5 tips for vintage shopping

I absolutely love vintage clothing. Nothing makes me happier than rooting through the racks of a vintage shop, trying to find that dream piece. Over my 6 years of buying vintage, I've picked up a few tips. I know some people find vintage shopping intimidating and overwhelming, so I thought it would be nice to share these tips with you. 

1. Where you shop

There are three main places to pick up vintage: Vintage shops, charity shops and online.

Vintage shops: These are definitely the easiest places to pick up vintage pieces. Places like East London and Brighton are swimming in vintage shops. I strongly recommend Beyond Retro and Judy's Vintage Fair for diverse stock and fair prices. The problem with vintage shops (or vintage markets) is that they're often overpriced. Also, be aware that just because it's a vintage shop, it doesn't necessarily mean they'll be selling genuine vintage, but more on that later. 

Charity shops: These are much, much cheaper. You can pick up some real gems in charity shops since they're less frequented by vintage-hunters. The downside is that it's pretty rare to find genuine vintage and you might need to spend a long time rummaging through Primark tat before you find something.

Online: Without doubt, the most convenient way to shop. Etsy is fantastic. It has thousands and thousands of vintage pieces from all over the world. Just type in your desired era and see how many results you get. You're bound to find a bargain too! Be very careful with sizing as you don't want that perfect piece to be a bad fit when it arrives! Also make sure you check the photos and description carefully for flaws and beware that if you order from abroad, you could be landed with a customs fee to pay. 

2. How you shop

Ok, you know where to go now. You're at the doors of the vintage shop, between the rails of the charity shop or sitting in front of your laptop in a onesie. Now what? You can either quickly flick through and go by immediate response, or study each piece carefully to consider it. I prefer the latter but it's personal choice.

My advice, however, is to broaden your search. If you're in a shop, try things on, even if you don't think it will fit or if you're not sure of the shape, print, whatever. It might surprise you once you try it on! Don't limit yourself- Look in menswear (womenswear, if you're already a man!) and childrenswear. You might find that perfect piece! 

3. Know your stuff

Right, you've found your perfect piece. How do you know that you're paying for genuine vintage? Well, there is a lot of information on this, far too much to outline here, but here are the main questions to ask yourself. 

Is it homemade? Before the 70s, when ready-made fashion really came into prominence, a lot of people made their own clothes at home. If there's no label inside, if the fabric has been cut with pinking shears and there's no overlocking, it's likely to be pre-70s. 

Is there a label? As I said, from the 70s onwards, clothes were more regularly bought from shops and therefore labels appear more frequently. Of course, clothes did also feature labels before this too. Check the lettering and familiarise yourself with stylistic features of each decade. Union labels are great because they provide a very precise way to date. Google the brand name, company name or any other specific information that may appear on the labels.

Is the zip metal or plastic? This is a biggie. Plastic zips were very rarely used before the 70s so big chunky metal ones are likely to date from before that.  As with the other tips, though, this isn't a guaranteed way to date clothes although it is a good guideline. 

4. Check it over

You should already have checked it over in order to date it. Whilst doing so, look for flaws. Are there any spots of discolouration or little holes? Look for seams that may be liable to split. As disgusting as this is, check out the armpit area and make sure it's not yellowed or, even worse, smelly! Of course, vintage pieces are likely to have imperfections. A hem that's falling down is easily sorted out and small stains at the waist, for example, might be overlooked or covered with a sash. 

5. Get a good price

Right, you have your piece. You've dated it and checked it inside and out. Now you're ready to buy. How do you make sure you pay the right price? 

After buying a few pieces, you'll pick up a guideline price. Generally, I pay no more than £20 for skirts and knitwear,  £25 for dresses and £40 for jackets as long as they're standard day clothes with no special features. Of course, that price goes up if it's something really spectacular. 

With vintage markets and smaller vintage shops, you might be able to haggle with the owner and get a better price, especially if the piece is damaged. Be aware that larger shops with multiple employees may not be able to do this and it's considered bad form to haggle in a charity shop.

Ultimately, it boils down to what you're happy paying. If you love it, and it's affordable for you, go for it!

So there you have it, my top tips for vintage shopping. I'd love to hear your adventures of vintage shopping, and let me know if I've helped you on your vintage shopping explorations! 

House Tour: Front Room

The front room is supposed to be the living room but it's pretty small so we made the dining room the lounge and instead use this front room as the entrance hall-slash-Rich's office.

We've got an original 1960s black leather sofa in here, and I tried to go for a kind of Mad Men office theme, so I thought this clock (from Wilkinson's, no less!) was perfect. Rich doesn't like it because it ticks and he hates ticking clocks but I managed to get it up on the wall anyway! 

Now this clock is a real 1930s one (I like vintage clocks, ok?). It doesn't work, but I only paid £5 for it so who cares? It's pretty! Yes, that is a Christmas candle arch on top. No, I don't know why.

I think the noticeboard is one of my favourite things. As you can see it has gig tickets, doodles, postcards, Diet Pepsi labels from different countries... Anything that we like, or that has sentimental value, goes up on here. 

This is where the Mad Men theme falls down! I keep my shoes here, since the front door opens into this room, all lined up on an Ikea Billy bookcase. 

Sooty and Sweep are supposed to live in my car but we brought them in when it was snowing (I felt sorry for them out in the cold!). When I start driving, I'll move them back into their home. 

I love the owl doormat. Unfortunately, our door opens inwards and the bottom is right at floor level, so the doormat has to sit about 2 feet away from the door and I have to hop onto it when I get home.

This room has been used as a kind of storage for our various collections. Here you can see my vintage 60s radio (it doesn't work), some of my piggies and Rich's football trophy from 1996. 

I've definitely made this room look a lot nicer than it actually is. It's really a state with coats, shoes and computer equipment on every surface haha! 

Urban Body Jewelry

You may have noticed that I have a fair few piercings (15 at last count, with more to come!) so it goes without saying that I need quite the stash of body jewellery. This is where Urban Body Jewelry comes in. As well as BCRs, labrets and all the rest of it, they also have a load of plugs. The best bit about this, is that they do small sizes. This is important to me. My tunnel is 8mm and I can't tell you how difficult it is to find cute plugs in that size. 

Ok, moustaches might be a little passé by now but how incredible is this septum jewellery. I've been toying with the idea of getting my septum pierced and this pushes me that little bit further towards the piercing studio!

When I stretched my ear, I was so fussy about having cute tapers, despite the fact they'd only be in for a few minutes. If you're obsessed with pretty things, like me, this ear stretching kit might be perfect for you. They have different colours too. You know, if pink's not your thing. 

I seriously want these star plugs. Look how cute they are! 

So, moral of the day: Urban Body Jewellery is pretty awesome if you're looking for body jewellery, especially plugs. They have loads of plugs and unusual ones too- Coffin shaped, anyone? If you're a piercing fan, check them out. 

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Payday Lunch

Every payday, Rich and I have a takeaway. This month, however, we decided that it would be nicer to go to the local pub for a lunch. 

For the record, this is how I look when I get ready! Onesie and clutter. Sums me up perfectly! 

A pretty rushed outfit post. Top by Peacocks. Skirt by Go Follow Rabbits. 

Ooh, and sunglasses from River Island. 

It was a lovely, warm day. A little muggy perhaps but nevertheless very welcome after three days of constant rain! 

The pub has had a makeover and it's very posh now! Look at the cute little squirrel on the menu.



A chandelier in a pub! I told you it was posh!

Gratuitous photo of me just because I like it.

Ice and slice. Diet Coke, unfortunately. They used to sell Pepsi. Back in the old days. Before Coke took over. Boo! 



Garlic and herb flatbread with cheddar and mozzarella. I can't even begin to tell you how delicious this was. Wowee! 

Neither of us like tomatoes (or peas!) but they're certainly pretty to take photos of! 

A lovely apple crumble. The crumble had ginger and cinnamon in it. Yum yum yum!

This is my full-up-Becky face! 

Review: Benefit Stay Flawless Primer and Hello Flawless Foundation

I am a huge advocate of Benefit make up so I was very, very excited to try out the Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow and Stay Flawless Primer that I received at the Benefit Stay Flawless party. 


Stay Flawless Primer

Stay Flawless is a brand new primer that promises to keep your make up flawless for 15 hours. Quite the claim, right!

The packaging is very cute with a lovely little polkadot cap. It's chunky, so easy to hold and it seems pretty robust. The translucent cap is thick, not the flimsy plastic that is usually used for make up packaging. The product twists out of the tube like a fancy Pritt Stick. It's big and chunky which makes application really easy. 

It has a light beige colour within the packaging so it is quite a surprise when it applies invisibly. The consistency is smooth, if a little sticky. The Benefit girl who demonstrated the product explained that this stickiness is what bonds the foundation and it does become less sticky after a few minutes. 

When I used it, my foundation did stick fast which is pretty impressive. When I took my make up off 10 hours later, it was still mostly all in place. Very impressive!

It's being released on 29th June at a price of £24.50, so keep your eyes out for it. 

Hello Flawless Foundation

I've never used a Benefit foundation before, which is odd as I love their make up so much. My current foundation has been discontinued, so I've been on the lookout for a new favourite. I have definitely found it!

The packaging is perfectly compatible with Stay Flawless and it is just as beautiful. Again, it seems very robust which is always important! The foundation has a pump dispenser (which you don't need to pay extra for, unlike some other brands!) so it's very easy to get the right amount.

The consistency surprised me. It was much more fluid than any other liquid foundation I've used. This means that it applies very lightly but it's easy to build up. I applied it using the Benefit foundation brush, which was fantastic, by the way! I use Pure 4 Shore which is an absolute perfect match for my skin tone. I look like a porcelain doll when I wear it. 

As I said above, it lasted for hours when I applied Stay Flawless first. At £25.50, it's a pretty good price for me and it's well worth every penny. 

Buy Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow here // Buy Benefit Stay Flawless Primer here

Book Review: The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read

The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read- Susan Hill 

When I bought this book in a charity shop, it looked exactly like my sort of thing: An uplifting tale of a man overcoming adversity in the strangest of circumstances. The blurb was vague so I read the first page and I enjoyed the writing style. Excellent.

How wrong I was. For one thing, this is actually a collection of short stories. It probably says this somewhere but clearly nowhere noticeable or I would have spotted it. That wasn't not a problem. I'd never read an anthology of short stories before so I was up for that.

Unfortunately, what was the problem, was the depressing monotony of the stories. After the first two or three, you've read them all: Somebody with a dead friend or relative struggles to come to terms with their loss. Loss and loneliness are the key themes here and they are so heavy-handed. Hill basically smacks the reader in the face with desolation. Be sad! This is a sad story! The problem is, stories lose any sense of pathos when they are this predictible and unsubtle. 

The best story, by far, is the book's namesake. However, it finishes before we get any sense of closure and so it leaves the reader feeling uncomfortably tense. At least it's a short book! 

Word of June: Celebrate

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It's nearly my birthday! Woohoo! It seemed fitting to make Celebrate my word for June. My goals are pretty simple after my crazy May! 

1. Have a birthday tea

2. Celebrate one simple thing each week

3. Throw a party. Just because.

I think this will be a fun month!