To our delight vintage fashion fairs are popping up here there and everywhere so it’s a good thing we constantly have itchy feet for an old vintage find.
The Cellar in Southampton played host to ‘The Vintage Feel’ last weekend (21st), a vintage fashion event full of local market stalls, tea, cake and a 50’s catwalk so it was inevitable I would be leaving with a stomachful and handful of goodies!
The venue is usually home to spilt pints, mosh pits and the ‘next big thing’ so the sight of it brimming with one-of-a-kind jewelry, bags in all shapes and sizes and pretty printed tea dresses was an odd but delightful experience.
In an orange floral wall printed corner was Classic Vault. Run by Linda (pictured) and her daughter Alice, the Southampton-based business had tables scattered with dainty chains and chunky tribal jewelry, baskets of beautiful earrings and 50’s-esque leather bags and gloves. “After we were burgled we wanted to reestablish our jewelry collection we lost and ended up starting out own business in August. We sell clothes, home ware, accessories and china!”
The brains behind all the days fashion filled fun is Rosie Jordan. She is in her final year at Southampton Solent University studying Fashion Styling (Hair and Make Up Design) and her love for vintage clothing and charity shops sparked the event for her final year project.
“I like finding things to wear and altering them to a style that I like. I have been to a lot of vintage fairs and thought that it would be really good to showcase my ideas at my own vintage event as well as raising money for charity. My Grandmother was a big fan of fashion from the photos I have seen of her and as the 1950’s was her era I decided to relate this to my event. At present she is coping with dementia so I wanted to highlight the illness and the struggle that goes with it, not just for the sufferer but for the people who care for them. Raising money for Dementia UK meant I was able to do something to help”.
Everybody has a different outlook on vintage fashion, so how would Rosie, dressed in an elegant cornflower blue 50’s dress from Hepwrights, define vintage?
“For me, vintage fashion means sourcing pre-owned clothes and fabrics and re-inventing them to create a new look based on a particular era, in the case of my event the fifties. I own a few vintage pieces but my favourite is my 1950’s hairdryer in its orignal box and first purchased on the 3rd December 1956, which I bought at a vintage fair at the Hexagon in Reading.”
Georgia Weaving is in her final year at Southampton Solent University studying Writing Fashion and Culture and runs a small vintage business with her sister Jenny Robertson called Matilda Wren, also based in Hampshire. “We don’t have our own shop, we just flit between vintage fairs and do our own vintage parties! I love vintage clothes so I started selling what I owned on Ebay then my sister and I decided to start Matilda Wren last August”.
With swing music playing over conversations of fashion, and pots of tea and cupcakes in full flow, the afternoon was full of support from local vintage suppliers and vintage fashionista’s alike. Even I bagged a few rare treats!
Want to know where your nearest vintage fair is? Check out this schedule and support your local suppliers!
Classic Vault – Website – Facebook
Matilda Wren – Website – Facebook – Ebay
Photographs by Vanessa Rocha and Alis Felsigen.
