Category: Wardrobe

The internet has given charity shops an inventory problem.

Watch enough second-hand shopping videos and you begin to suspect that every British high street contains a dimly lit room full of 1970s suede jackets, hand-knitted Aran jumpers, forgotten designer tailoring and one immaculate leather bag priced by somebody who has never heard of the internet.

Then you go in.

There are six pairs of skinny jeans, a supermarket blouse, three dresses from the same fast-fashion chain, a mug commemorating an event you did not attend and a suspicious number of copies of the same celebrity autobiography.

This is not evidence that you have found a bad charity shop. It is evidence that you have found a charity shop.

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Edinburgh gave me two things I will remember for a very long time: a fiancé, after I proposed to James while we were there, and a vintage-clothing haul large enough to create a minor luggage problem.

Most guides to vintage shopping are not especially helpful when you primarily wear menswear. A shop may be beautifully arranged and full of excellent clothes, yet contain one small rail of men’s shirts somewhere behind several rooms of dresses. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is useful to know before devoting part of a short holiday to it.

I visited two Armstrongs branches and several smaller vintage shops across Edinburgh. Stock naturally changes from week to week, so this is not a promise of what will be waiting on every rail. It is a first-hand account of which shops gave me the best menswear selection, which were still worth seeing for other reasons and where I would begin on my next visit.

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Second-hand clothes do not need to look second-best.

Some of the most characterful garments have already lived a little. Softened leather, settled wool and unusual details are often the reason they are worth buying in the first place.

The trick is not to make everything look brand new. The trick is to make it look chosen.

A second-hand garment tends to look valuable when its cloth, cut, construction and condition work together. A good coat can carry softened edges and still look excellent; a poor one can be freshly steamed and remain badly made.

The aim is not to disguise age. It is to recognise quality, repair the signs of neglect and style the garment with intention.

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A storybook wardrobe is not about dressing like you are on your way to a fancy-dress party. It is not capes, plastic crowns and theatrical waistcoats unless, of course, that is genuinely your thing.

At its best, a storybook wardrobe is subtler than that. It is a way of dressing that feels atmospheric, characterful and a little romantic, while still working in real life. It might be a soft wool coat, a battered leather satchel, a vintage blazer, polished boots, a heavy knit, a dramatic collar, a dark floral shirt or a colour palette that makes you look like you belong in a candlelit library.

The aim is not to look like a costume. The aim is to look like there is a story behind what you are wearing.

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