5 Tips On...Buying Vintage W/ Chillie London

Launched in 2020, vintage business Chillie London is the brain child of two friends, Natalie Hartley had a long career styling celebrities as well as at magazines from Elle, to The Sunday Times Style. Her business partner, Lydia McNeil, grew up in heart of Notting Hill during its heyday in the 80s, with access to incredible selections of unnoticed vintage clothes she developed a successful career in personal dressing and styling private clients.

"We want to make a difference to people's lives and the world by re-homing clothes that could simply end up in landfill. We are passionate about recycling clothes and changing people's attitude towards wearing beautiful pre-loved clothing."

 

1. The perfect tee:

If you are sourcing the perfect tee look out for the style of stitching around the gems and collar.  The single row stitching construction that stands out amongst common double stitch tee’s will confirm that early 90’s era or before. If it’s soft enough to sleep in you’ve got yourself a single stitch tee.

2. Denim Finds:

Check the Red Tab: Take a look at the right back pocket. Do you see the famous red tab? Is the word LEVI’S® in all capital letters, or does it have a small letter “e” instead? The Tab with LEVI’S (also known as “Big E”) means the jeans are from before 1971. 

3. Cash is king:

A lot of thrifting locations and flea markets still operate on a cash basis.  We find going thrifting with a set amount of money and leaving the credit cards at home the easiest way to not go starry-eyed with the options. It also allows you to negotiate a better price as most people will do better deals for cash.

4. Sizing:

Get to know Sizing when buying vintage and size up. So when your looking at a size 12uk it’s going to Fit like a 10uk. Same goes for Shoes 6uk is a 5uk. When buying online you can always ask for more detailed measurements to be sure. 

5. Restoring items.

Vintage isn’t perfect but you can restore an Item if It’s Something your really love. There are so many amazing tailors out there who can fix pretty much anything.