What to wear for Hot Ginger?

A few of you are asking us where on earth you can get a cheap vintage look for Hot Ginger. Fear not, we’ve done tons of research and we think we know the best places.

Becky’s Swing Birmingham Facebook group debated this recently, specifically with regard to Hot Ginger, and lots of shops and online retro stores came up. So here’s our pick of the best.

Bear in mind, they’re all pretty much West Midlands-based, but we’ve added a few London links at the bottom.

Shops and stalls

In Birmingham there’s the brilliant Top Banana in Kings Heath, plus two lovely stalls in the Rag Market : Paul’s Retro Clothing and Passage Vintage Clothing (find them on this page under Stalls & Traders)

Our good friend Geffrey Waldron co-runs a monthly vintage fair on the first Saturday of every month at The Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath, Birmingham.

There’s a nice little boutique hidden away in Birmingham city centre called 1st Intuition. It’s at 8 Fletchers Walk, Paradise Circus, B3 3HJ (pretty much underneath the Conservatoire). Andy got his tweed sports jacket there for a tenner!

The 40s Room in Cannock looks very nice indeed.

Kim recommends the retro shop in Walsall town centre, Second To None

Julia says that Jan has a vintage stall inside Wolverhampton indoor market, with some very nice 1940′s ladies shoes at the moment around £25-£30, also hats & lots of other interesting stuff…

Stephen says: It’s also good to try Militaria Fairs as they always have vintage clothes stands too. There are two at Malvern and Stoneleigh.

Katie Dexeter runs Halesowen’s one and only vintage clothing shop, specialising in 40s & 50s womens clothing. She also makes clothing to measure based on vintage patterns and sells online at myvintagedresser and has a Facebook page too.

Lorna has just bought a genuine 1940s summer dress from the lovely Second Hand Rose vintage shop in Worcester. Well worth a visit for beautiful vintage clobber.

Online stores

Old Town is a charming workshop that produces made to order garments. Their range is constantly evolving. Check out the individual items for photos.

They have a fantastic shop in Winchester, but you can also buy Charming Magpies vintage clothes on their ebaystore.

For vintage gear designed for dancing, Becky recommends Heyday! Vintage Style

Jerry has been buying some nice stuff from Vintage Trends

Sue recommends Vivian of Holloway for women’s vintage

Becky was recommended Pin-Up Parade by someone she met at Hepcats’ Holiday.

Stephen recommends Rocket Originals and Lucky Diva.

They may have The 40s Room shop in Cannock, but you can also buy online at CC41 Home Front Displays

This one’s a bit unusual. Apart from a wide range of skin care and beauty products, Apothecary IIalso does a nice line in vintage accessories, clothes and dance shoes.

For the more saucy non-dance stuff, Stephen’s been looking at What Katie Did – Faux Vintage Lingerie and Hosiery (the dirty bugger)

Charity Shops

Andy says… You can rarely get anything ‘vintage’ at charity shops, but that relies on a very strict definition of ‘vintage’ (a snobbery on the retro scene we call ‘stitch counting’).

I am not a perfectionist so I don’t mind wearing something that looks a bit retro even if it’s actually modern (a lot of 80s clothes were based on 1940s stylings, for instance). I’ve bought some nice things from Oxfam in Moseley (great double breasted suit), and the charity shops in Shirley were particularly good when I was looking for items for Hepcats’ Holiday.

Also, Lorna has about three wardrobes-worth of 1940s style dresses, blouses, shoes and headgear she’s bought at Birmingham charity shops this year alone. It’s possible that she hasn’t left anything for anyone else to buy…

London

First port of call for any man looking for vintage style in London is Old Hat in Fulham.

Here’s a superb Time Out guide to London’s Top 20 Thrift Stores. It looks pretty comprehensive and we like the fact that it includes charity shops. There are also many more recommendations in the Comments section.