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Vintage Shopping – Raid Your Grandma's Wardrobe

Rich grandma style: bouclé blazers, tweed skirts, Hermès scarves and Chanel 2.55 bags, and where to find them second-hand if your grandma can’t help.

By Gracie Opulanza2 min read

Chanel hats: two black felt and one camel felt, worn with pearls, white lace and a beige jacket
Gracie Opulanza driving a Bentley GT Continental in a mustard leather jacket, a printed Hermès silk scarf over her hair

Have you looked in your grandmother’s wardrobe lately? You should. Grandma style is in, and I mean the rich grandma kind: bouclé blazers, tweed skirts and good accessories.

Jackie Kennedy in large dark sunglasses and a grey knit dress, getting out of a car, black-and-white photo

That is Jackie Kennedy above, in a grey knit dress and large dark sunglasses.

Think of the Hermès Kelly bag and the Chanel 2.55 with its gilt chain. Think of Hermès silk scarves, and gold watches that only seem to go up in value.

The next two photographs are from the Goodwood Revival, where I was in 2019: the Dior catwalk, and a woman in a white pillbox hat.

Black-and-white photograph of models in dark 1950s-style dresses and hats on the Dior catwalk at Goodwood Revival, 2019
A woman in a black full-skirted dress, cream fur stole, white pillbox hat and long black gloves in a marquee at Goodwood

Grandma style

Don’t laugh. The fashion world has spoken, and even Vogue has noticed rich grandma style. The high street has it too: tweed skirt suits at Mango, lemon crochet at Me+Em, mauve at Soeur and kitten heels at Zara. Even the twinset is being talked about again.

Cream and black Chanel court shoes on black cloth with a crystal camellia choker, on a vintage stall

But it is also about how you wear it. Mix it. Put a boxy pastel tweed jacket with something modern.

Gracie Opulanza at Goodwood Revival in khaki overalls and sunglasses, with chunky gold 1980s Yves Saint Laurent jewellery

I own vintage Yves Saint Laurent accessories, raided from a grandma’s wardrobe. And the chunky jewellery is back. That is the gold jewellery I am wearing at the Goodwood Revival in the photograph above, and the black Yves Saint Laurent bag below, held over the water in Venice.

Black vintage Yves Saint Laurent handbag with a gold medallion clasp, held up over the water in Venice

It doesn’t have to break the bank

A second-hand luxury piece can cost a fair bit at the start. But you will wear it for years, you might pass it down to your own grandchildren one day, and the resale value is good.

If your grandmother has good taste and is willing to share, lucky you. Ask her first. For the rest of us there is Hardly Ever Worn It, eBay and 1stDibs, or Vinted for the high street versions. The hunt for the right piece is part of it.

Black-and-white press photograph of Jackie Kennedy climbing out of a car in a short grey dress and oversized sunglasses

And look at who dresses this way. Miuccia Prada and Anna Wintour are proof that this style has no age.

So find the vintage pieces that speak to you, and make them your own.

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