Yay! I love thrifting! While at the East End Thrift Store's giant jumble sale on Saturday (yes, I admit it, I was among the first 15 customers, having got to the store half an hour before it opened so as to avoid a repeat of Angels whereupon I arrived a little after opening to find a queue five hours long), I got myself two bags (Tod's and Kate Spade!!!!) and a Gianni Versace dress, as well as other assorted goodies (a scarf, a tie, a slip, a skirt, a couple more dresses) all for just £10! Yes! It was one of those "all-you-can-stuff-into-one-bag" offers. You could opt for a £10 bag, or for a bag three times larger for £20. Best of all, you could wander around the store and come back and swap the size you'd chosen initially without any hassle.

And today, I made my way to the Issa and Made in Heaven jeans sample sale and bought myself a white t-shirt and a swimsuit for a grand total of £11.

After all of these bargains and discounts, I'm finding it a little hard to return to shopping at full price.

I have gone a little overboard on the vintage purchases in the past month or so, having somehow managed to purchase 18 items of vintage clothing. Yes. 18. 16 dresses, one playsuit, and one shawl. Fortunately for me, they average out at less than £16 per piece, which is so much cheaper than what I would have had to pay in Singapore. Of course, once you factor in the vintage-inspired See by Chloe skirt (which I just had to have when I saw it at a sample sale because it's sooooo cute), then it's not as cheap, although it still comes in at a respectable £21 per item.

Still, I think I'll put myself on a vintage clothing, shoes and accessories fast for the next few months or so!

Part of the reason for the vintage extravagaza is because I fell head-over-heels-hard for electric blue dresses. Electric blue, royal blue, International Klein Blue, however you call it, it's always been my favourite colour. It's the same colour of that dream dress I allowed to get away last summer. I now own four electric blue dresses: a cute, cheerleader-like mini dress, a shimmery mini dress which looked absolutely stunning when I tried it on (an absolute steal at £10, even if it needs minor repairs), a dress by Alfred Shaheen, and a long Tadashi evening gown with mesh cut-outs.

The other reason is because my love for Catherine Ogust came back with a vengeance. Prior to this, I had four dresses (two with matching belts, two without). I now have another four (all with belts) purchased from four different stores in the US, including one which was on sale for less than $5. I may have to alter some of them as a few of them are too long for me, but they do look beautiful, and, best of all, are incredibly comfortable to wear.

Apparently, the popularity of Ogust dresses come and go in cycles; there've been times when I've seen them struggling to sell on eBay for more than $10 (in contrast to Singapore, where a complete set will sell for S$130). However, for the past week or so, every single dress I've seen has sold for close to $30, even those without the matching belts. One mini dress even sold for more than $100, meaning that if I were to shorten one of the dresses I purchased and re-sold it, I could potentially make a 100% return on that dress. But I won't, because I love them too much. Colour-block op art shirt dresses will never go out of style... Not for me, at least. I've been wearing shirt dresses since I was a teenager!

The remaining dresses consist of:

• Four dresses from the Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair (including a C&A multi-coloured multi-peplum'd dress with shoulder pads from the '80s which I swear I will never wear unless I'm going to a 'bad taste' dress-up party) from Glass Onion's £15 for a kilo stall,
• A '60s or '70s polyester colourful printed dress from Jeanne Lanvin (!!!!) which I got for £15 from the Sunday Upmarket on Brick Lane,
• A gorgeous eye-catching '70s shirt dress from Leonard of Paris (usually described a little unfairly as the French Pucci),
• A '70s belted shirt dress which was just the right length for me, and
• A light blue dress with scarf overlay.

And then, yes, I succumbed. I bought a playsuit. It wasn't too bad wearing it, although I'll just say that it does make going to the restroom more troublesome. And finally, a beautiful black shawl, for those days or nights, when I'm wearing something strappy and don't wish to bring a jacket or cardi out with me.

As with every binge or splurge, it's now time to return to far more frugal ways, even if I could argue that vintage shopping helps to save the environment (seeing as I am participating in the recycling of other people's unwanted clothing) and is cheaper than buying from the high street.

One thing's for certain. You can expect to see a write-up on the vintage shops on Brick Lane over the next few weeks or so!

I'm wondering whether I should start up a post, or, heck, even an entire category devoted to all of my eBay treasures. It'll probably have to be a category, given that, I've received in excess of over 30 feedback comments in the past 12 months alone. *coughs*

This is why I shouldn't have been one of those to be retrenched; my spending habit alone would have helped to prop up the fragile UK economy.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share these two vintage/eBay blog finds. First up is Fashion Toast, run by Rumi, who also has her own store on eBay (Treasure Chest Vintage). I absolutely adore love her LA-style. And she's gorgeous! And she loves Léger too! I think I've got a girl-crush on her. Like seriously.

Next is eBay Fashion Addict, a blogger who, believe it or not, shares not just her favourite eBay vintage stores with the rest of the blogosphere, but also the auctions which are closing but currently still have low bids. I'm not sure I would be that generous with my finds if I were planning to bid on them too, but hey, who knows? That, and a true eBayer always opts to snipe. I've lost count of the number of auctions I've lost in the last five seconds. And it's such a thrill when I manage to pull one off myself. Heh.

Anyway, back to my eBay loot page... I'd love to share what I've bought with the rest of the world (or maybe just the three readers I have), but I value my privacy greatly (in a weird "yes, but I still maintain a public blog" sort of way), so if I do share them, it'll have to be the not-so-instantly-recognisable ones, like the long, red BCBG evening gown I acquired not too long ago (as every lady needs an LRD on top of an LBD), as opposed to the multi-coloured Hervé Léger vintage dress or psychedelic op art mod dress I purchased last year. Still, given that I haven't quite had the occasions to wear these gems, even if I do live in London where anything goes, it'll be a shame if no one gets to see them. What do you think?

After my recent post on vintage goodness, I managed to catch the For Those Who Think Young, the first episode of Season 2 of Mad Men, on BBC iPlayer. If you haven't been privy to all the hype about drama, it centres around Sterling Cooper, an advertising agency in New York City, in the 1950s, and displays the changing social landscape in the US in the 1960s. It's been praised for its historical accuracy and visual style and won an Emmy for outstanding drama series.

For my part, I was surprised to see the sheer amount of cigarette smoking that took place, and indoors too! I was particularly thrilled by the vintage dresses the women were wearing, not to mention a TV show of Jackie Kennedy showing off the White House that was broadcast as part of this episode. I also liked Anne Dudek's acting (she plays Francine Hanson, Betty Draper's good friend). I don't watch House that much where she apparently did a great job as Amber two seasons ago, but the short scene in which she appears on this episode of Mad Men is very entertaining to watch.

Damn all these shows on TV on demand. It's just feeding my need for fashion fixes!

If it wasn't obvious by now, I truly love vintage clothing. For some reason, my body shape is made for vintage clothing. Modern sizing doesn't ever get it quite right, while I've often tried on a vintage dress or two, only to marvel at how well the dress fits. And of course, it's recycling at its most useful.

Fortunately - or not - for me, UK vintage isn't half as fun as American and European vintage. Translated, that means the truly amazing brands and pieces tend to be found in the US, continental Europe and, strangely enough, Singapore (as shops there source from all over the US). Of course, you can find a piece or two in some of the exorbitantly priced UK vintage stores, but part of the fun is bargain hunting. Some of the - I hope - more valuable pieces I have are a Frank Usher dress and a Jessica McClintock prom dress, both purchased for less than £10 each. I also have a Louis Feraud jacket and dress set which I got for less than £20, but, which, alas, turned out to be too big for me, even after factoring in the differences in sizing. The most amount of money I've spent is about S$400 on a Gunne Sax black velvet and gold skirt prom dress.

Anyway, back to the relatively less fun vintage scene in the UK. My favourite brands, that is, those which I actively look for and would consider buying and aren't priced out of my budget, are Hervé Léger, Azzedine Alaia, Catherine Ogust, Lilly Pulitzer, Tadashi and The Vested Gentress. Of these six, the first two are French and who made it big in the US and the remaining four are based in the US. As a result, these labels tend to be more easily found in the US, either in a thrift shop, an expensive speciality vintage store or eBay. I know eBay transcends all barriers, but buying anything from outside the EU can be rather tricky, as not only is there the potentially costly question of shipping, there is also the thornier issue of customs duties, which can add on another 20% of the cost of your item.

The other part about vintage collecting and investing - the part that isn't as fun - is the cleaning and storing. This site offers some great advice on what needs to be done. And this is just as important as finding the right brand and fit; without this part, your investment - and I do mean investment in every possible sense of the word - will go to waste.

And, yes, we may be in a recession right now, but other than shopping at Primark, going thrifting (aka shopping at thrift stores) and on eBay are other ways to keep your expenses down.

Happy vintage-ing!

Related Links:

• Vintage Fashion Guild - An international collective founded in 2002 by a group of vintage sellers with a shared passion for vintage clothing.
• Suite 101 - The Best Vintage Clothing Stores in the UK
• IHT Globespotters - Vintage shopping in Berlin
• Elio Ferraro - Florence-based vintage shop with a branch in Selfridges, In addition to being a vintage retailer, Elio is also a designer of couture fashion. One of his dresses can be viewed here.
• Queens of Vintage - QoV calls itself "the first daily vintage glossy" and features vintage tips (from fashion to beauty to interior design), a Make and Mend section for those with far more artistic ability than I possess, and a 100 Vintage Queens feature which, well, pretty much does what it says on the tin. Stores featured in their NYC vintage shopping guide include What Goes Around Comes Around (which is currently having a moving out sale *sob*) and has an outlet in Harvey Nichols. If only this had been published before I went to NY... ah well, I'll just have to make my way there again some day!
• Beacon's Closet - Based in NY. Strictly speaking not a vintage store. More like a clothing exchange store, but with new clothes being brought in all the time, you can count on finding gems there almost every single time you walk in. In the two times I've been there, I found an incredibly gorgeous and comfortable Andy Warhol-inspired hoodie by Paul Frank selling for $12, and a chain-link belt for $6.
• Decades, Inc. - Based in LA, Decades is apparently *the* vintage fashion store for Hollywood starlets. Prices, as you can imagine, are incredibly expensive. Also has a branch at Dover Street Market.
• Vintage shops in Singapore include (in ascending order of priciness) Dustbunny Vintage (my personal favourite as owner Pia doesn't do the hard-sell and she picks out other pieces based on what you like), Déjàvu Vintage and Granny's Day Out. Several other shops are featured in these Straits Times articles: Market Sweep and Vintage Vaults.

Angels, the costumier of the entertainment industry for the past 170 years, is having a big sale of vintage clothing from the '20s all the way to the '90s, as well as fancy dress costumes, on December 6th somewhere in Wembley.

Having acquired the BBC's costume collection, there is apparently now a huge overlap, and they will be selling up to 30,000 pieces on the day. With names such as Yves St. Laurent and Christian Dior, as well as period costumes on sale, surely this must be an exorbitantly priced vintage sale?

Not so. Anyone can fill a medium-sized bag for £10 or a large-sized bag for £20, purchasing as many bags as you can carry, and possibly even more! A separate bag will be available for costume jewellery for £20.

To give credence to a statement I made a few months back, vintage clothing auctioneer Kerry Taylor is quoted as saying, "Proper vintage is a better investment than putting it in a bank. Antique clothes are so undervalued for what they are" in this article in the Daily Telegraph.

The advice for investment purchases as stated in the article:

• Go for the most expensive things you can afford and, where possible, stick to labelled haute couture pieces (i.e. hand-finished and with a client number behind the label)
• Never to cut the fabric. This will reduce its value by a considerable amount.
• Invest in key pieces and check for damages and moth holes.

I am seriously lusting after some vintage Alaia and Léger right now in spite of the credit crunch/quake/tsunami. If only I'd discovered these labels while the GBP/USD was still at 2 (in June!), instead of the 1.49 it is today.

I wish vintage stores here sold US brands instead of the rather frumpy and, quite frankly, bizarre English designs, just so I could try on those dresses and get my fix once and for all, instead of contemplating taking my chances on an exorbitantly priced US online vintage store.

I purchased a Lilly Pulitzer dress on Etsy the other day, thinking it was as what the seller had described it to be: a vintage 1980s dress.

After receiving it, and determining that it just about fit me (vintage sizing is quite different from modern day sizing), I did some checking online and was a tad distressed to find that the dress wasn't actually vintage but was more likely from the label post its 1993 relaunch, although the sizing is still clearly vintage sizing (there's no way I'm a modern US size X as stated on that label).

One might think, well, she's going to wear it anyway, so what does it matter?

Well, I did kind of mean it the other day when I said I was building up my alternative investments portfolio. But if I keep it for another few years, it might actually be considered properly vintage (i.e. more than 20 years old). And assuming I don't gain any weight, I might get some value out of wearing it too. Hee!

In between studying alternative investments, I ended up building up my own alternative investment portfolio. I can't wait till my vintage purchases arrive.

What? They're an investment... which I just happen to be able to wear and show off while I wait for them to appreciate, if not in value, then at least in the eyes of the beholders.

Today was an unexpectedly mild day, so I decided to enjoy the respite from the cold and explore East London before going off for a work out. And instead of exercising my body, I ended up exercising my wallet.

First stop was One Deko, a shop filled with amazing furniture and household things which I would have loved to have purchased if I owned a property. Fortunately for me, I don't, so I didn't buy anything. Then I popped into Sniff, an independent shoe shop which happened to be playing songs by The Pipettes which resulted in my staying longer than intended. I ended up walking out with a beautiful pair of maroon/pink two-toned shoes (see left), which is great, because I generally don't wear colours to work, having left most of my whimsical wardrobe behind, and I felt I was starting to look rather dull.

Next up was Blondie, the more expensive sister shop of Absolute Vintage. I ended up spending quite a bit in there, but I was happy, as I finally found a vintage dress I had been looking for. It was quite a little longer than what I usually wear (as I'm not that tall and I feel long dresses make me look shorter) but the helpful sales staff figured out how to shorten the dress without my having to get it altered so I can play around with the length as and when I feel like. She also helped me find a pair of white high heels (Charles Jourdan, no less... I haven't heard that brand name since I was a kid!) and a belt to go with the dress, and while it looked absolutely perfect on me on its own, the two just give it that extra "oomph!"

I contemplated heading to Absolute Vintage right after that, but decided to give my wallet a rest and walked into the Old Truman Brewery to see what was going on. I didn't add to my armada in Illustrated People (quirky T-shirts) as I have more than enough quirky T-shirts than I really need (although, here, I must confess to coveting the 'Suck It Trebek' t-shirt on Threadpit, but, alas, I am not in a country where the majority will get the reference). My stalwart resistance continued at Junky (renowned for recycling old clothing into avant-garde designs); while I loved what they had done with the end results, I simply could not afford them, with most articles of clothing starting at GBP140. I really adored the dungaree dress they made out of an old tweed jacket and an old leather jacket, but, alas, could not justify spending over S$500 on one single piece of clothing, no matter how beautiful it was. I may have relocated and am earning more now, but still, old habits die hard. My resolve, however, wavered once confronted with the 50%-off winter sale at Public Beware (Japanese designer ladies' clothing). I tried on five pieces of clothing; I walked out with an asymmetrical zip-up top.

More than a little surprised and ashamed at what had happened to my resolve to work out, I made a tactical decision to go home and drop off my loot before going off to the gym. But seeing as I was so near Absolute Vintage, it would have been a shame and rather inefficient for me to not go in there seeing as I was already in the area, so I went in for a quick look. After all, the Evening Standard did call it one of the top 100 stores one absolutely had to visit before one dies. And the clothing there was incredibly cheap, ranging from GBP 15 to GBP 30. And there were racks of racks of dresses, all sorted by colour. There was also an abundance of shoes.

What differentiates Absolute Vintage from Blondie is that the former is more affordable. However, the lower prices also mean lower quality. And as Blondie is smaller, both in terms of shop size and quantity of clothing, the staff there can and often do help you come up with a whole outfit, all the time with big smiles on their faces. So if you have the money, I would advise you to go to Blondie for a more pleasant shopping experience. Absolute Vintage isn't bad at all, just that while I love vintage shopping, I do get tired of pushing through racks and racks of clothing after a while. That being said, I am planning a return trip to Beyond Retro's Cheshire St store some time soon... and that's at least twice the size of Absolute Vintage!

I finally made it back to my flat at a quarter past five and valiantly made the trip to the gym... only to discover I was starving and definitely wasn't in any shape for a work-out. Oh well, there's always tomorrow! Besides, shopping counts as exercise, doesn't it? All that bag-carrying and walking must burn a fair amount of calories, after all.

As per my usual birthday month tradition, I went out and splurged on little luxuries for myself. This year, in line with my recent dress-buying craze, I bought two vintage dresses from Dustbunny Vintage after making my way down to the shop's hard-to-find showroom at Chay Yan St. Note that as the dresses are not on display on their website, you will have to subscribe to their mailing list.

1) A black dress which fits me very well and looks incredible with the slim red belt Pia (the founder/owner of Dustbunny Vintage) suggested. Very Audrey Hepburn-esque.

2) An amazing white dress with black lace and bows designed by Bill Blass. It's one size too large for me but fortunately, there's a strappy option if I'm not able to find a tailor skilful enough to take in the top of the dress. As luck with have it, I still look amazingly sweet and elegant in it in spite of the size difference.
I realise I have two extremes when it comes to clothing. I either love vivid colours such as deep red or intense deep blue, or I like simple, classic combinations such as white and black. However, it's very rare to get me wearing something with polka dots or odd prints. Stripes are usually the furthest I go when it comes to prints.

There aren't that many good vintage shops in Singapore, as far as I know. If you're interested in vintage, you can talk to Pia, or you can check out these other stores (which I haven't tried yet): Granny's Day Out and Gee Wee Goes To New York.