How to wear the trends with second hand clothes

We have just dropped our latest coats and jackets online and there are some true gems in there with more being added weekly! This week we shared our favourite trends and what Pre-loved clothes you can have to recreate them. Check out Who What Wear for the full run down but here's a sneak peek.

https://www.whowhatwear.co.uk/autumn-winter-secondhand-trends

We asked the team at Chillie London to create the ultimate cheat sheet for us. Scroll down to discover their favourite trends for the season ahead as well as some pre-loved pieces we've got our eye on.

DENIM

"Another trick of the trade is layering jackets over coats. Denim is the perfect layer: It's a neutral that goes with everything. Lydia has worn her biker-style denim jacket over her faux-snakeskin Clockwork trench and then added red trainers for a pop of colour. Natalie has this amazing padded denim jacket on.  We love sourcing alternative denim jackets that have extra details like padding, zips and extra pockets.  Vintage denim is in abundance, so you can really find some amazing pieces. Natalie has layered her look with a vintage Japanese football top and cords."

THE MAXI COAT

"These maxi coats are statement pieces and as such don't need much styling. We love to play with colour at Chillie, and so Natalie has worn this khaki coat with navy blue. Take a risk with contrasting colours and use unusual colour-blocking as a fun way to restyle pieces you already have in your wardrobe. Lydia has this incredible padded leather coat and has styled it with browns to give a softer feel to this heavy piece."

BROWN

"Brown is another massive trend and one that is so easy to source on the pre-loved market! We are obsessed with wearing thicker jackets as jumpers and styling them with longer-length coats. Looking for unusual linings can break up the tones, too. Lydia has a statement suede animal-print jacket, which she's belted and pulled in tight to flatter her shape. She has added a pre-loved Lacoste rugby T-shirt and simple black jeans and boots. This look has a slightly '80s feel about it, so adding jeans and current footwear keep it looking relevant and on-trend."

TAILORING

"No one can deny that tailoring is big right now. We chose grey tones for this trend and are playing with texture and print to give it some edge. Lydia has this super-cool woollen St Michael skirt suit layered with a waistcoat over the jacket, which is actually a padded lining from another coat. Don't be afraid to get creative! Natalie has styled a classic pinstripe blazer with a loose boiler suit and vintage T-shirt. Just make sure the blazer is oversized."

LEATHER

"These incredible leather coats are winter's answer to the cotton trench. Look for shape in the shoulders and across the front and back. Lydia is wearing this epic red leather coat and has added loafers. Then she's paired it with simple nylon tracksuit bottoms but has tied the waist to add shape. Natalie has left her coat loose and has layered a suede jacket underneath to break up the black. We've styled this combo with Adidas tracksuit bottoms and trainers for a modern twist."

PINK

"Pink is the colour of the season, but we like to turn pink into a more universal trend by wearing the colour with pieces you may not expect. Here, Natalie wears a suede bomber and trousers, combining two shades of pink that work really well together. She adds white trainers to give it a neutral pop. Lydia has styled a simple shirt dress with a really oversized men's suede jacket. Beige and pink look great together, and combining the two is a stylish way to wear the trend for autumn." 

The Island Collection

Introducing 'The Island Collection, by Chillie London. Inspired by pub culture and local community, during the height of the pandemic when everyone was missing their family, friends and ways of socialising. 

Chillie London founders Natalie Hartley and Lydia Mcneill believe pub culture is at the forefront of bringing people together. The Island Collection includes both sustainably sourced and vintage sweaters that feature original pub beer towelling mats, up-cycled and stitched across the front. Each bespoke with different logos and messages to individually suit.

Every sustainable version of the sweater also features a QR code label that when scanned will show detail of where and who made the product.

Natalie Hartley and Lydia Mcneill – Founders, Chillie London

'During covid we all missed socialising with family and friends. The area we both live in Kensal Green and Harlesden has a very close community, where the local pubs are a regular meeting point. Post lockdown and in the interim of places fully reopening, one of our friends designed a fully equipped 'pub' at the end of their garden, to bring people back together. It was there that the beer mats sourced for this, inspired us to upcycle and create these designs for the Island Collection sweaters. When people wear these we want them to feel happy and nostalgic'. 'As we further researched and began sourcing the beer mats, we started to hear stories from friends who shared a similar nostalgia. Friend of the brand, Miquita Oliver clearly remembers her Uncle collecting beer mats and her grandma still has the collection stored away at home.  We have tracked many rare styles since the idea began, which are not just about the look, but the sense of belonging that each jumper portrays'.

Is the Price Right?

What you should be paying for Vintage & Pre-Loved clothes and how to tell when you're being ripped off.

With the popularity of the second hand clothing market set to surpass the fast fashion industry by 2030, the pre-loved fashion boom is showing no signs of slowing down - and of course Chillie London are here for it, obviously.

But like all industries which are growing rapidly and becoming more in-demand, it's bound to attract people who are out to make a quick buck. And with the widely varying price-points across vintage shops, independent boutiques, reselling apps and marketplace websites often times it's difficult to know whether or not the garment you're buying is actually worth it, or if it's even genuine vintage.

Vintage and pre-loved aren't mutually exclusive - which is something to remember when searching for your next buy. Everyone has a different interpretation of the word 'vintage'. So called 'True Vintage' is widely defined as pre-21st century; Vintage pieces can span eras from the 1920's to the 90's - or some others argue 1900's to 1970's - with anything earlier than that being considered antique.

The general rule of thumb is the older the piece the more expensive it is as there's less of it and the market is far more competitive. Whereas pre-loved is more loosely defined as anything you're not buying brand new or from it's original seller.

So, is buying newer pieces bad? Quite the contrary - sometimes the older 'True Vintage' pieces can be less accessible. Not only do newer pieces cater to a much wider range of budgets but when looking at older pre-1980's garments it becomes increasingly more difficult to find pieces which fit contemporary body shapes and sizes. Which, unless you're built vaguely like a Hedi Slimane-era Celine model obviously isn't going to work for everyone.

Since there's a huge range of price-points across the pre-loved industry - people will often mistakenly compare the prices of vintage pieces to clothes being sold by mainstream and fast fashion brands - when in reality the pricing for second hand is a whole different story and there's no one-price-fits-all model.

When you're in the market for some new garms and see a super cool pre-loved piece, but then look at the price-tag and think it seems a bit steep - there's a few things to consider before you start accusing the seller of daylight robbery. Am I buying from a small business? If the answer is yes it's likely that all those pieces were hand sourced by a single person or small team (as opposed to larger vintage shops and websites who blind buy pieces in bulk) which if you haven't ever had the pleasure of doing it, is incredibly hard work, so that gets majorly factored into the price.

Ask yourself: how old is the piece? Is it designer or a known brand? Is it in mint condition? Barely worn? real leather, silk, velvet, cotton? Will I wear it a lot? and most importantly, is is going to last? If you're still unsure whether or not something is worth the price then do a bit of web sleuthing - google the brand or look at other vintage sellers who have similar pieces. You never know you might have actually stumbled upon

So, when can I tell you tell if you're being way overcharged? Well unfortunately Vintage often get's used as a blanket term for basically anything not brand new - and it's easy enough to mistake newer pieces for those older more higher-priced vintage ones and end up paying top dollar before realising your newest purchase is actually only a couple of years old or it's just simply not in good enough condition to warrant the price-tag - especially when you're buying online. Like we said, there's nothing wrong with buying newer pre-loved pieces, but what's not on it paying those 'true vintage' prices.

One way to avoid misleading purchases is to shop IRL, feel the garment and talk to the person selling it, the more you buy the more of a feel you'll get for average price points and have pieces in your wardrobe to compare potential purchases to. But don't discount the internet entirely, not only is it super convenient but there a massive range of pieces across it (and some real bargains if you look for them)- build a trusted list of sellers and follow vintage boutiques on social and build on your knowledge there. Any good vintage sellers first priority will always be keying other people to the amazing world of pre-loved fashion and not just a smash and grab, but make enough cash in the process to sustain our passions.

So as always, buy what you love, shop smart, support small businesses and wear pre-loved!