Vestiaire Collective – Why I Buy Vintage
Why I hunt for vintage on Vestiaire Collective, and how I find Ferragamo, YSL bijoux and Fendi in the old listings everybody else has scrolled past.
I have always loved fashion. But the older I get, the less interested I am in buying what is new. For me, the real excitement is finding something that has already lived a life.
A pair of Salvatore Ferragamo heels from 1994. A heavy 1980s Ferragamo charm bracelet. Yves Saint Laurent bijoux. An unusual Fendi bag that everybody else has scrolled past. These are the pieces that excite me, and one of my favourite places to hunt for them is Vestiaire Collective.
The secret? I am often not looking at what was listed yesterday. I am looking at pieces that have been sitting there for months, sometimes years.
The forgotten listings can be the best ones
Most people shopping online look at the newest arrivals first. I often do the opposite. If something has been on Vestiaire for six months, a year or longer, I get curious. Why has nobody bought it?
Sometimes there is nothing wrong with the piece at all. The photographs are terrible. The seller chose the wrong title. It is from an era that is not in fashion right now. Or everyone is searching for the same five handbags, and a piece of fashion history is sitting three pages deeper. That is where I like to shop.
Vintage hunting takes imagination. You have to look past somebody’s badly lit bedroom photograph and picture the piece worn properly. A shoe photographed on a carpet looks like nothing. Put the same shoe with a well-cut trouser, a vintage blazer, jewellery and the right handbag, and you understand it.
My 1994 Salvatore Ferragamo heels
One of the reasons I love vintage Ferragamo is how it is made. I own a pair of Salvatore Ferragamo heels from 1994, in silk, leather and cork. I found them in Venice, unworn. They feel completely different from so many shoes made today. The proportions, the materials, even the way they sit on the foot belong to a time when a luxury shoe was about much more than a logo.
That is what I look for in vintage. I want a piece to make me stop and examine it. Look at the heel, the stitching, the lining, and how the materials have been put together. Turn the shoe upside down and look at the sole. Vintage shopping should be tactile, even when it starts on a screen. So zoom in. Study everything.
Never ignore vintage jewellery
Vintage costume jewellery is the category I think people underestimate most. My Ferragamo charm bracelet is from the 1980s. It is gold-plated, every shoe charm on it is engraved, and I bought it at the antique market in Arezzo. It comes from a time when accessories were supposed to be noticed, and that is exactly why I love it.
My Ferragamo clip-on earrings, with their cascade of shoe charms, did come from Vestiaire Collective. They had never been worn and were still in their original suede pouch. The gold Ferragamo horse earrings and bracelet in the photograph above are mine too. I would rather own one fabulous pair of earrings with personality than a drawer full of pieces I will have forgotten by next season.
The same goes for 1980s Yves Saint Laurent jewellery. Take something very simple, black trousers, a white shirt, perhaps a blazer, and add a strong gold-toned vintage necklace, earrings or a bracelet. Now the jewellery is the outfit. So here is one of my biggest tips for vintage shopping.
Do not only look for clothes. Look at jewellery, belts, shoes, scarves and handbags. Accessories are the easiest way to bring vintage into a modern wardrobe.
Build a bijoux wardrobe
I think of jewellery almost like clothing. I have a bijoux wardrobe. Certain earrings work with certain handbags. A bracelet picks up the hardware on a shoe. Gold jewellery changes the mood of a black dress. Shop this way and you stop buying single objects and start building a collection.
It is especially useful with vintage, because you can connect decades. A pair of 1980s earrings does not mean dressing as if it is 1985. Wear them with an oversized white shirt. Put a vintage YSL bracelet beside a modern watch. Carry a vintage handbag with jeans. Mix it. The contrast is what makes vintage look modern.
Look beyond the obvious designer bags
Everybody searches for the famous handbag models from Chanel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Fendi. But within these houses there are hundreds of shapes, materials and collections that get far less attention. That is where I start.
With Fendi bags, for example, I look for unusual shapes, older hardware, interesting leather, and pieces that clearly belong to another period of design. I don’t need everybody else to recognise the model. In fact, I often prefer that they don’t. I would much rather be asked “Where did you find that?” than carry the bag everyone saw ten times on Instagram that morning.
Price does not equal style
I have seen fashion shoes priced at €1,200. Fendi’s sock-style shoes, for example, can sit in that territory. But a €1,200 price tag does not make a shoe more stylish than a beautiful vintage pair found for a fraction of that. Luxury can be bought. Style has to be found.
My rules for spotting vintage gems
When I search Vestiaire and other resale platforms, this is what I do.
- Search by material, not only by designer. Try silk, suede, leather, velvet, raffia, enamel, woven leather, gold-tone bijoux or cork.
- Search by era. 1980s jewellery can be incredible. 1990s shoes can have beautiful proportions. The early 2000s are getting interesting too.
- Look at the old listings on purpose. If something has been online for a long time, don’t assume there is something wrong with it. Study it yourself.
- Look hard at the condition. Vintage does not have to mean destroyed. I look for pieces that have been cared for, above all with shoes and bags. Some wear can be charming. Damage is different.
- Examine how it is made. On shoes: the heel, sole, lining, stitching and leather. On handbags: the corners, handles, hardware, inside and structure. On jewellery: the clasps, the weight, the finish, and whether any stones or decoration are missing.
- Ask yourself one question. Can I already imagine three ways I would wear it? If the answer is yes, I am very interested.
Don’t be afraid of fashion that isn’t trending
This may be my biggest piece of advice. Trends make vintage shopping more expensive. The moment everyone decides a certain 1990s bag is back, the price goes up. I like to shop just outside that spotlight. Look at what people are ignoring: the shapes that haven’t come back yet, the collections nobody is talking about.
Vintage gets better as your style gets stronger
I am in my fifties, and what I appreciate more now is knowing what I actually like. I don’t need fashion to tell me every season. My Ferragamo shoes don’t have to be from the latest collection. My YSL bijoux doesn’t need to be on a current runway. If I love it, I wear it.
So next time you are scrolling through Vestiaire, go deeper. Look at the listings that have been sitting there for months. Zoom in. And trust your own eye. The best vintage gem is often the piece everybody else missed.
