How to Start Wearing Vintage

Chillie Journal’s guide to vintage fashion for novices & newbies

When it comes to vintage clothing the seemingly endless combinations of decades and styles can seem daunting if you're yet to discover the magic of re-wearing, but trust us, there's a world of fresh style inspo to be found. The Chillie London team have put together our ultimate beginners guide to start wearing vintage.

Start With a Staple

Introducing vintage to your daily outfits doesn't have to start with a total clear out of your entire wardrobe, that would be unrealistic, not to mention expensive. Instead, start with a single staple piece, something you can add into your existing outfits; something that works well with everything and slots into your wardrobe effortlessly. Think a chic leather trench, some fabulous flared jeans or even something as simple as some classic deadstock gold jewellery.

Bright doesn't Always Equal Best

Sometimes, people tend to associate vintage with the kitschy aspects of the past; don't get us wrong we love a statement piece, but there's so much more to vintage fashion than neon ra-ra skirts and lurex parachute pants. But don't immediately feel like you have to start with the more out there pieces, start simple and focus more on finding silhouettes and materials you like.

Mix Old and New

The best outfits are always a mix of vintage and contemporary, designer and high street. So don't think that in order to wear vintage, you've got to wear head-to-toe retro looks. Instead see this as an opportunity to flex your styling skills and to create some seriously elevated looks. 70's dress? Pair it with some modern boots or trainers. Vintage Levis? perfect to style with your favourite silk shirt and jewellery.

Do Your Research

Not sure where to start? What era really speaks to you? What labels to look out for? Do some research! Start by finding your style inspiration, someone who you think always looks fabulous and go from there; whether it's Paris Hilton circa 2000 or Marilyn Monroe in her Some Like it Hot era. Love a specific luxury designer label? Guess what, you can probably find some amazing vintage pieces of theirs for a fraction of the price of their current season, and the best part? You'll own a unique piece of that brands history.

Invest in What you Love

Not a fan of prom dresses? Easy, don't buy them. Love everything to do with handbags? Then focus your efforts on finding the most fabulous vintage handbags you can find. If you've already got a genuine love for buying, wearing and collecting a specific style, item or piece then being able to find fabulous vintage versions will be even more rewarding, and will add unique pieces to your collection.

Shop Around

Vintage shopping can be an incredibly fun hobby, or more like an extreme sport at times. Enjoy spending a Sunday afternoon travelling to far flung corners of your city to root around shop basements, eagerly picking through railings upon railings of pieces, after which you'll feel amazing when you find a piece that seems like it was just made for you. And if in-person hunting isn't your thing then there's a world of amazing online content (Chillie London being one of the best ones, obviously) curated especially for vintage lovers and newbies alike.

Wear What Makes you Feel Good

When buying any clothing, old or new, the most important thing is to always ask yourself 'Does this make me amazing?' if the answer is anything other than 'Hell yeah' then it's not worth a penny of your hard earned cash. Off the hanger something might look like the most amazing piece you've ever seen, but if you're not as obsessed once it's on then it's just going to sit in your wardrobe gathering dust.

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In Defence of Black Friday

Chillie Journal weighs in on the spending-driven day and asks, is Black Friday really all that bleak?

The winter months can bring a lot of negative things into our lives family tension, overeating and don’t forget the waves of seasonal affective disorder which seem to intensify with every 3pm sunset. But one of the most hotly contested social pressures of every holiday season is the intense pressure from seemingly every media outlet to spend money.

Black Friday, another adopted tradition from across the Atlantic, originally a one day event after Thanksgiving where you’d be subjected to mildly entertaining news footage of fistfights over plasma TV’s in a Walmart. The term ‘Black Friday’ has it’s origins all the way back in 1869, and was used to memorialise a particularly destitute day in financial history, when a gold-buying conspiracy failed, causing the stock market to nosedive.

But now it’s turned into a festive multi-week spendathon. The day has also paved the way for other shopping-centric events such as Cyber Monday, usually (you guessed it) the Monday following Black Friday, after you’ve come down from the Bargain hunting-induced high and cried a few times over your bank statement and you’ve decided you’re ready to go into round two. But now most shops and e-commerce names opt to combine both days into one; holding reductions and special prices for the entirety of November all in the name of Black Friday.

Understandably, the now seemingly global push to set everyone on a spending spree has been met with some considerable opposition, most notably from environmentalists and sustainability advocates who understandably reject the consumption-driven nature of Black Friday. Truly, you find yourself dropped into a herd mentality where you’re encouraged by a nonstop barrage of marketing to buy things that at times you don’t really want or need because of the created urgency of these so called bargain prices.

This year many independent businesses are even going one step further and completely boycotting the event in entirety. The Guardian predicted that 85% - the highest figure ever recorded - of small retailers across the UK are planning on either completely shutting down their websites or donating all or a portion of profits made over Black Friday weekend to charity.

Now don’t get us wrong, we love seeing fellow small businesses going against the grain, making their own rules and doing things their way. But we just can’t ignore one of the few positives in the midst of of Black Friday negativity – it makes beautiful things - in our case expertly curated, cool and top quality vintage fashion – more accessible to the masses. Think about it, if there’s something you’ve really wanted for ages, you’ve been dreaming of owning but it’s just slightly out of your budget, you’d jump at the chance to get your hands on it at a lower price, right?

So, we’re rethinking Black Friday at Chillie London with our simple tips for Black Friday Hunting. Make a Wishlist, and stick to it; preferably a few weeks or months in advance, if you’ve got a clear idea of what you’re looking for you’ll be less likely to cross into frantic buying territory. Know your stuff: Larger retailers will use the sneakiest of subliminal marketing tricks to trigger impulse buys – don’t fall for it! Ask yourself: ‘Do I really want this?’ – make sure you’re buying things you genuinely want and will want in the new year – the price reduction is just a final push towards the checkout, don’t buy something just because it’s slightly cheaper. And most importantly, check out Chillie London’s Black Friday edit (Insert link); get something fabulous and save money, that’s what we call a win win…

Happy shopping!