Vintage shopping secrets

Let’s talk about vintage shopping “secrets”. Lately several of you have asked for my vintage shopping secrets to finding the “best” items. And I’m really sorry to say: I have none. I wish I did, but I don’t! Instead what I do have is an interest in vintage items, access to online marketplaces, access to physical shops and markets (when I have time to actually go!) and a curiosity that results in a minimum hundreds of Google searches daily.

Katie wears a purple and blue peacock print midi length shirt dress with calf high brown boots, a red shoulder bag and gold tone tassel necklace on one of Notting Hill's rainbow house-front streets.

When I browse in person, I’m looking to see what catches my attention: colours, prints shapes or fabrics I like the feel of. If I see something I’ll take a closer look and maybe try it on. If I want to buy it and that garment is pricey and has a brand label, I’ll Google the brand to see if anything is known online, and then search the name on Etsy and eBay to see how online sellers value similar items from that brand.

Sometimes, by doing this, I find designers I’m attracted to (like Marion Donaldson in the 1970s). Other times I discover designers by reading Instagram captions (example: @veshoevius mentioned her dress was vintage Gunne Sax, and I thought it was beautiful so I set up an eBay alert for the brand and started Googling to learn more).

Outside of this, the only real shortcut I know is to find vintage shops and resellers with styles you like. You’ll be paying more for their curation services than if you were to rummage through hundreds of car boot sales, but it’s the fastest way to find what you want! Some that I can suggest here on Instagram are @thepansygarden and @anothermatinee.