Don’t worry, this isn’t another article banging on about how throw away fashion is destroying the world or how Primark is the root of all evil.
I merely thought I’d discuss whether vintage clothing is still big business or if it is…well…just old hat these days.
For the last couple of years vintage clothes shops such as Rokit and Beyond Retro have been making an absolute mint. After the recession kicked in, their profits continued to rise as people ran to second hand shops to help save their pennies.
Charity shops also became less old fogey more high fashion as the trend of vintage clothing, especially eighties this year, really hit the big time.
Is it worth trawling through the rails of sometimes less than fresh, usually moth eaten/ bobbly/ make up stained/ miscellaneous stained items of clothing in the vain hope that you’re going to stumble upon a perfect Chanel silk blouse for £5.99 that the poor old dear at the counter didn’t realise was worth any dosh?
I also noticed that while walking through Brick Lane the other day that one or two of the smaller vintage shops had massive closing down signs out the front.
So have people lost interest? Or have people just got so lazy they don’t care if they go out wearing a dress from somewhere like Topshop, and then see every other idiot in the club wearing it as well?
Let’s face it; fashion is just trends on a cycle. They’ve all been done before. So why not get something a little less mass produced and a little more original?
Dev Hynes aka Lightspeed Champion rocking the vintage look
With big trends for this summer including sheer fabrics, abstract prints, 90’s grunge, big jewellery, and Alice in Wonderland inspired clothing, surely we might as well just buy the vintage originals, even if they do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
