Clerkenwell Vintage Fair

illustration by Bex Shaw

Busy, Busy Vintage weekend I had indeed... From Spitalfields to Bricklane to the Painted Lady then over to Clerkenwell Vintage Fashion Fair. It was such a horrid rainy and cold day as well, but a very productive one all the same. 

I had never been to Clerkenwell before and by the look of the que waiting to get in I could sense this was a well regarded and popular fair.

Set in the attractive, The Urdang, The old Finsbury Town Hall on Rosebery Avenue opposite Sadler' Wells Theatre. As you can see below it has a beautiful art nouveau facade and the grand hall is just as spectacular.  

Full of fantastic Vintage stalls treats the fair is deceptivly big with room upon room of more stall to discover. The Vintage tearoom was a cute affair although only did a small selction of drinks and cakes, but enough to refresh on. 

On such a grim and dark day it was lovely to walk into such a warm a lively atmosphere. Again everyone was so friendly here and I managed to snap a few stall holders and shoppers... see below

The Era Enthusiasts

For these Era Enthusiasts it is not a hobby it is a way of life, they take on the whole lifestyle. From attending popular  ‘swing and blitz party nights’ to the ‘Chap Olympics’. The look has to be authentic and to achieve that they will aim to wear original vintage pieces from their era of choice and will do their hair and make-up to match. They tend to work within an area relating to their passion i.e.  vintage boutique or writer for a retro magazine. 20’s, 40’s and 50’s are the reported favourable eras. 

Mother & Daughter 

Daughter’s will follow there mum’s lead and imitate their style in years to come. From a younger age girls  have more fashion independence and are often raiding their mothers and grandmas wardrobe for classic pieces.

Young girls are growing up with a knowledge and understanding of  vintage clothing and seeing vintage sections in places like Topshop and Urban Outiffters, with celebs often quoting in magazines that pieces are true originals it is now introducing vintage to this new audience.

With Vintage widely and socially acceptable today this new young generation will be the future of vintage shoppers to come.  

Vintage duo's 

Mutual shopping partnerships - with similar interests but enough difference in taste to give a fairly honesty opinion. They like to advise each other on what they think would look good on the other. 


The young vintage professionals

From stylists to fashion designers these young 20 something professionals will aim to seek out all the finest quality vintage garments to mix with designer and hightstreet pieces. They enjoy shopping in vintage boutiques, markets and online. They don't mind shopping alone as they know what they like and what suits them, they can find the best pieces independently. 

 My personal Vintage find...

At the fair I was tempted by many things but this gorgeous worn-in 70's bag had caught my eye. Managing to get it for quite a bargin price I was happy to now have a bag that was similar to my old yet faithful, got stuck in the tube barrier and clasp broken off tan leather bag.

Would love to know if you went to any vintage fairs recently, what did you purchase?