Ahead of the Vogue Vintage Sale on 29 March, co-hosted by Jorja Smith and Iris Law and presented by eBay, Vogue is celebrating all things pre-loved. Not all vintage treasures are rare designer pieces loaded with fashion lore: from a perfectly worn leather jacket uncovered in a thrift store to a slogan tee sourced online, pre-loved items can (and should) be a key player in every modern wardrobe.
The world of vintage clothing has been plagued by all manner of misconceptions over the years. While fashion girls have been scouring King’s Road thrift stores since the 1960s – “I soon noticed that the coolest kids on the street had more or less ditched the mod aesthetic and were turned out in flowing attire recalling a more romantic age,” the model Penelope Tree has recalled of witnessing the original vintage boom in Swinging London – for the average shopper, it was all too easy to be put off by questions around wearability, cleanliness, accessibility and style.
Fast forward to 2025, and the general perception of second-hand clothing has come on in leaps and bounds – so much so that a new and understandably climate conscious generation is making it their first port of call. But in other areas, there is still a long way to go. Sizing, in particular, has long been a sticky issue within the second-hand market.
As someone who has been shopping second-hand since I was 15, and who makes a point of visiting vintage stores or charity shops whenever I’m in a new city or country, I’ve always been struck by how petite many of the pieces are – especially those from before the 1980s. Anecdotally, I know friends who try to shop vintage as a UK size 14 or above have found the process frustrating. Fit-and-flare 1950s dresses with waspish waistlines and doll-sized shoes are a common sight in second-hand markets and shops, and I confess that I have never fully understood whether this was an consequence of changing body shapes, or a sourcing issue. Also, as a UK size 10, I recognise that the scale of the problem has never really been apparent to me.
It was the vintage seller Katty Patterson – also known as @findsbyfoxes – who educated me on the world of size-inclusive second-hand fashion, after I stumbled across her account during the pandemic. After having kids, Patterson found that she felt alienated from the vintage clothing market – a space she had shopped and worked in for much of her adult life. Then, a chance encounter with a sheep-embroidered jumper inspired her to set up a new business that catered to a neglected community of second-hand fashion fans.
