Vintage is a style for fashion-nostalgic women. It represents a time period, a cultural expression of an era through fashion. Generally speaking, items from the early 1920's up to the mid 1970's classify as vintage.

Markets

I would say that the best places to buy vintage clothes are markets. Not only you will find the best prices here, but you can bargain with the seller and get extra information of where the item came from and how to take care of it. I also love the ambiance in markets, everything looks different and more romantic in a street market. You see the clothes with natural light and you can smell them, touch them, get a general feeling of the 'piece of time' you are buying. In a shop we are sometimes deceived by artificial lighting that makes clothes look a different shade. The same applies to photograpied clothes for sale online, colours are never the same when you see the item at home.

Portobello market in London is a fantastic place to find vintage clothes, antiques and collectables. Always a delight to visit.

Auctions

Auction houses such as Christie's and William Doyle hold regular auctions of vintage clothing and other vintage articles. Even if you can't get to these auctions or afford the prices, browsing their online catalogues or buying the catalogue is an informative treat for any vintage collector. This, however, is an expensive way of buying vintage clothes, mainly reserved for the connoisseurs and the wealthy.

For the less wealthy, online auctions such as ebay are a better bet. But you need to know your stuff if you do not want to be ripped off.

There are some great sites for buying vintage clothing online. The problem is that it can be very time consuming finding real vintage as lots of people sell past seasons clothes under the vintage name, just because the clothes are old!

Before buying and item online, you should make sure you know in what condition it is. Remember, the older the item, the more likely it will show the signs of age.

The specialized sites use a naming system that will help you assess what you can expect when buying vintage clothing. Here is a list of terms taken from the fashion-era website to describe the condition of clothes.

• Mint: It means, the item is perfect like when it was originally made and shows no sign of wear (mint condition is rare for vintage clothing).

• Near mint: An item shows only the slightest signs of wear.

• Excellent: An item shows typical signs of wear due to occasional use.

• Very good: An item is considered wearable but has some surface flaws (staining or soiling, for example).

• Good: An item is wearable but cannot be returned to excellent condition even if repairs are made.

vintagetrends.com

Here you will find a very good selection for men, women and children at affordable prices. Manly items dating back from the 1940s to the 1980s although you might find the odd 1920s item.

A good size finder section based on measurements. And you can find details such as material, year and condition for all the items for sale. The sizes are given on inches so you can measure yourself and get and idea of how it will fit.

antiquedress.com

Here you will find an amazing collection dating back to the 1750s. Yes, it is not a mistake, you can find accessories and clothing items as far back as 1700 on this site. It gathers museum's pieces, memorabilia, clothes worn by Hollywood stars and other personalities. Most items are very expensive, but there is an under $150 section. Even if you are not interested in buying but you are interested in fashion through history, this site is well worth a look.

ebay

This is a good site if you know what type of vintage clothing you want. Go to the Clothing, Shoes & Accessories portal, click Vintage, and start searching for item listings on eBay. If you want quality items, you can use the advanced search and enter the name of your favourite designer, or a time period to have a narrower selection of relevant items.

fashion-era.com

This site does not sale clothes but it is an excellent resource for research. But, if you are interested in vintage fashion, here you will find all the information you need on the subject. From silhouettes, materials, colours, everything classified by decade and put within a historical context.

vintageslips.com

This is a family owned business specialising on vintage lingerie such as slips, panties, gowns, peignoirs, corsets, bras and girdles. A place to find the finest labels including Van Raalte, Vanity Fair, Gotham Gold Stripe, Lorraine, Gossard Artemis, Adonna, Maidenform, Lovable, (just to name a few). Despite being vintage, most of the items ranging from the 1930s to the 1960s have never been worn, and are in excellent condition.

Keywords: Rather than just looking for vintage when browsing online, do enter a designer name. Sellers who can tag their items as a Dior dress or Hermes' scarf are more likely to have a good selection of vintage clothing. Simply describing clothes as vintage does not tell anything and you might end up buying just an old 1994 prom. Dress!

Best buys online: Due to size differences it is better to buy accessories such as scarves, bags, belts, and hair ornaments on line rather than fitted dresses.

• Vintage means value. Collectible items are an investment as they will continue to grow in value.

• An advantage of wearing vintage dresses is that you don't have to be afraid that you will see it on your colleagues too, because they are quite rare.
• Wearing vintage is a fashion statement. You impose your style, your personality is affirmed through your wardrobe rather than following the high street trends for the season.

• You can get great, unique clothing, often at bargain-basement prices if you are patient enough.