Comments on: Vintage Chic

By: BB

BB — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:47:44 +0000

Tana mentions the closing of The Old Town Girls (I haven’t been up that way in the past few weeks, so I didn’t realize it had potentially closed), but they still have their shop on Taobao (just bought something from there the other day) which is called TOTGIRLS or can also be found by searching 丁丁的血.

Regarding vintage shops in Gulou, I’ve found some great skirts and earrings at Mega Mega Vintage–the key is getting in there just after they’ve put out new items.

By: Tana

Tana — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:19:15 +0000

I feel your pain Gemma. Sadly i think there’s really not much left worldwide (LA used to one of my favourite cities to shop for vintage too- great selection and availability, prob due to a strong garment industry along with the affluence of the city post war?)
Any fine quality garments that are left are selling for prices that make me weep! I did a little shopping in Paris last week, where as you can imagine, there are some lovely shops. But the prices – yikes! London and Sydney are about the same, but I’ve had better luck in smaller French cities. Toulouse is surprisingly good for vintage shopping, and I’ll be able to comment on Lyon in a day or two ; )

By: dominique

dominique — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:42:38 +0000

yes!

A gorgeous picture of a stunning & fabulous femme !
love it. x

By: Gemma

Gemma — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:06:47 +0000

Thanks to photographer and subject for a beautiful picture.

Tana, thank you for sharing your style and thoughts with us. I found your comments above of great interest.

It seems only 10-15 years ago, with minimal effort, I could find vintage [1940s-70s] coats in impeccable shape, from as far off as France and Hong Kong here in California for less than $10.00 USD. These days, there are none to be had at any price.

Cheers and happy 2010 to all,
Gemma

By: Tana

Tana — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:45:04 +0000

In brief -there are two main reasons I closed up shop in Hou Hai.
The first is that I was finding it increasingly dfficult to find good quality vintage garments, due to the blooming interest in vintage clothing all over the world (there is a finite source of quality items- which in turn gives them value), and the fact that the huge vintage warehouse in Guangzhou where we sourced a lot of our stock was burned to the ground.
Besides this, the rents in Yandai Xiejie pretty much quadrupled over night, so although business was good, it wasn`t really viable to remain open in that location. I think something similar has happened recently in Gulou Dongdajie, as all bar one of the vintage shops on the street seemed to have shut up shop when I visited 3 weeks ago.
Sad, as I was quite fond of `The Old Town Girls.

By: basi

basi — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 08:06:29 +0000

Oh!yes!Love!this is it

By: 1lun

1lun — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:41:09 +0000

Are there any vintage shops in Beijing you may recommend? Though I lived there for a few years, I never noticed there were such hidden treasure in the city.

By: stylites

stylites — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:57:54 +0000

Well, vintage shops are trying to maintain a higher level of quality and a certain style. Of course, with a lot of searching, you can sometimes find great stuff in Salvation Army, but usually vintage shops are offering a certain aesthetic.

By: Khavurta

Khavurta — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:51:14 +0000

Would you comment on why Tana closed her vintage shop in Beijing? I know that a vintage shop is different from a hospital resale shop or a Salvation Army. But both of the latter have done exceptionally well in the US recession for obvious reasons. Does a vintage shop not operate with the same rules?