a small very blonde granddaughter was the ploy in getting a better price on a pair of 1940’s gloves with little pearls sewn on them.

Standing in this warehouse; I reverted momentarily back to the days when I didn’t know any better and just purchased because it looked cool and that no one else would have it, without any real knowledge of what it was I was purchasing. There were racks and racks of clothing, tables full of sunglasses, purses, wallets and shoes. Labels ranged from Pierre Cardin, Dior, and Paul Costelloe to the Gap, Levi and many homemade pieces of clothing.

My breath was taken away as I started to methodically go in a circle around this Mecca of vintage hunting for treasure and am instantly draw to my dream coat. It is similar to the coat that Penny Lane wore from the film Almost Famous yet it couldn’t even come close to the treasure that I carefully pulled from the rack. “The coat” was white leather with shearing on the inside, a hood, and long horizontal buttons; it was more out of an Alaskan dream than a piece I was now drooling over in this slice of heaven in east London. I decided to walk away to see how I felt, the price tag said 65 GBP and that definitely meant a lot less food for the week. There are pieces of fashion that I will most likely spend my entire life in search of, this type of coat is on that list and has been there for most of my life. Besides I always walk away and come back if there’s any hesitation at all.

I turned around almost immediately; I had to at least try it on. Posing in the massive avant-garde 60’s find of the year I think to myself well its crackers and cheese for the week. Instinct kicks in and the mental checklist begins as I notice the medium to small rip in the seam at the shoulder. Normally not enough to detour me from a purchase, if it can be fixed then fix it. Alas I don’t have proper sewing tools with me due to lack of space and real need for use while here. Then I notice that the sleeves feel a little more than short for me. The nice woman at the booth offers me a lower price, and keeps going lower. I am on a budget and have already found too many little but very large things wrong with the coat. I kindly decline and say when I come back if it is still here then maybe it’s meant for me.

At the same time my love and study of the fine art that is

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vintage apparel, is also like playing with a double edged sword. I love it so much but now know more about what makes a great piece and what makes an item not worth buying. It’s so much easier to find amazing things when it comes all neatly categorized by decade and color. With all of these things there has to be some sort of standard on what and how to buy vintage. In comes the question that stops even me, a compulsive vintage collector in her tracks. What is the quality and condition of the garment? You can’t pick up a piece that most likely these days costs more than it did originally and not take a moment to look at a few key points; seams, stains or holes, rips etc, is it a designer piece, homemade piece and so on. There’s an entire checklist that I mentally go through when pining over any vintage at all. The checklist saves me most often but breaks my vintage loving heart every time it does.

Once again the mental checklist saves me from the heartache of knowing I wouldn’t get to wear this amazing 60’s find that often because of the weather back home and here because of the rain, but also because there were a few things wrong with it. For the last time I walk away from this dream coat knowing it was a tough but very informed decision. The smells of spiced foods fill the air as I leave my slice of heaven to begin searching for that one special piece nobody else has or that just calls out to me. Will it be a clutch; is it a pair of shoes, a mini dress, or all three? I smile, understanding that my super human power is the love and admiration of vintage that was shaped by my family and that my kryptonite is the small things that are wrong with a piece that make it not worth buying. Whatever my power is I know I’ll be back to this Spittlefields Market on the hunt for the next amazing vintage piece that I can’t live with or without. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72