Kiss My Carpet Bag – The Rise and Rise of Granny Chic

By Anna Fenlon

Second hand, charity shop, thrift and vintage! Whatever you call it, it seems there is no escaping it at the moment. With the dreaded credit crunch sending shivers down shoppers’ spines, it’s no wonder that the penny pinching trend is huge. However the fine line between vintage gem and thrift disaster is becoming blurred.

Vintage is a term that has become massively confused in recent months. With ‘vintage’ shops springing up everywhere, it has resulted in high quality original pieces are being slumped in the same bracket as Nineties high street cast off's. Because of this, a hybrid trend has been created. Its now common to see an 18 year old girl proudly flaunting a second hand dress that goes beyond the rules of bad taste but because she is wearing ‘vintage’ she has an untouchable air of fashion prowess.

I have nothing against charity shop rummaging as it is something which I personally love, however the one stop second hand = ironic fashion statement really riles me.

It seems when some people go thrift hunting, they discard all aspects of buying normality. Fabric and fit preferences go out of the window and a need to look knowingly vintage becomes the priority. Admittedly, I have fallen victim to it myself. I now realise that looking like Dot Cotton is not retro, it just looks ridiculous. Luckily, I only paid a couple of quid for my faux-pas, but now the sting can be much stronger due to retailers cashing in on the boom.

It is not just women who are guilty of donning dodgy second hand finds, men are at it too. Granddad jumpers can look great if the print, colour and quality are right however there is nothing remotely edgy about bobbled, acrylic knits that should have been binned along with Black Lace LPs and Filo faxes.

Without sounding like a delusional government minister, the problem lies in education. Everyone wants a bit of vintage but most aren’t sure how to go about it. There is a huge difference between a well preserved 1950s dress and a ten year old Littlewoods floral disaster.

It’s tricky because there are no rules to creating a vintage ‘look’; you just need to know your own style. Perhaps the only rule when second hand shopping is don’t buy anything that you wouldn’t consider buying new. Oh and shoulder pads – just say no.

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