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)