Wearable Vintage Fashion by Jo Waterhouse and Clare Bridge

'Wearable Vintage Fashion' presents desirable, affordable and accessible vintage clothing and accessories in a new and fun format. Covering the looks of the twentieth century from the 20s to the 80s, this insiders' guide will feature the clothing, accessories and styling to recreate the looks of each decade. By presenting timeless, classic vintage pieces, the items will always be stylish regardless of the era they came from or the fashion trend of the moment. The book will, therefore, serve as a visual reference guide to collecting as well as wearing classic vintage clothing. Vintage dressing is very much a current fashion trend with lots of people shopping for affordable vintage clothing and trying to recreate vintage looks by mixing new and old. The authors show the reader how to put the clothing and accessories together to create that period look whether for daywear or eveningwear. In addition to interviews with collectors and the story behind their collections, the authors look at vintage street fashion from around the world: showing members of the public combining vintage with their everyday fashion.


I opened this book and immediately fell in love with it. The book takes you down the fashionable memory lane from 1920's through to the 1980's.


I have been into the shop that the authors Jo Waterhouse and Clare Bridge run in Worcester, Secondhand Rose and this book is full of the enthusiasm and vitality that the shop is known for. 


In the introduction, Jo and Clare state that they wanted to create a book that 'will guide you through affordable, collectible and wearable items that you can own too, whatever your budget' and I think that this book fulfils that aim confidently.  They go on to say that they have picked out key pieces from each decade - recognising the trends and looking at both day and night wear alongside with those very important accessories that finish any item off perfectly.


The book has lots of photographs - be they photos of clothes from the decade, photographs from the time, or photographs of modern women wearing authentic clothes.


The book is split into seven decades: 1920s; 1930s; 1940s; 1950s; 1960s; 1970s; and 1980s. Each decade has its own colour  coded section which includes day wear, key pieces, get the look, icons (and how to recreate their style), a look book of key pieces for both day and night wear. At the start of each chapter there is a short introduction highlighting the main fashions of the decade.


The book concludes with a chapter featuring lots of different people wearing vintage clothes and making their own style using them - there are people from all over the world featuring in this chapter, of all shapes and sizes showing vintage suits anyone!


I really enjoyed looking through this book. The sections were well planned out with most of the page content being photographs. The text was short and to the point and allowed the photographs to tell the story.


I especially liked the last chapter of 'real people' wearing vintage fashion and will be visiting a lot of their blogs and websites which are included alongside their photographs.


This book has the potential to encourage many more people to embrace vintage fashion and will be looking out on the streets of Worcester for new vintage lovers! It gives lots of ideas of styles to try - one thing I really like from this book is all the ideas for accessories from the decade. A good accessory can finish off an outfit perfectly.


I recommend this as a great gift for a lover of vintage fashion but I also believe that this will make a fantastic coffee table book idea for anyone who loves fashion in general. The book would also make a great resource for any fashion students or anyone interested in looking at the history of clothing.


If you are ever in Worcester, I recommend a visit to Secondhand Rose in their new premises. It is a fantastic shop!


I received this book from the publishers, Vivays Publishing, in return for an honest review. I do not know the authors personally and my review is my own thoughts on a fantastic book. Thank you to the Publishers for sending me the book.