The vintage Jazz Age was an important time in history and has become synonymous with style. A few people have been asking about where they can find resources to give them that vintage look for dancing at events and social dances. The first thing to say is that dressing up vintage isn’t essential and its more important to have fun and enjoy your dancing. Having said that, getting dressed up for a night out is also fun and many people like the vintage look to go alongside the Big Band sound of the Jazz Age. Those cats knew what cool looked like as well as what it sounded like and finding their style never looks anything other than awesome.
Original vintage jazz age versus reproduction
Finding original 1920’s, 1930s and 1940s vintage clothes is often an expensive task to undertake, with fewer and fewer items surviving and those that do command ever increasing prices. Nothing lasts forever and close to 100 years of wear can make real vintage seem like a delicate investment.
There are however plenty of resources available to pick up vintage reproductions in our community. This guide tries to list as many resources as we are aware of, but please do let us know if you find some more. The reality is that boutique brands spring up new but also disappear, and so if you have new ones to add or old ones you know are no longer available please let us know.
Vintage jazz age resources for men
Vintage jazz age resources for women
Other resources
Charity shops and Specific Vintage shops can sometimes yield some bargains so dropping in to your local charity shop occasionally isn’t a bad idea. It is always going to be pot luck and finding the right size can require a bit of alteration but every now and then fortune does smile on the thrifty shopper.
Oxford thrift and Vintage shops
https://www.ballroomemporium.co.uk/ 5-6 The Plain, Oxford OX4 1AS
https://reignvintage.com/ 136 Cowley Rd, Oxford OX4 1JJ
https://www.theretroroom.co.uk/ 60 St Clement’s St, Oxford OX4 1AH
Unicorn Ship St, Oxford OX1 3DA
https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/ Oxfam 17 Broad St, Oxford OX1 3AS
Helen Douglas House 268 Banbury Rd, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7DY
Sobell House Charity Shop 4 Dartington House, Little Clarendon St, Oxford OX1 2HS
Scope 256 Banbury Rd, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7DX
Age UK 21-22 St Clement’s St, Oxford OX4 1AB
Online auction website resources
There is also a thriving second hand vintage and reproduction community on eBay, Etsy and Vinted. These auction and retail sites can often turn up bargains. It is really all about setting up alerts with the brand names and styles that you are looking for, then when you see one that matches your requirements, get bidding.
Make your own
Etsy is also particularly useful for those who want an original vintage pattern to make their own vintage clothes. This is often the cheapest way to do it. There is a thriving sewing and tailoring community online with videos on Youtube detailing each step of the way and original patterns to follow. There are even videos available how to draft your own vintage patterns using your own measurements so that provides lots of resources. You probably shouldn’t expect perfect results first time but practice can often make perfect, and perseverance is the key to success.
It is inevitable that these resources will change over time with some disappearing and other new ones emerging. If you know of any and it isn’t included, please get in touch and tell us all about it. We can then edit the page and add it to the list.