I've always had a yearning to look and dress like Katherine Hepburn, all wide-legged mens suits and no-nonsense attitude

But with my genetics, that's never going to happen. 

On a good day I can convince myself that I'd make a passable (if a little short) Joan Holloway

But on a bad day, I have been accused of looking a little like Miss Marple (which may have something to do with the Welsh tapestry cape I've been known to wear when I'm on my bike)

So, who's your style inspiration, and who do you wish it could be? 

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Some say that we've become a nation of shoppers, obsessed with endless spending, spending, spending and endless landfill to go with it. But, we fans of vintage like to think of ourselves as being above all that. We pride ourselves on keeping items out of the tip, preserving clothes for as long as possible and not 'indulging' ourselves in £2 t-shirts and disposable fashion from the high street. Looking good and looking after the planet at the same time. 

But is there a downside?

Vintage cuts out the manufacturing process, it's pure retail - which means no jobs for designers, pattern cutters, machinists, and so on and so on. The global economy is a finely balanced machine (ok, so it's out of whack at the moment), and aside from the banks, it's powered by jobs. If everyone starts buying vintage, could that have serious knock on effects for the economy?

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Ok so we've looked at your vintage horror stories, now let's indulge ourselves a bit - what are your vintage items of desire? 

For me, in terms of clothing, it's vintage wool suits from the 40's/50's with their nipped in waists and classic tailoring, and for the home, I'm a sucker for a bit of mid century Danish, or a nice bit of Ercol (what can I say, I like me some wood).

So what floats *your* boat? A nice swing dress? Some 70's platform boots? A comfy old leather wingback chair? A set of mismatched china cups and saucers?   

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It doesn't take a budding Sherlock Holmes to notice that there's a bit of a gender imbalance in the world of vintage clothing, with women making up the vast majority of buyers *and* sellers, so why is that?

Is it because it's easier for women to dress up without looking silly? Is it because the men's market is undersupplied by vintage sellers? Are the men better represented in other vintage areas, like vintage furniture? 

Do you love a man in vintage style? Are you a chap with an eye for the older stuff? Or does your fella despair at your attempts to get him into a bit of tweed? 

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It can be difficult to track down exactly where my love of vintage comes from. It probably started with the dressing up box that my sister and I used to play with, and the unusual amount of amateur dramatics that I did when I was growing up. But then it could also stem from those teenage years when I was trying to find my own style on a seriously constrained budget, in a town more than adequately supplied with charity shops.

So, what brought you to the world of vintage? Was is a stylish friend of relative? Were you inspired by someone on the silver screen, or the maybe the world of fashion? Did you inherit a key piece that started you off on your own collection?

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I'll use this post to pull all the survey monkey links together in one place, save you hunting round for them all. 

survey #1 - buying vintage clothes

survey #2 - general survey for vintage traders

survey #3 - buying vintage furniture and homewares

suvey #4 - vintage sellers business processes

And to save you even more time, each of the surveys has just 9 questions, so should take you no more than a couple of minutes. 

If you do 2 or 3 surveys, you may notice that some of the questions are quite similar (or, in fact identical). This is because it enables me to set some sort of baseline and do some comparisons of the data between the surveys as well as within them - hopefully it should just make them even quicker for you to fill in. 

All the surveys have a box at the end for you to leave your e-mail, but you don't have to if you don't want to, you can answer anonymously if you'd rather. 

I'll be putting the results of the surveys up on this posterous when I have them (without any e-mail addresses, obviously) but if you want me to send the information to you by e-mail, let me know. 

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There's lots of gorgeous vintage stuff out there, that's why we love it, right? But amongst the lovelyness, there are some real horrors. Every era has some fashion faux pas that should really be left in the past, but they do still appear in vintage and second hand shops, to plague us a second time. 

For me, the ultimate in vintage hell has to be the dropped waist - 20's or 80's, they are amongst the least flattering items ever to come from a sewing machine, and if you are 'fortunate' enough to be of the shorter curvier persuasion (as I am) then the look is compounded by lumps and bumps being in the wrong place. 

Fortunately, we don't see many of them around these days, unlike another of my clothing bette-noir, the romper suit or jump suit. 

Why? 

WHY?

WHY?

Whoever thought these were a good idea has clearly never needed to go to the loo in a hurry. What the appeal of having to get entirely undressed for a wee is, I will never know. But they're all over the place at the moment, new versions as well as vintage examples, and it looks like it's a trend that's going to run and run (although not to the toilet, if they have any sense)

So, that's my idea of vintage hell, what's yours?

ra ra skirts? 

wriggle dresses?

flares?

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When you head out to the shops, or online, do you like to go for a good old rummage, or are you on the hunt for something specfic?

Do you end up with things that you wernen't looking for? or are you laserlike in your focus, only buying the items that were on your vintage hit list? 

What is your vintage shopping style?

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I've recently been given a vintage fur coat by a family member having a clear out, which leaves me with a question - what should I do with it? 

I'm not going to wear it, which leaves me with several options

leave it in the wardrobe?

sell it?

give it to a homeless charity?

use if for animal bedding?

On the one hand, vintage fur lessens the need for the new fur market - all the benefits without the bleurgh

On the other hand, does vintage fur help prop up the demand for real fur, by making it acceptable to wear fur in the firtst place? 

But on that score does good fake fur have the same effect?

What do you think? Where do you stand on the vintage fur debate? 

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well, would you? 

If they've been washed properly, in great condition and are really really lovely, would you be willing to wear 40 year old pants?

what about swimwear?

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This is a slightly more specialised survey, looking into the various business processes that vintage traders may or may not use. I appreciate that some of this may feel like sensitive information, so rest assured that I will not share the individual information with anyone - I'm just trying to get a general idea of the state of the industry. 

And of course, you can always answer anonymously, if you prefer. 

Your contribution is much appreciated, thank you

Click here to take survey #4

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I have to admit that I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to vintage things - I like my vintage to be OLD.

If I find a dress in a second hand shop with a full-on vintage style, but with a modern label, I'm more than likely to leave it on the rail. 'Repro' furniture leaves me cold, and retro kitchenalia just feels a bit on the tacky side - but maybe that's just me? 

After all, modern fabrics can be easier to look after, and a new chair hasn't had to suffer 40 years of children jumping up and down on it. Modern production standards can be safer and stronger, and you can get all the benefits of the vintage style, with all the convenience of a modern item. 

There's an increasing number of vintage inspired companies out there, creating modern vintage items, be they dresses, teapots or lightfittings, so there must be a market for these items, but tell me, what do 'you' think?

Do you like the idea that an item has some history to it, or would you rather be the first person to own something?

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Ok, so we've done vintage clothes, now it's time to look at buying vintage furniture and homewares in the UK. 

If you buy vintage stuff for your home or office, please take a couple of minutes to take the survey in the link below. There are only 9 questions, and your contribution is much appreciated.

thank you

Click here to take survey #3

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One for the vintage clothing buyers in the house now.

If you live in the UK and buy vintage clothing, I'd love to know what you buy, where from and why. 

Click here to take survey

Again, 9 short questions and 3 minutes of your time is all I ask. There is a space a the end of the questionnaire for you to leave your e-mail address if you'd like me to send you the results of the survey, but you don't have to, and I'll never disclose your e-mail address to anyone else without your permission. 

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Alexa Chung recently commented in an interview that it was becoming more and more difficult to find good quality vintage, and that "there's only bad 80's stuff left". Although apparently there are still bargains to be found in LA (if you can afford the airfair, that is).

And I was reminded of the investment advice allegedly offered up by Mark Twain: "buy land - they're not making any more of it".  Much like land (unless you count that new palm tree thing in Dubai) they're not making any more vintage stuff, ok, so things that are only 18 years old now may qualify as vintage in a couple of years time (and Ugg Boots may be the hot vintage trend in 2045). But in terms of items from the 40's-90's, we've already got our full allocation.

You could argue of course that this has been the case with antiques for as long as people have enjoyed buying really old stuff - but Vintage differs from Antique because it tends to be used, not just admired from afar, and the more that something is used, the more chance there is that it will be damaged/broken/wrecked in some way (even the most careful owner can have a glass of wine spilt over her frock by some clumsy oaf).

And with vintage being very much on trend at the moment, there are fewer and fewer items, being spread out amongst more and more people. It's much easier for someone to resell vintage items that they no longer want these days, but a breakage here, an accident there, and the occasional child with a pair of scissors means that the number of items in circulation is only going one way - down.

So, could we run out of vintage? And what happens if we do?

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Do you trade in vintage in the UK? 

The link below will take you to a very quick questionnaire about your experiences in the vintage market at the moment. 

Click here to take survey

There's only 9 questions, and it should take you no longer than 3 minutes to complete, but your input is invaluable to the research I am doing, and is very much appreciated.

The results of the survey will be shared on this posterous, but if you would like me to send you the results, let me know in the comments below, or in the box at the end of the survey. 

Thank you. 

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It's almost taken for granted these days that a business needs an online presence, either on facebook or twitter, selling through their own sites or through sites like etsy and e-bay - but what of the good old shop? With the costs of rent, rates, insurance, and the pressure of making sure that there is someone there to open the doors in the morning, every morning, day in, day out, more and more retailers are ditching the high street altogether and moving their businesses online. 

But many vintage buyers like to browse through the rails, and rummage through the baskets of hats and bags. Part of the thrill of vintage shopping is in stumbling upon that unexpected, and previously unlooked for item. And anyone who loves vintage knows that you can never really tell the quality of an item until you can get up close and personal with it.

So how can retailers walk the tightrope between keeping their overheads low, while not losing a lot of what first brought people to vintage in the first place?

Have you moved your business online after years in a shop? Did you start your business online and are hoping to move into premisis at some point? 

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Hi, thanks for dropping by! 

I'm doing a bit of research into the current trend for all things vintage in the UK - clothes, accessories, furniture, homewares, styling, events, transport, toys, the list goes on, and on.

If you buy or sell vintage, or organise vintage events, or provide vintage services of any sort, I'd really like to have a chat with you.

You can also follow this posterous to find quick questionnaires, and debates to get involved with.  

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