Monday 10 June 2013

The Southampton Vintage Fair

I attended The Southampton Vintage Fair just over a week ago and it happened to be another glorious day!  For those in the UK, you are probably familiar with The Vintage Fair company, who run events all across the country.  I have been to a few of the Southampton fairs and they have been pretty good - usually about 50 traders and there is usually a stall selling cakes and  drinks and music acts.  I managed to spend nearly 2 hours looking around The Guildhall with my friend Sarah.  Although there tends to be a lot of 1980s-90s traders, it is worth attending for the dozen or so pre-1960s traders.



There was also a vintage ice cream van outside - how cute!

This is the stall for "Hand Picked Vintage" - I have seen them at previous fairs and they do have some great shoes (there is a pair of mint condition 1930s peep toes which I had tried on previously but unfortunately they are just a tad too long for my feet!)  I bought a pair of blue 1950s pumps this time.

Another trader with an awesome selection of 1940s-50s hats! 


When we left The Guildhall, there was a wedding taking place at the Civic Centre Library and the wedding car was this crazy hot rod!  We took some photos outside the Civic Centre but we did not stay long enough to see if the Bride and Groom were in vintage attire.




This is one of my favourite summer dresses.  It is just so easy to wear and as it is quite full, I can wear my vintage petticoat underneath.  I am not keen on crinolines but I have a petticoat which has three layers of tulle and gives added fullness without being too over the top!

Yesterday, I attended The Oxford Vintage Fair.  I had never been to this particular location and had heard good things so was keen to attend and have the fair coincide with a day out in the beautiful city.  However, I was very disappointed with this fair!  Not only was there really poor organisation (there was no queueing system in place, which meant that those who got there early did not go in first; they also opened up late) but the quality of the traders was really poor - mostly 1980s-90s with very few traders selling quality pre-1960s items. 

When I spoke to one of the traders that I have seen at most of the fairs that I attend, she said that a lot of the good traders have stopped coming to these sorts of fairs as there isn't the clientele who want to buy pre-1960s vintage, so instead the fairs are now catering for those wanting to buy later items.  This is fine if this is what you are after but it is not good news for me as I enjoy attending these fairs to get hold of 1930s-1950s items which are more difficult to buy online (shoes, hat, etc.)  There are a couple more Vintage Fairs to attend this month before things go quiet fair-wise during July and August so I am hoping that the next two events that I plan to attend (The Bows and Braces Fair in Lymington and Southbourne's Shake and Stir Vintage Festival) are worthwhile.

Dress: Vintage (Etsy)
Headpiece: Vintage (Etsy)
Necklace: Vintage (Etsy)
Gloves: Vintage (Fab Vintage, Winchester)
Shoes: Rocket Originals
Bag: Vintage (Etsy)


7 comments:

  1. What a pretty, cheerful ensemble! Love that your gloves match your necklace:) Sucks yesterday's fair was meh, at least the first one looks like bunches of fun!

    xo Sara

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  2. Hi Shauna! What a lovely blog, so glad you finally decided to start blogging :) You look absolutely gorgeous as always!

    Ruby xx

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  3. It's a giant pipedream, I know, but I keep hoping to no end that the Vintage Fair folks will want to expand across the Commonwealth and that they'll come set up shop (or should I say, fair) here in Canada, too. In most parts of the country (mine very much included) we have absolutely nothing like this, and as a result I've yet to ever have the chance to attend a vintage fair. Hopefully one day I will - even if it means (and I don't see this as a bad thing at all!) that I need to hop across the pond to do. :)

    You look so lovely here, dear gal - that serene, elegant colour palette looks smashing with your dark locks.

    ♥ Jessica

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    1. Aw no that is such a shame that there aren't any vintage fairs where you live! To be fair, where I live in Southampton - these events do not happen that often and I end up looking forward to them for months in advance! I think if I lived in London, I would probably be able to go to a fair every weekend!

      If you do decide to make the trip across the pond, you should have it coincide with one of the big vintage festivals (Goodwood, Twinwood) - I am sure you would love the Goodwood Revival!

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  4. How adorable are you!? I love that color! Sorry your were disappointed, however I see there were some nice hats!

    xoxo
    -Janey

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  5. You are sooooooooooooooo adorable!!! Love this post! I miss the UK so bad. I cannot wait to finish up my house so I can start saving up to go for a visit. hehee xox

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  6. these pictures are so great! and your dress is absolutely gorgeous.

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