I never knew Westhoughton held such talent! What do I know!? Let me tell you all about Victoria who organised this fabulous event, held at The Mercury Hotel.
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| Wayne, Victoria and Kathleen |
Here she is with her lovely parents, Wayne and Kathleen who help run the stall at Westhoughton Market on Tuesday and Thursdays. Victoria is creator of Vibrant Vintage a vintage clothing, accessory and collectable stall. Here's a little interview I did with the lady herself ...
Q. How did you get into the vintage business?
A. I have always liked the quality of vintage clothing and
accessories and regularly travelled to the Northern Quarter in Manchester, York
and Durham to purchase unusual dresses.
People in my local area would complement me on my unique style and joke
that I should open my own shop. I was
starting to find it time consuming travelling around for vintage clothing so I
decided to set up my own vintage clothing, accessory and collectable stall in
the Bolton area. Within three weeks of
mooting the idea, I had established Vibrant Vintage by Victoria Claire at a
stall on Westhoughton market. I
currently work full time as a lawyer for the housing charity Shelter, so my
retired parents agreed to become my business partners and work on the stall
every Tuesday and Thursday. My parents were looking for a project to work on
and liked the vintage clothing idea as both are interested in antiques.
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| Kathleen did stirling work on 'the door' |
Q. How would you describe your personal style?
A. I would describe my style as feminine but with an elegant
and sophisticated twist. I have a
classic hour glass curvy figure so like to wear 1950’s dresses that are nipped
in at the waist or fitted pencil skirts with a silk blouse.
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| Jewels and other finery |
Q. What have you found the most challenging part about setting up a vintage business?
A. I have established my stall in a small town where several
people had not heard of vintage.
Initially, we had people coming to the stall saying that they had given
clothes like this away and wouldn’t wear them a second time or asking for the
second hand shop, expecting very low prices.
We decided to chat to everyone who visited the stall and explain what
vintage was, pick out different garments from various eras and show them the
quality of the clothing, we also reiterated the individuality of the
clothing. Slowly customers became
interested in the stall or recommended us to people who may be interested. We have started to build up a customer base
who regularly visits the stall. However,
some people who visited the stall were interested in vintage clothing but
stated that they could not find dresses to fit them. It was a challenge finding vintage clothing
in larger sizes, however by persevering we have managed to source good quality
clothes in a range of sizes. Finally, we
have found it challenging setting up a business in a recession as money is in
short supply. To address this problem,
we have established a lay away service, where customers can pay a small deposit
and put a garment away and pay it off via regular instalments. This has proved to be very popular especially
when purchasing some of our highly collectable compacts.
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| Beautiful vintage compacts |
Q. What do you enjoy most about your job?
A. I enjoy meeting diverse people while talking about
vintage. I find it rewarding when
someone comes to the stall looking for a dress for a special occasion but
lacking confidence in how to wear the garment or accessorise the outfit. I enjoy talking the customer through various
options and showing how the outfit can be made to look completely different
depending on the accessories used. It is
lovely when that same person returns to the stall with photographs of the
occasion. I also like that we have established
a vintage clothing business less than six months ago and have already diversified
into vintage fairs due to the interest and lack of such shops in the area.
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| Victoria and her helpers |
For more information you can contact Victoria several ways as follows:
Telephone: 07787 316234
Email: victoriaclaire@hotmail.com
Website: www.vibrantvintage.co.uk
Facebook: Vibrant Vintage by Victoria Claire
Oh by the way! I forgot to mention .... Victoria's vintage garments are hard to resist. I couldn't get myself out of this one, so I had to buy it! That's my excuse anyway ...
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| 1950s lilac number |
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