Candy Says...

...buy vintage! The market for vintage clothing has boomed over the past few years, even entering the 'mainstream' with high street stores such as TopShop and TopMan even stocking vintage lines. We've certainly become a lot more 'individual' in our tastes for interior decoration and the way we dress.
One of the best sources I have found over the past few years is the wonderful Dawn at 'Candy Says'. Her great eye and superb attention to detail shines out both on her website, and in the fine pieces she has chosen for her shop in Southend-on-Sea in Essex.
And that's just it - she has carefully chosen the pieces she stocks. Rather than just fill a shop and website with all manner of old rubbish, Dawn only goes for quality and style that shout out a period's fashions. But that doesn't mean her prices are crazy - all her clothes, which range from the 1920s-1980s, are highly affordable. Although she does have some designer names, her real skill is at finding great quality, stylish pieces that are unlabelled and thus inexpensive. I've just finished a photographic shoot with her for the next Miller's Collectables Price Guide, which included this great 1940s dress and matching jacket which just screams the period (think of TV's The Sullivans!), and only costs £150!