A fine vintage

I'm not really an expert at vintage or vintage-lookalike shopping, but thanks to Rudi, who gave me a whirlwind tour of London on New Year's Eve, I've quickly learnt that Covent Garden is a good place to start.

One shop, Rokit, is a real vintage-type shop where there are racks and racks of clothing and it's best you go early to give yourself time to go through what will surely be armloads of clothing in the fitting room.  The prices vary widely from racks of five pound vintage dresses and suits to 40 pounds for a big crinoline to wear under a skirt (I'm saving up towards one of those for sure).  For guys, they have baseball letterman jackets and cowboy boots and for girls there are beautiful silk squares and fun 80s jackets.

But the fun part is the searching! 

I bought a black and red chequered bowtie (expect to see it in posts soon) and Dhany bought this tooled leather eagle belt which probably once belonged to a lonesome cowboy.  The details are really interesting, but I have yet to decide whether the golden eagle comes down on the side of corny or cool. 

Dhany is insisting it's the latter, and tried to convince me the eagle is now his spirit animal by cawing every morning.  Don't ask.

 Top - Primark.  Scarf - New Look.  Skirt - Mint Vintage.

Stockings - H&M.  Shoes - Deichmann's.  

Bag - Tokidoki (Present from Dhany).  Earrings - Made by mom.

Estimated temperature: 7 degrees.

We found another vintage store, Mint Vintage Clothing which is located just down the street, and here's where I splurged.

Mint is one of those stores that has a mix of real vintage and vintage lookalikes (which are sometimes just as good as the real thing, I think) and I asked the lady whether she had any full skirts as they are appallingly hard to find in high street stores.

Photos by Dhany

She said yes, she had one or two which I could try to see if they were in my size.

To my delight, I found a circle skirt in purple and yellow plaid that juuuuust fit my waist like a dream!  (If you wear circle skirts you know that as long as they fit your waist, the bottom bit can go all to hell.) 

I wore it out for tea with my classmates the other day with a woolly scarf and sheer stockings.  I can't wait till the weather is warmer and I can pair it with a tissue thin tee. 

Mint, I think, is slightly more expensive than Rokit, but I would definitely recommend a visit.  The shoes are beautiful and unique and there are some lovely, good quality buys on the racks. 

I do believe from both shops, you can also order off their websites.

Check these shops out for a start if you're interested in vintage, and, happy shopping!

Mint Vintage Clothing 
http://www.mintvintage.co.uk/
20 Earlham Street, Covent Garden, 
WC2 H9LN, London

Rokit
http://www.rokit.co.uk/
42 Shelton Street, Covent Garden,
London, WC2H 9HZ