Love Miss Daisy

Vintage style is something of a phenomenon, with celebs and civilians alike mixing one-off retro finds with modern pieces. But how do you look singularly show-stopping rather than uniquely unkept? And what's the story behind the growing vintage fashion industry? We spoke to Laura Kate Bradley, co-Founder ( with her mum ) of super vintage fashion site Love Miss Daisy.

 What gave you the idea for Love Miss Daisy?
I'd been freelancing in PR since I was made redundant from my old company, and my mum had just moved back to Yorkshire after selling her business of 14 years. We have always been really close and decided it would be a fab idea to launch a business and be our own boss!

Where does the name Love Miss Daisy come from?
We wanted a simple logo and a girly vintage image, so we went for Miss Daisy, then we decided to make it a "sign off", to personify the website and give the impression each item is a gift.

How long have you been working with vintage clothes?
Between us we have first hand experience of five decades of fashions, and for the past seven years I've always had a few vintage items in my wardrobe at anytime, as I loved scouting vintage stores and charity shops at uni and ever since. Before we launched the website in Sept 08 we both spent almost a year collecting vintage, learning and reading about each decade, materials, styles, designers etc to build upon everything we already knew. We had no intention of launching without a great deal of knowledge behind us as we always wanted to provide genuine items and be able to give sound and honest advice about vintage.

Why do you love vintage? What is the first vintage piece that you bought?
I love the fact that I'm doing something for the planet as well as wearing and buying very cool one offs which I know no-one else is going to be wearing. You can be as outrageous or as conservative as you want yet you'll always be wearing something unique. I've no idea what my first piece was!! Probably shoes rather than clothing - when I was living in Leeds I had so many pairs of vintage shoes and boots.

How do you source your items?
That would be telling!

How do you authenticate each item?
We date vintage items in various ways. Knowing the common materials used in each era, being aware of small give-aways -such as metal zips adorning older items -  knowing about sewing techniques, referring to vintage label resources to date pieces by well known designers by the progression of their label design etc. Many people will throw the word vintage on anything these days as it's so popular, but there are so many fakes out there. I think if you're going to buy vintage it's a good idea to read up a little bit unless you trust the source.

How long does it take from finding a piece to getting it up on the site?
Once we've sourced an item, we will dry-clean it if necessary, or steam it. We will thoroughly check it for marks and damage which enables us to grade the item accordingly. Then photograph the item, write the descriptions, check the measurements and put the item up for sale. It can be done in a few hours.

Why do you think that wearing vintage has become so popular?
I think there are two main reasons. One being celebrity influence – with so many high profile names making fashion headlines with their unique and inspirational use of vintage (Agyness Deyn, Kate Moss, Chloe Sevigny) it has almost become essential that you pack your wardrobe with it.
The second reason is a combination of the credit crunch and a growing awareness of the environmental impact fast-fashion is having. Opting for vintage means actively helping to decrease post-consumer textile waste. Between one and two million tons of post-consumer textile waste is thrown away each year and ends up in landfill sites. As for the credit crunch – people are becoming less able to afford designer clothing/high priced high street clothing, so therefore affordable vintage is a fashion investment as the clothes are built to last.

Who are the hot vintage designers?
Obviously there are the hot hot vintage items by designers such as Ossie Clark, Bill Blass, Chanel,  but at our prices, we stock names from designers and fashion houses such as Gay Gibson, Betty Barclay, Mike Benet, Jean Varon, Frank Usher, Emma Domb, Kitty Copeland and Pollini. Sometimes we get hold of Aquascutum, Radley or Escada. There are hundreds of names that we get excited about if we find one, but many people have never heard of them and often miss a gem. The most sought after names in vintage are most probably everything you find in stores such as One Of A Kind in Portabello: Chanel, Pucci, Biba, Mary Quant, but the prices are absolutely extortionate. I wish more people knew about the fabulous affordable vintage famous names out there.

What are your best selling items? From which era?
Our most popular items are probably 1950's and 1960's dresses.

Can clothes tell us something about the era from which they were from? 
I definitely think that's the case… within women's clothing I think you can see a blatent progression in attention to fashion and style, rebellion, being given more opportunity to express their personalities. We associate the 40's and 50's with "housewife dresses" and "tea dresses", whereas clothing from the 1960's and 1970's is about revolution and individuality.

What are your favourite pieces on the site at the moment?
My favourite pieces at the moment are a 1950's sage green circle dress, it's SO gorgeous. A gold box mini clutch bag with a crystal clasp. And an amaaaazing Mike Benet prom dress, it's STUNNING. Oh and also any of the brown satchels! They go with everything.
What are your tips for mixing vintage with modern?
Personally I love 60's styles. I love 60's mini dresses and tunics. I'll often wear them over jeans or with biker boots and tights. However I also love doing this with original 40's tea dresses - but I'll generally shorten them and wear them with a leather jacket. I also love a good 50's dress now and again! I wore a gorgeous blue early 1960's Gay Gibson dress to my sister's graduation but teamed it with a big black belt and Marks & Spencer's killer black gladiator heels similar to Bionda Castana's Kika shoe. I'm not a completely girly girl, I like a rock-y edge. Shoes usually put a great modern twist on any vintage outfit, or vice versa. Add some vintage shoes to a highstreet dress- I love Irregular Choice, they always have something quirky to finish off any ensemble, and my housemate is a shoe designer so I've got plenty of inspiration in the flat!

Who is your style icon?
Although they look gorgeous, I'm not a big fan of the super groomed look like Victoria Beckham or Eva Longoria Parker - I prefer an almost ruffled sexy edge, more natural and less try-hard - girls like Sienna Miller (my favourite), Kate Hudson and Cameron Diaz are good examples. Being a blonde, I tend to idolise the blondes! It's easier to be inspired by their style if you share their colouring!

There are a growing number of fashion and vintage sites. What makes Love Miss Daisy different?
We've created a seasonal section, where we match up current catwalk trends to our current stock, so girls can easily find ethical of-the-moment items. I've just begun adding items to the Spring Summer 2009 section, within which I also list the trends and give examples of designers who used them in their SS09 shows.
We also pride ourselves on providing clear images and detailed yet concise descriptions and measurements. Several vintage sites I used to visit frustrated me because their pictures were either too small, not clear enough, or items weren't described well enough. We also wanted a very easy to navigate site, so that anyone of any age would be able to use it without trouble. We have had many compliments on this, so it must be ok! And our prices. We wanted our stock to be affordable, particularly within the credit crunch, but we wanted the price to reflect the quality of the items. Some vintage sites sell items for as little as £10. As much as this sounds like a bargain, I'd be a little worried about what was wrong with them!
 
Laura models some of the gems  from her constantly updated collection