A Vintage Thrifting Adventure

Yesterday, LB and I had an exciting thrifting adventure. Having gone back to work on Wednesday after my week off, followed by attending two jazz dance classes after work, I'd planned to have a very lazy day on Thursday pottering at home.

However, LB had the day off college and had decided to go thrifting in some of her usual haunts. When I heard this, I asked her if I could come along, partly because it was a good excuse for a mother/daughter outing, which we rarely do these days, and partly because she was intending to go to one of her usual haunts called East End Thrift Store, which I'd never been to. Whilst checking this out online, I came across another Vintage store called Mile End Vintage, which is close to where I go to the gym every week, and so we decided to go there, as I could park for free nearby and LB had never been there.

Now, the procedure for shopping in these particular type of vintage shops, is that you can fill a carrier bag (medium or large (and yes, I'm sorry, but it was plastic!)) with items and pay £10 or £20 respectively for the lot. I'd never actually been to one of these places before, so it felt like a bit of an adventure and I was curious to see how much you could get for £10 and whether there was actually anything worth buying. As I had just £10 in my purse and couldn't really afford to spend any more than that, I decided to limit myself to spending only this amount.

We headed over in the car and eventually found the shop, which was housed quite off the beaten track, in a unit under the railway arches. You could hear the trains rumbling overhead as you shopped, which was very atmospheric and added to the experience.  It was a bit cold in there though, especially when you were trying things on, but it didn't put me off.  To be honest I tried most things on over my t-shirt and jeans and they still fitted, plus I kept warm.

Most of the clothing was hung on rails, so it was a pretty easy shopping experience. I have to say that some of the items were damaged, some more badly than others, so you had to look closely at everything before putting it in your bag. Indeed, some of the items I did buy weren't perfect and needed buttons replacing or changing out, but for someone who can sew and make minor repairs and alterations, this didn't put me off, so long as the garment was basically in good wearable shape and fitted well.

Talking of fit, there was also a changing room in the shop, so you could try everything you were interested in on, which was a definite bonus. Now usually when I go thrifting or look for Volup or plus size vintage clothing on eBay and Etsy, finding things in my size is a bit of a problem, as vintage sizes were smaller and women were smaller too 40-80 years ago, but I actually found quite a lot of items that were big enough, which was a very nice surprise indeed.

We spent a good hour and a half picking things out, trying them on and each filling a bag. Here's my medium sized bag, packed with great finds:

and here are the items I bought laid out according to what they are.

Four spotted scarves, one full length slip in a nude/skin colour, three blouses, one chunky cardigan and three dresses. Quite an amazing haul really for just £10, I could hardly believe my luck. Everything needed a bit of TLC, mainly ironing, as they were pretty creased up, one dress in particular. The rest of the afternoon, I decided to work on them and make them a little more presentable. 

Here are my favourite items from the haul:

This dress is probably my favourite purchase.  It is made of a thick crepe like fabric and has been very well made with wide seam allowances for letting it out a bit more.  It was terribly creased and as you can see still is a bit.  I might try to take this to work and use the industrial steamer on it to get them out.  I added the red belt as it didn't have one, but it fits like a glove with a side zip to nip your waist in. I did a few repairs to it such as re-stitching underarm seams that had pulled away and sewing one of the buttons back on, but other than this, all it needed was a good iron. I think it's possibly from the 1950's, but can't be sure as there are no labels in it.

This was another great dress, a button through plaid dress with a white collar. Again I added the belt and I also changed out the black buttons, one of which was broken, for some dark green buttons I had in my stash.  There is green in the plaid. I love that this dress buttons right down through the skirt, making it great for dancing, as I can open a couple of buttons at the bottom to gain more room for movement.  It's probably from the 1980's and looks to be home made, by a very good seamstress, but I really like it.

Of the tops I bought, my favourite was this white/cream blouse:

I've paired it here with a circle skirt I bought from a CS last week, but I probably wouldn't wear it with this in reality. I loved the detail on the collar. So pretty.

It did have a few marks in various places, which I will try to wash out, but if they don't wash out, I'm not too bothered, as I'll just wear a sweater or cardigan over it.

I also liked this blue blouse with a geometric print on one side. It looked cute knotted rockabilly style, so had to come home with me. The neckline and sleeves are very flattering, so I like this one. (Apologies for the blurry photograph)

The chunky knit cardigan that I bought was very sweet and a lovely colour. I don't have many thick woollens that resemble vintage knitwear, but I thought that this had a feel of a 40's or 50's look.

I particularly like the buttons. One was missing and I was tempted to swap them out, but I liked these a lot, so just moved one up a place and left the bottom fastening without one.  This cardigan is quite modern, probably 1980's and fastens via poppers. If nothing else it will be good to wear around the house on very cold days.

The full length slip that I bought was also a great find.

This is a pretty style and these are always useful to have to wear under dresses. Finding them in my size can be difficult and you can pay quite a bit for them online. I currently have a black one, but having a pale coloured one might be useful in the summer with lighter coloured clothing.

My last few favourites were all scarves, and all spotted.  These will be great to add a bit of interest to vintage outfits. Once ironed, they looked so much better.

In all, we had a really successful vintage shopping trip. Each item ended up costing approximately 80p, which is crazy.  It felt very satisfying to give them all a bit of TLC and bring them back into circulation in my wardrobe. They may go on to last another 10 or 20 years which would be fabulous.