I was surprised by the variety of stalls that were flooded with clothes and accessories from the Victorian period till the 1970s. There was vintage jewellery, accessories, womenswear and menswear. The clothes, ranging from Marilyn Monroe-style polka-dot halterneck dresses, to 1970s long hippie dresses, and including blazers and leather and tweed jackets for men, made me feel like I had taken a good rummage through my parents’ and grandparents’ wardrobes. There was a strange feeling that I had gone back in time. As I was having a look through the clothes at one of the many stalls, I spoke to the assistant and said to her that the fair reminded me of the shop Past Times and she summed up the fair perfectly by saying that this is “the real thing”, and it was.
The fair was adorned with a range of accessories that catered for both men and women. There were Madonna-style pearl necklaces and lace gloves for the ladies. For the boys there were cuff-links, old school ties and leather wallets on display. For those that wanted fashion accessories, you could choose between bangles and beads to complete your outfit. The jewellery was also exceptional; I managed to find some 1930s Filigree gold jewellery from Czechoslovakia that was finely crafted and exquisite. For those with a racier taste, the perfect finding had to be the naughty-but-nice lace corsets.
I went to the fair, dressed in dull black and a Tiffany necklace, and left with inspirational ideas to revamp my wardrobe and jewellery box. This really was a true taste of vintage heaven.