Fashion: In the swing (and in the swim)

For some, it’s a lifestyle; for others, a way of adding a timeless twist to their look. Vintage clothing is the preferred choice for many style-conscious dressers, and not just to save money and the planet.

Uncovering pieces from the 1920s, through now to the 1980s, allows those who care about what they wear to stand out from the rest by putting together their own, truly unique ensembles. For the same price or less than a High Street dress, you can go to a vintage fair and find a genuine 1950s one, handmade from a sewing pattern of the day. Or you might discover a chic designer label, a couture piece made in Paris, maybe even a High Street dress from the Seventies, still in great shape and looking current, thanks to fashion’s obsession with revisiting itself.

But, as many vintage fashion lovers find, size can be an issue. We are taller and larger now than our grandparents and great-grandparents, and many of those lovely 1950s dresses measure up as a size 8, or a 6, or smaller, in today’s UK sizes.

Step forward The House of Foxy, an Elland-based fashion brand that takes the styles of yesteryear and updates them for the modern woman. Although they look like originals, and have the quality and finishing detail that sets vintage designs above and beyond most High Street offerings, these are new designs that capture the glamour of clothes from the 1920s through to the 1960s.

“I’m getting better at understanding how women shop and what they feel is missing in the High Street,” says Clare Quartermaine, The House of Foxy’s founder and chief designer.

“It’s giving a femininity. Obviously, we wouldn’t be able to have the freedoms then that we have now. It also gives ladies a way of standing out, because dressing well every day is not something that we think about any more.”