It’s Vintage Darling: how to be a clothes connoisseur by Christa Weil

`Know, first who you are: and then adorn yourself accordingly` -Epictetus, Discourses, 2^nd century.

Bought for me by a dear friend for Xmas this book is not something I’d usually read. I love vintage and know how hard it can be to find authentic items which haven’t been badly reworked or relabelled so I thought this book might give me some tips. It is only over the last few years I’ve become more interested in fashion – and when I moved I realised I only owned dog walking & gardening clothes so I went on a mission to rework my wardrobe.

I soon learned this is probably the type of book bought by a fashion student as it went straight over my head. Most of the authentic vintage it refers to are designer clothes and WAY out of my price range.

Good points made along the way include the fact that a Lui Vuitton jackets will end up in a museum at the end of its life rather than a scrap heap (like many Primark numbers do) which illustrates its quality. It did make me think more about what I wear.

Unfortunately many of the websites listed in the back of the book had very out of date sites or were no longer available. I did learn lots of interesting things about types of material though and for about a month did visit a man’s suit shop to inspect the tailoring & feel the material as advised. (Yes I did get some odd looks but just explained I was doing research.)

I feel very sorry for silk worms and know far more about filaments in material than ever before – again fashion student you’d love this book. Dress agencies are a concept I’d not heard of before and it now occurs to me that I use to frequent one on Abbey dale road in Sheffield without knowing it. Many of the shops listed are in the south, so I think southerners would love this book to seek out unknown treasures.

The pictures that separate the chapters are cute but I must say after I started reading an in-depth chapter about labels I lost interest. I mean you’d be surprised what you can tell by a label….

Some cute little quotes along the way including:

`Why socks disappear in the laundry-The Bureau of missing socks offers some fascinating theories on this phenomenon:

·         The spin dryer opens up a space/time continuum through which the sock is transported to distant galaxies.

·         Socks don’t actually disappear, they reproduce-but only have one baby at a time

·         Socks in the hamper feel like they’re in jail and plan their escape during the laundry

·         Elvis has them`

I think the main points I will take from this book is to treat my clothes with respect and pay attention to tailoring – which may then stop me looking like and elephant!