I find something I like, I like a few of them)

Slub jersey is its evil cousin.

Just a thin and drapey but with lumps.

Oh, my mother loves that, too! She palmed off a lumpy cardigan on me one winter day when I was chilly. I remember hanging it on the back of a chair when I got home and it must have slithered off as when I walked back in the room later it was lying in a heap on the floor looking like a partticularly mangy old cat.

I think Austin Reed is a good label to look at especially for coats judging by the quality of a 100 percent wool coat I saw in a charity shop recently.

I’ve got some of my Dads wool jumpers, including a Dale of Norway, and an Austin Reed one, would it be sellable do you think ?

I've noticed on Vinted old St Michael stuff like slips and nightdresses like someone is clearing out their dead Grandma's drawers. 😬

This is a brilliant thread, brings back so many memories. I love the recent 90s/00s revival so have indulged it via ebay with vintage Monsoon, Ghrani Strok, Edina Ronay, Press & Bastyan, Kaliko, Pied a Terre, Ghost, lots of the brands I aspired to back in the day. I had a divine Press & Bastyan satin slip dress around 1998... I doubt I'd get it over my head now! I remember going and buying a treasured pair of black patent toe cap ballet pumps from French Sole. I thought I was the bee's knees. Still own a few pairs.
I had some nice pieces from Racing Green on Regents Street in the 90s, in particular a gorgeous soft grey coat with cashmere that I really loved. I still scan ebay for Kenzo, the illusive Voyage (I'd love a twinset!!) and old Monsoon.

ah now I need a twinset!
Voyage and Press & Bastyan are more new names for me to seek out.

I remember when abalone and mother of pearl buttons were used, mostly plastic now

I have replaced the nasty plastic buttons on otherwise quite reasonable clothes with mother of pearl ones a few times. Why would you use horrid cheap looking plastic on 100% organic cotton garment, though? For the sake of a quid.

Buttons😡 my pet hate.

l saw some pictures of me as a tween in the late 70’s. Amazing buttons on all my clothes. Even square ones. Buttons maketh the outfit imo and l change mine.

I remember linen pearl and wooden buttons in the 80’s and 90’s. Even from the likes of Snob or Top Shop

Can I ask how old you are? Your post made my heart skip a beat as these were the brands I used to drool over, but too young/skint for at the time and just starting to work and earn my own money. I'm 44

@RainbowZebraWarrior can you post a link to the thick tshirt please. Also sick of chatty , thin nowty t shirts

I’m 47!

The heavyweight cotton t shirts all seem to have sold out now in the sale, (Next now seems to be full of crap acrylic winter jumpers) but I'll try and find some links on vinted / post a pic of mine tomorrow.