Vintage Fashion

As ruler of an empire on which the sun never set, Queen Victoria adopted the Indian practice of giving Kashmiri shawls as gifts to visiting dignitaries and coming-of-age and wedding presents to her friends at court.

When a pinstripe suit came up for auction at West Midlands firm Fieldings (26% buyer’s premium inc VAT) it had an interesting consequence.

The Autumn Welsh Sale (Part II) held by Rogers Jones (24% buyer’s premium) on December 2 included an item of clothing once owned by a Welsh icon: Richard Burton (1925-84).

Gray MCA has a couple of busy months in store. From January, the fashion illustration, design and textiles gallery stages Drawing on Style: Original Fashion Illustration at Edinburgh’s Dovecot Studios.

Influenced by the English drape suits favoured by the Duke of Windsor, the zoot suit was all the rage among disfavoured youths in Second World War-era USA.

What was thought to be the largest private collection of Vivienne Westwood (1941-2022) garments to be sold outside London went under the hammer at Tennants (24% buyer’s premium) in North Yorkshire on August 15.

Biannual sale at Gloucestershire firm once again provides eclectic range of lots from across the globe

Even though the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was abolished in 1918, there is still no shortage of nostalgic buyers for memorabilia and relics from the House of Habsburg.

When the situation demanded it, German consular officials in the tropics were required to wear a ceremonial helmet.

Pierre-Jean Chalençon is well known as an enthusiast for Napoleonic memorabilia and this summer Sotheby’s Paris (27/22/15% buyer’s premium) offered just over 100 lots from his collection.

Sotheby’s €7m sale of the original Hermès Birkin handbag, custom made for late actress and singer Jane Birkin in 1985, has given some welcome exposure to the market for preloved luxury accessories. And for many of today’s collectors, vintage is best.

Just a month after a rare Christian Dior (1905-57) musical brooch was sold Tajan in Paris, two more examples appeared for sale at Fellows’ (30% buyer’s premium inc VAT) Handbags & Accessories auction in Birmingham on June 24.

Oxfordshire sale includes minaudière designed as an alternative to traditional handbags - plus a more conventional ‘French Jazz Age’ evening bag