the best little vintage shop in the world

A while back, I read about a new online shop that stocked vintage childrens clothing over on Hannah’s blog, Seeds and Stitches. I drooled over the stock (seriously good!), bookmarked the page and then got stuck into moving house, subsequently forgetting all about it.Until the other week when an e-mail from the shops owner, Emily, dropped into my inbox.

Never one to pass up the opportunity for a good sticky beak, I asked if she’d do a little interview for the blog (I’m thinking of making this a regular thing with shops, crafters and the like), and she agreed. Hurrah!

First things first, what’s your name, how old are you, and where do you live? (Not trying to sound like a gameshow host, honest…..) What do you like about your home?
I’m Emily Silverwood, 28, from New Cross in London. I love my house. I love the parks around here for walking the pup. I love having great friends nearby, although as we get older more people are moving away.

How did you come across the idea of starting a vintage children’s shop? Why not just do adult clothes like everybody else?
If I had thought about it ten years ago, I would have, and I have considered it in the past. I started thinking about babies, and then my friends started having them, I thought there was a sneaky gap in the market for a little shop, and Little Vintage was born!

Where do you find all your lovely pieces? 
All over. Car boot sales, flea markets, charity shops, church sales, eBay…. basically I spend evenings and weekends searching out gems. It’s a good job I enjoy it!

How do you identify which era different pieces are from?
This is a tricky one, my background in fashion helps! Generally I just follow the same rules as adults clothing, looking at fabric, trims, styling details, etc. and if in doubt I Google it.

What is your favourite era with regards to children’s clothing?
I can’t decide! I honestly like them all. The 80’s bits are really fun, and SO cute. I just bought a 1980’s dinosaur print dress, in super bright colours, how fun? It’ll be in the shop soon.

Do you wear vintage clothes yourself? Where do you like to shop?
Yes! I have done for years – it came from a desire to look different to everyone else at the beginning, but now is part generally loving things old, part loving thrifting and part ethical reasons. I shop in charity shops, on eBay, at markets, I used to go to a lot of vintage fairs too. The great thing about vintage is that you don’t feel the ‘need’ to update your wardrobe all the time, it’s so classic that it transcends seasons.

What are your plans for the future?
I’m planning on a ‘Handmade by Little Vintage’ or ‘Little Vintage Handmade’ or ‘Little Handmade Vintage’, which will be vintage inspired handmade (obviously) clothing made using vintage patterns, fabrics and trims. I plan on starting to make stock properly in the summer holidays from school. Four weeks and counting!

If you didn’t have a vintage shop, what would you be doing?
I still have my day job (which used to be as a buyer for a big department store, but I quit to work in a Primary school part time while I worked on Little Vintage as well), and being completely honest I wouldn’t be doing anything extra. Any free time I have not spent on the shop is spent walking the dog, crafting or tidying. I spend A LOT of time tidying, I’m not quite sure why….


Do you have any tips for budding entrepreneurs?
It sounds cliched but just do it. If money is an issue, start saving. I occasionally work as a personal stylist for a friends company on a freelance basis and it pays pretty well, I saved up using that cash and spent it all on stock, business cards, web hosting and all that jazz. I also started collecting stock little by little, and probably collected for about six months or so before I actually set up the shop online.

There’s even an accessories section, hurrah

Thank you to Emily for taking the time to answer my incredibly nosy cow-ish questions. You can find oodles of vintage loveliness in her shop, and can contact her by using the form on the website.

NOTE: I wasn’t paid in any way for agreeing to feature Little Vintage, but after we’d done the interview, Emily sent me two dresses for Daisy. I was incredibly grateful, but had they not been my cup of tea, I would have sent them straight back. This is a not-for-profit blog, just a small diary of my life and the things I love, and I don’t feature products or businesses that aren’t in keeping with the content simply for payment. So don’t ask!