Vintage fashion is still hitting the headlines big time – sustainable shopping is au courant across the board, and although you may raise a sceptical eyebrow at yet another website offering to fill your wardrobe in a green and planet-friendly way, the truth is, this is exactly what cladding yourself in pre-worn vestments from a previous era, really is all about. Simples.
The vintage clothing market is projected to grow significantly, with the global resale market for apparel expected to grow at a CAGR of 15-20% from 2021 to 2025. This growth is driven by younger generations, particularly Gen Z, who are increasingly prioritizing sustainability
There is no arguing against the rise of the second-hand trend, especially as pre-used clothing finds itself centre stage as a viable alternative to fast fashion. Luckily for us all, vintage clothes are bountiful and certainly are no longer viewed as being second-rate, runners-up, apologies for an outfit. No, vintage clothing is very much centre stage and showing the way (again) as to how best to curate and rep a perfect look for our 2024 era.
How to Start Shopping Vintage
The hunt for an authentic vintage clothing ‘one of one’ item can appear quite daunting for a newbie to the retro game. We’re talking here about a shopper who may have been seduced by and become comfortably accustomed to the easy fast fashion method of online clothing procurement: the initial search for an item on a tried and tested familiar website, then the need to over-shop to ensure at least one of the chosen pieces actually fits/suits on delivery, before the inevitable return of the unwanted surplus to requirement clothes (using carbon-heavy resources) … before then only having to repeat all this again as soon as the next holiday, festival, work do or party demands.
We acknowledge that the transition to vintage brands and shopping habits is a step to take, but thankfully there is loads of info readily available online to start things off with a vintage vibe: blogs, archive photos, Insta accounts, images, vlogs, podcasts and customer reviews to name but a few starting points.
The thing with any fashion movement is, that it relies on the generation of the day to rep it as they see fit. And vintage is not a right or wrong one size fits all kinda movement. No, a retro look retains an amazing freshness by its individual nature; once the wearer is prepared to wean themselves off the standard, follow the crowd look, and search instead for something ‘unique’, there is no going back. A ‘one of one’ indie item for a ‘one of one’ indie shopper, is what we vintage lovers are after.
The AdVantage of Vintage
Vintage clothes are undoubtedly funkier and far more creative than the mass-produced and conservative styles you’ll find in the world of fast fashion or High Street retail. The quality of an item from the 90s or 00s is also so much higher than that of today’s offerings, and some brands produced so many stunning garms back in the day, they really do deserve to be celebrated and worn with pride once more today. We believe many of the long-standing popular brands may have fallen off design-wise somewhat with their new collections, thus leaving the door wide open for the treasure trove which is their back-catalogue, now vintage fire!
What Defines Vintage?
A definition of the term ‘vintage’ is not easy to capture, as it is often used fluidly and vaguely by different industries to recreate the nostalgia of previous eras to suit their marketing agenda. Loosely speaking, a vintage clothing item is not as old as an antique, but old enough, say at least 15–20 years, to have senior credentials and to have been manufactured using processes from earlier days.
Nowadays, there is even vintage-inspired clothing available, so you do need to be careful when buying ‘vintage’ to check you really will be stepping out into something which came from a factory 15+ years ago, rather than a clever modern-day replica.
Vintage clothing incorporates a broad category of styles, and more or less covers any clothing item made since back in the 1920s up until the naughty noughties. So, an eclectic mix to choose from! Check out our blog What Is Vintage Fashion for more info on all this.
General Vintage: Our Top 7 Sites
Below is our selection of 7 online stores where you will find a broad range of vintage clothing, as these outlets stock the lot, from across the eras! Among them, these sites hold a huge selection of second-hand originals and therefore have an amazingly diverse range of vintage items available for you to choose from. Pre-worn authentic items to be found with these sellers include vintage Nike sportswear, True Vintage dresses, vintage military wear and everything else in-between … including apparel and accessories you have never even considered up till now!
Our top 7 general vintage picks:
Vintage Streetwear: Our Top 7 Sites
The streetwear side of vintage clothing is something we here at Domno HQ treasure. The sports brands and the designs they manufactured through the 90s and 00s are the numbers which we just love to source and offer to our customers. Casual and comfortable, yet with infinite style and individuality, repping a design from this era really is nothing to turn your nose up at – streetwear clothing all the way, peeps!
Below is our selection of 7 online stores where we are confident you will find something suitable, because these stores specialise in vintage streetwear, which means the quality and range of their stock is the best for this vibe. Click for yourself to find out, but we are sure you will uncover a wealth of this single category from these suppliers.
Our top 7 streetwear vintage picks:
Classic Early Vintage (40s–80s): Our Top 5 Sites
If you’re looking for an authentic item of clothing made in the earlier decades, ie covering the 1940s–80s, then we have selected 5 stores to help you start tracking these rarer items down, and please bear in mind, the older the decade you are after, the fewer the remaining items you will find, which have survived to be rescued and reused today.
Our top 5 early vintage wear picks:
Specific Vintage Fashion Sites
If there is a particular style you are going for, such as a crochet top from the 70s or a baby tee from the Y2K era, we recommend you turn to your good ol’ friend the internet to find holders of these niche items. Use the images tab to scroll and find a style you like from a sustainable website. Please try and avoid the modern fashion brands that recreate these looks with their own current-day retro style.
Sustainability Aspect
The fashion industry is responsible for 2-8% of global carbon emissions, and textile dyeing is a major source of water pollution (UN Environment Program). Purchasing secondhand clothing reduces these impacts by minimizing the need for new clothing production and reducing waste. This reflects in consumer trends, where Gen Z significantly drives the growth of the secondhand market, with 47% refusing to purchase apparel from non-sustainable brands. Searches for vintage, second-hand, and rental fashion increased by 35% in 2023
Conclusion/Takeaway
We really hope this delve into the broad variety of online vintage clothing stores out there today has proven an elucidating read for you … and has helped shift or reinforce your take on purchasing and repping second-hand clothing items. Take a quick style check: would your unique style benefit from the addition of pre-loved items in your wardrobe? We say, Yes! Setting forth dressed in a vintage aesthetic style is bang on trend in today’s world, where this exciting fashion movement away from the new to embrace these already in existence pre-loved styles is happening all around us.
Whichever vintage style reflects your uniqueness best, please continue or start to consider the vast array of vintage clothing items and styles readily available on the online stores – those vintage steals are out there waiting for you, so please follow our vintage shopping mantra and Click, Cop, Keep!
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