On the lookout for retro or vintage items for your wardrobe? Let me make it easy for you with my guide to the best places to buy vintage clothing online in the UK.
With an increasing understanding of the problems with fast fashion, it’s not surprising that many of us are turning to vintage clothing as a way to make our wardrobes more sustainable.
However, shopping online for vintage clothing can be tricky. It can be tough to find exactly what you want. And then there’s the worry that there might be something wrong with an item. Or worse, that your item arrives and it has that dreaded vintage musk to it. Then you are stuck with it.
Thankfully, there are a wide range of vintage shops and stores online out there that make vintage clothes shopping a breeze.
To help you out, I’ve gathered all my favourite shops for you, ranging from the convenient online clothes stores where you can easily find what you need with just a click of a button, to those offering free shipping and returns. Plus, I’ve added in the stores that ensure quality by checking and freshly laundering their items. No nasty surprises here!
The Online Vintage Clothes Shops To Know In The UK
Whatever the era – from 1950s rockabilly to 1970s disco and beyond – here are the best places to shop for vintage clothing online, so that you can shop sustainably in confidence.
Oxfam Online
⭐ Best For Vintage Clothes With A Charitable Aspect
If you are looking for vintage clothing with a charitable aspect, then you will be pleased to hear that Oxfam Online has a dedicated vintage clothing section.
Here you can filter their vast donated vintage clothing by size, budget, colour, or condition. The only thing I don’t like is that you can’t filter by era, decade, or style. These are variables that you might want to be able to specify when looking for specific vintage items.
Sign up for Oxfam Online’s newsletter, and receive 10% off your first order. Returns are free of charge, and there is a flat postage rate of £3.95 – no matter how many items you buy.
All profits go towards Oxfam’s work on the alleviation of global poverty.
Rokit
⭐ Best For Quality Control
Rokit sells a huge selection of vintage clothing for men, women, and in gender-neutral styles.
Here you can shop by size or shop by era, from the 1940s up to the 2000s (yup, this is now horrifyingly considered vintage!). You can even shop by specific brands if you have one in mind.
For a clever touch, you can also shop by material. This is useful if you are vegan and trying to avoid animal products, or if you are trying to avoid synthetic fibres.
What’s more, in an effort to curb waste, Rokit’s in-house reworked sustainable fashion label Rokit Originals reworks undesirable or unsalable stock into new and exciting pieces.
Here, bags are made from leather jackets, jumpsuits from jeans, and dresses are created from scarves. Rokit also uses remnant, deadstock, and post-consumer textile waste in order to create contemporary limited-edition lines.
Shop with confidence – Rokit quality checks each piece before placing it for sale. It will also launder items, where necessary, so you can avoid any unexpected odours!
Even the shipping is carefully considered. Your order will arrive in compostable packaging that is made from recycled and renewable sources.
Talking of shipping, UK customers enjoy free shipping. There’s also an easy returns process.
Get 10% off at Rokit by using the discount code TAKE10 at the checkout.
Etsy
⭐ Best For Finding Specific Vintage Styles
Etsy is an absolute goldmine for vintage clothing online. I’ve bought many a piece of clothing from Etsy over the years.
You can search for items based on style – from Gothic through to Harajuku. You can search for items with a specific pattern – from stars and celestial to Fairisle. And you can even search for the occasion or celebration for which you want the item of vintage clothing. The only thing you can’t search for is by era or decade.
What I also love is that you can find vintage clothing that has been reworked or upcycled by clever craftspeople. This vintage sweater, pictured above, has been transformed by ReviveUS into a cropped sweater, whilst maintaining the original ribbed hem. If you are looking for one-of-a-kind vintage with a modern twist, then Etsy is a great place to look.
eBay
⭐ Best Search Facility
Despite many rivals on the online shopping scene, eBay remains a solid place to shop for vintage clothing online. This is because eBay has a really strong set of filters that you can use to really hone down what you are looking for.
You can use the filter to select the precise decade you are looking for – from the pre-1890s right through to the 1990s. You can select the colour of the item you have in mind. And you can select the look that you require – from androgynous to Art Deco, to Military/Landgirl, and everything in between.
And eBay doesn’t stop there. You can select the occasion the item should be suitable for. You can even specify the country of manufacture.
If shopping for vintage clothing online seems like finding a needle in a haystack, then try eBay! If you can’t find it there, then it probably doesn’t exist!
ASOS Vintage
ASOS itself is a fast-fashion nightmare. As many as 7,000 new items of clothing are added to the site each week, which is not sustainable at all.
As such, it’s not normally somewhere I would recommend shopping for clothes. However, the site does have an offshoot – ASOS Vintage – that remains a solid place to buy vintage clothing online.
I wouldn’t say ASOS is the single most ethical choice when it comes to vintage shopping. Even by shopping for vintage clothing here, you are supporting the growth and profitability of this fast-fashion retailer. However, in terms of accessibility and price, there’s no denying what ASOS brings to the table.
Bypass the fast fashion and head straight to the vintage section, where you can shop by product or by independent vintage boutique.
Whilst you can’t filter by era or fabric type, you can filter by category, although I would say it is quite tricky to navigate. I can’t see any clothing for men, and I can’t see anything from before the nineties/noughties.
Beyond Retro
If it’s confusing shopping at online retailers that sell both vintage clothing and new clothing, then Beyond Retro is a good port of call. Selling only vintage men’s and women’s clothing – from vintage sportswear to vintage dresses and vintage jeans – every item is handpicked by the Beyond Retro team.
Product experts examine items for quality control, so you can be sure you won’t get any nasty surprises. And if what you’ve bought doesn’t live up to your expectations, or doesn’t fit, then you can return your item free of charge within 14 days.
Many vintage clothes selections can run small. However, the good news is that Beyond Retro has a healthy men’s, women’s, and gender-neutral plus-size section.
Vinted
Despite the name, Vinted isn’t specifically a vintage marketplace. However, as it brings together thousands of sellers clearing out their wardrobes, you’ll always come across some vintage treasures.
Unlike some vintage platforms, prices on Vinted can be more down-to-earth, making it easier to find genuine bargains from past decades. The search facility isn’t geared up for vintage items, so you will need to use specific keywords such as “vintage Laura Ashley dress” rather than just “vintage.”
Depop
Finally, online marketplace Depop is always worth a browse for vintage pieces.
Like Vinted, the search function isn’t geared toward searching for vintage clothing. So you’ll need to try searching by decade or specific terms like “80s oversized blazer” or “vintage St Michael” to help narrow things down.
Following sellers who specialise in eras you love can also help – you’ll get updates when they list new items. And don’t be afraid to message sellers for details either; most are happy to share more about an item’s history or fit.
More Top Preloved Clothing Tips
Hopefully you’ll soon track down the vintage piece you’ve been dreaming of. However, if you’re still struggling to find something that feels just right, I’ve got more handy tips:
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