By Ben Chamberlain (above, centre).
When it comes to shopping for vintage, it’s hard to beat the in-person experience. The place, the smell, the hunt, that surprise item that grabs your attention – all this builds into the charm and enigma of vintage.
For most people, their favourite vintage shop is the one they know. A good vintage shop builds a community, which then ties into a larger group of enthusiasts. You only have to go to Mr Vintage Fayre or Classic Car-boot Sale, Inspiration or Rose Bowl to get a sense that it’s all connected.
But on that slog of a commute, or a night where sleep just doesn’t seem to come, the glowing device in your hand can also present good options. The problem is the number of places, across eBay, websites and Instagram, all varying wildly in both type and price.
Here’s a list of my favourites, broken down into regions and by platform. Each has a quick summary of the types of clothes on offer, and the price. The latter two are inevitably connected – you might be after a rare collectible or just something good value – but this breakdown hopefully helps you sort through it all.
Note to reader: This list is personal and not meant to be comprehensive. Please do add your own favourites in the comments, and let other readers know too.
United Kingdom
Worne London
Stock: Preppy streetwear twist on heritage vintage style, worn denim, sweats and layering
Price: £ to ££
A personal favourite. Ted, the owner, has always done a great job of mixing true vintage, ‘vintage reproductions’ and streetwear. Well priced, with a good mixture of items ranging from 40s military and workwear to 90s sportswear and streetwear. Check Instagram and the web-store for new items, though this is not frequently updated.
Hang Up Vintage
Stock: Older vintage and a fair selection of bigger sizes generally
Price: ££ to £££
A shop very dear to my heart, as is the owner Ben. Now based in Burnham-on-Crouch, his web-shop is updated regularly and always keeps prices fair for the item and age. Specialising in ‘true vintage’ (so older) his core stock will be between 1930-1970 with a lean towards classic Americana. If the stock interests you, I highly recommend heading down to the shop. There will always be something you can’t walk away from.
Butterworths
Stock: A mix of European and basic Americana vintage
Price: £ to ££
I haven’t had the pleasure of visiting Butterworths in Totnes, but have always admired the selection of items. There is a thoughtfulness to the socials and website presentation that makes it easy to shop, and brings out the uniqueness of each garment. Keep an eye on their Instagram, as some of the rarer and more specialised items get debuted there and tend to sell quickly.
Old Things Make Friends
Stock: Japanese quality vintage, classic Americana
Price: ££ to £££
Moving from Hong Kong in 2023, Larry and Dorothy brought with them 20 years of collecting vintage with a focus on classic Americana, and have set up the closest thing to a Tokyo vintage store in London. Besides the recognisable and highly collectible pieces (think Levi’s), they showcase lesser-known labels too, bringing undiscovered brands and their details to a wider audience. Prices vary, but are fair for the items they carry, which to have in one place online is becoming a rarity.
Dog & Bone
Stock: 80s/90s denim, Made in Italy off-brand designer clothing and 80s sportswear
Price: £
A new store I only stumbled across researching this article. Nic has built a good website that only opened last year, it’s easy to navigate with a good mix of items, which might not blow you away but you’ll find something you like at a very fair price. There are some really good sportswear pieces, perfect for summer layering, and plenty of other bits to interest with American made denim and western wear, 70s leathers and varied tees.
Blighty Militaria
Stock: European Vintage and military
Price: ££ to £££
Blighty, as you might expect from the name, specialises in British wartime military and civilian clothing. Jamie has a great eye for the more off-beat and interesting items the British military produced, with a more homegrown approach to manufacturing and design, over-engineering everything. The website is a must for details and design, and always the possibility of finding something you have never seen before; browse the website with an open mind, something will jump out at you.
Omega Militaria
Stock: Olive drab fatigues and camo
Price: £ to ££
For all things military, and especially olive drab, Omega is a great place to go. If you’re looking for a jungle jacket and HBT (herringbone twill), this would be the place, with one of the best online selections I’ve seen. The prices are a fair for the items, and if you are thinking of buying a repro piece, come here first. Not a lot of rare big-ticket items. The selection of camo is if good, and especially tiger-stripe if you are a small size.
Giurz Bazaar
Stock: Accessible vintage at a good price
Price: £
Giurz Bazaar is a small operation that has some big pieces pass through. The website is full of scuffed preppy items, with a nice selection of vintage sweatshirts, classic old Ralph and a mix of military and relaxed tailoring. There is also a nice selection of small items which are fun and unique, like the selection of vintage pin badges, rugs and ashtrays.
Dog London
Stock: Vintage print tees
Price: ££
Dog London essentially does one thing, T-shirts, but it does it well. There are nice niche prints to choose from – who wouldn’t want a Butthole Surfers T-shirt to finish off that 90s airport-style fit… Mainly music related, there are a lot of tees here you can spend time trawling through.
Jerks
Stock: Vintage tees and oddities
Price: ££ to £££
Curated by Matt Sloane, Jerks specialises in vintage tees. The offering is varied, a balance of niche and kitsch music and movies, with some fun prints as well as iconic ones, where the sub and counter-culture vibe of the time is embodied in a t-shirt. The ‘objects’ section is weird and wonderful, full of things you don’t need but instantly want, or maybe do need after enough thought – like the Prozac Post-it Notes or the Branded American Pie Lube-Glue Set.
French Workwear
Stock: Artisanal, bohemian style, good fades and fair prices
Price : £
Is and does exactly what the name suggests. Bare-bones, no frills, but a one-stop-shop for good vintage French workwear. If you are after a chore jacket, I would suggest looking here before anywhere else. The basic blue French chore is plentiful and well priced, alongside some fantastic rarer moleskin examples, all with excellent wear and fading.
Savvy Row
Stock: Classic British Tailoring with a lean into a country Gent aesthetic.
Price: Fair to Mid
Savvy Row is a comprehensive website when looking for all things suiting; meticulously categorised and listed making them a great resource when hunting for a second hand whistle. Focusing on classic British tailoring, you can shop filtering by decade, style and size from Savile Row to Dunn & Co. The devils in the detail the offering and can all come down to the subtleties of cut, cloth and style, which, can be a little dated.
The Vintage Showroom
Stock: One-off collectibles and uniquely worn items
Price: £££
The Vintage Showroom is what many aspire to be: a complete, comprehensive and considered resource for designers, vintage enthusiasts and collectors. Although the offering online is quite sparse, it deserves a mention for being one of the best at curating not just vintage but incredibly unique pieces that inspire. They are now offering specific items from the archive for sale for the first time, so worth keeping an eye on if you have deep pockets and a taste for absolute top-tier collectibles.
Sagebrush Rodeo
Stock: Fun small items and household goods
Price: £
Though not strictly a vintage shop, the Sagebrush Rodeo vintage section is worth a look. Full of one-off small items, the collection has a perfectly narrow western aesthetic: you know what you’re gonna get, and you’re not disappointed. If you have the westernwear boxes ticked: boots, double denim, stetson etc, but still have an itch that isn’t scratched, maybe these little lifestyle items will hit the spot. The selection of Americana-tchotchkes is unique, fun and hard not to just buy one for the coffee table.
Europe
Ckx Studio
Stock: Knick-knacks, homewares and jewellery
Price: £ to £££
Ckx Studio in Amsterdam is a gem: the selection of homewares and jewellery is quite special and very tasteful. Leaning towards all things indigo and Americana, the selection of faded denim is very good, though sizes can run on the small side. In between the accessories and denim there are some really quite special items, which do come at a premium, but not unfairly so.
Website updates are limited to around four drops a year, but there are regular story sales on instagram, so that’s a good place to follow and keep up to date with.
Broadway & Sons
Stock: Simple faded denim, 90’s Americana aesthetic and workwear
Price: ££
Founded in 1982 by David Asseraf but now helmed by his sons Nathaniel and Noam, Broadway & Sons has made a name for itself not only for selling classic vintage, but also becoming a modern ‘taste maker’ on the vintage scene. The online store is full of accessible and wearable items, with the odd showstopper. If you are after some nicely worn jeans from the 80s and 90s, this is certainly worth a look, and the rest of the items for sale tend to have a nice lived-in patina. Pricing is fair for the more accessible vintage, but rarer items run a premium.
Tijd Capsule
Stock: Good staples
Price: £
Tijd Capsule, started by Niels Schuit in 2023, offers a wide range of vintage clothing, ranging from selvedge denim and workwear to more modern items, with a few repro pieces thrown in as well. Niels tends to offer more specialised pieces through the bricks and mortar business before listing online, so always worth checking Instagram for items of special interest.
Second Sunrise
Stock: A tightly curated selection
Price: £ to ££
Thought not strictly a vintage shop, the vintage selection here curated by Doug has some interesting offerings of a good pedigree. There isn’t a lot to choose from, but what there is, is always worth a look.
The Pure Garb
Stock: Worn European workwear, vintage designer high-fashion
Price: ££ to £££
Ukrainian-based The Pure Garb is a mix of everything: vintage, designer, streetwear and sportswear. It’s not about a time period or date, it’s just about the items themselves. The style is bohemian and fashion forward, and I’m here for it. Prices are a little on the premium end, but there are some great pieces all in one place, which you can tell has taken time to source.
United States and Canada
Little Chum Vintage
Stock: Older vintage at a good price. A small but quality selection of tees, denim and military.
Price: £
Bryce has been selling vintage clothing online as Little Chum since 2021, with a focus on the military, particularly rare and obscure contracts, rounded out with other solid American pieces. Very reasonable price point, with weekly drops every Friday.
Bastler
Stock: Very select vintage, mostly for designers
Price: £££
Pared back, with no info, Bastler’s website is nicely put together and meticulously edited. The selection is well-worn items, utterly unique in their wear and patina. Holed, moth eaten, paint spattered and repaired and repaired again, the items aspire to the role of art and not simply old clothing.
Taxed on Rags
Stock: Authentic dirtbag Americana, often collectible
Price: ££
A real dyed-in-the-wool American vintage shop. Dylan learned the business working with his Dad at flea markets buying and selling knick-knacks and curios, before focusing on premium vintage. So there’s exactly what you’d want from an American seller: beaten-up tees, heavily faded denim and sun-bleached sweatshirts. A look on their Instagram reveals rarer pieces that will keep collectors excited for the next drop. (Note: the website is on a bit of a hiatus currently, with new monthly drops apparently coming back soon)
Wooden sleepers
Stock: American vintage, both older and newer
Price: ££
Brian of Wooden Sleepers (pictured above) is probably familiar to most readers (though if he isn’t check Simon’s interview here). His approach to vintage changed the market, unapologetically mixing true vintage with second hand Ralph and 90s LL Bean, making vintage a little easier to access, less elitist and creating a heritage style as eclectic as it is easy to wear.
Front General
Stock: Vintage designer, an easy soft style
Price: £££
Front General is one of the most developed and comprehensive vintage stores online. The collection mixes older vintage with contemporary designers like Issey Miyake and Ralph Lauren. This feels and shops like a modern business, being able to search brands and shop a collection as you would a modern retailer. Though there isn’t a huge amount of ‘true’ vintage, what has been curated is well put together and unafraid of bold colours.
Vintage Productions
Stock: That niche military item you never knew you wanted
Price: ££ to £££
This website is not for the faint-hearted. But if you’re into military collectibles, it is a trove of info and items – once you remember how to navigate early 2000 html. Going way past a vintage shop, this is an archive for all things military, from issued invasion booklets to original woven squadron patches.
Denim Doctors
Stock: Top-end denim and leather
Price: £££
Owned by Zip Stevenson, Denim Doctors is the culmination of 30 years of vintage collecting and selling. Known for his knowledge of all things denim, and most recently co-purchasing the infamous pair of 1880s Levis for $76,000, Zip is an international force on the vintage scene. Online is saturated with top-end items, with prices at a premium, but there aren’t many places that would have this collection all in one place.
Saunders Militaria
Stock: Archival American, British and Canadian militaria and outdoor clothing
Price: £££
Alexander Saunders, self-admittedly started Saunders Militaria to fund and disguise an “overwhelming addiction to vintage Antarctic parkas”. Collecting since childhood, when he found a 1st pattern USN deck jacket with a hand-painted naval motif, his fascination with surplus culminated in this well-photographed and presented site, with reference images where possible; it really does feel like a museum and a passion project in the best possible way.
The Majors Tailor
Stock: High-end military items
Price: £ to £££
Richard’s first foray into vintage started with collecting band tees in the early 2000s, sourcing items on eBay for a few bucks here and there. But it was the N-1 deck jacket (like many) that piqued his interest in militaria: “I just thought the stencils and fades were mind blowing”. Specialising in British and American military items, Majors Tailor has a good selection of top-end pieces, most often in a really good condition. The collection revolves around the world of ‘The Major’, using this character as an inspiration for the buying and presentation.
Low timers
Stock: Sun-kissed vintage, fades and a 70s Americana aesthetic
Price: £
Based in New Orleans, Low Timers has a collection of beautifully lived-in, sun-faded items that just ooze a classic, laid-back Americana style. Started in 2017, Ham & Kelsey have a home-grown approach, repairing, screen printing and drawing on the up-cycled part of the offering. The unabashed use of colour is refreshing and the curation led by football jerseys, sportswear and vintage graphic tees is fun and playful.
Worn Over Time
Stock: Vintage jewellery
Price: ££ to £££
Mark and Lorraine have one of the best collections of vintage jewellery there is, and for anyone who’s been lucky enough to visited them at the Rose Bowl, you feel like Scrooge McDuck diving into the piles of rings and silver on offer – it’s an experience. The website clearly pulls out and individualises the unique pieces, allowing you to really see the items for sale in detail. A good mix of native American and vintage silver.
eBay and Etsy
Blackbone Vintage – Taiwan
Stock: Older military and sports wear
Price: £ to ££, depending on the bidder
Blackbone has a website, but there’s not a lot on there; it’s the intermittent eBay drops I know them for. A good general mix of vintage, with some amazing true vintage, there will always be denim, military and leather in the mix as well as a selection of things like hiking smocks and sportswear. It’s a bit of a mixed bag in each drop: often good, sometimes mid, occasionally exceptional. All in the bid, with a zero starting price, so get the bidding fingers ready to push through that last-second snipe.
The Goose Finds
Stock: A quality mix of vintage and designer
Price: £ to £££, depending on the item
A brother duo who started selling in 2021, Alex and Oli have a shop in Hastings and opened the London, Hackney outpost in February last year. The collection is a real mix of items from European workwear to Italian designers and Y2K streetwear fodder. In the Hackney shop, nothing is out of place or incongruous; the eBay shop doesn’t quite showcase this, but a quick scroll through their Instagram shows their keen eye. With the two shops and a large catalogue, if you don’t see it, it’s always worth asking.
True Grit
Stock: Bargains
Price: £
Finn of True Grit started trading and selling personal items, learning at an early age that with patience you can acquire luxury at a fraction of the price. His collection is a good mix of true vintage and sportswear through to modern streetwear, with a knack for sourcing unique and one-off pieces. You won’t always find heavy hitters, but what you will find is very fairly priced, good quality items.
Holdwest
Stock: Well-priced denim and the occasion steal
Price: £
Holdwest is a great go-to for accessible and varied vintage, particularly denim. Founded in 2013 by Russell Bates, there is a good volume of chore jackets, hunting jackets and plaid shirts, alongside more recent, good-value denim. It’s worth having a real root through the collection.
10 Gallon / Anoushka Vintage
Stock: A mix, nicely worn American-made denim and tees
Price: £
A good eBay seller to keep an eye on, Sam currently has a very good selection of graphic tees – mostly band tees, though there are some other fun graphics as well. There are some rare examples on offer, but going for the price you’d expect an original, mint Nirvana Smiley Face Tee to sell for. Drops come quite regularly and tend to mix denim, leather jackets and a smattering of things like Burberry, so worth adding to your saved sellers.
Briar vintage
Stock: Vintage suiting and sportswear
Price: £ to ££
Philadelphia’s largest vintage store and a personal favourite of mine. David Lochner has a fantastic eye and a collection to match. I have followed Briar for a long time and always find something I haven’t seen before design-wise, or some one-off modified military item.
With a heavy lean into the golden age of Americana and specifically suiting, the Etsy shop offers an array of vintage workwear, sportswear and militaria interspersed with an occasional grail item, but the Instagram is a veritable mine of vintage collectibles and rarities.
Raertown
Stock: Dead-stock from the 60s-80s
Price: £
Raertown is essentially a vintage dry goods store operating online. It’s not often you get vintage, starched and tagged like this for the prices. It’s most evident with the footwear, of which there is a lot and of a decent standard: if you are looking for some dead-stock cowboy boots, this would be the place to look. Also if you like your denim crisp, start here for some good off-brand 60s and 70s denim (not all of which are flared!) and small goods like silk ties and baseball caps are also abundant.
Abuttonflykindofguy
Stock: Classics American style, Made-in-American goods and good mix
Price: Fair
Apart from having one of my favourite seller names, A Button Fly Kind of Guy also has an excellent selection vintage at all times. There is always a lot of Americana, Ivy League, Western and workwear, and American brands like LL Bean, Brooks Brothers and smattering of old Ralph. There is also a good selection of footwear, which can be a risk, but it’s possible to find a bargain with some collectible sneakers and the occasional shell cordovan for a song.
Instagram only
Rag Parade / Jojo’s General Store
Stock: An exceptional collection of true vintage and classic streetwear
Price: £££
As inimitable as the owner, Rag Parade is an incredible shop. From turn of the century workwear to turn of the millennium terrace wear, it has all passed through Jojo’s hands at one time or another (pictured above). The eclectic mix of vintage and designer will always surprise you, and on the Instagram you will always find something you have never seen before and obsess about. Contact via Instagram, but be quick on the draw as items sell fast.
Weekdays
Stock: Outdoor wear and sportswear
Price: £
Based in Porthcawl, Wales, Weekdayz is a vintage dealer’s vintage dealer. With no website, you have to follow closely on Instagram for a selection of wax jackets and especially Ventile, plus lots of British items from the likes of Grenfell, Blacks of Greenock and Bob Church. If you like vintage down jackets, football shirts and Adidas, with some good Americana thrown in, this is the place to be. If you see something you like, send a DM and ask the price.
Coolbreezetradingco
Stock: The best of the best, enjoying the archive even if you don’t buy
Price: £ to £££
A real favourite of mine, the CBTco Instagram is one hit after another. Cody has been buying and selling vintage since 2012 and the vintage military, sport and workwear items are rare, exceptional and interesting. Preferring the personal approach when it comes to selling, he just uses Instagram and if you see something you like, move swiftly and be happy to pay a firm price for the items on show – you likely won’t see another.
