Demand for retro and vintage fashion has never been stronger. But why are women so interested in clothes from previous decades? HILARIE STELFOX visits a new shop in Slaithwaite where a huge range of 20th century styles can be mixed and matched

IN SLAITHWAITE’S new Vintage and Craft Emporium wasp-waisted Forties dresses hang on rails alongside psychedelic frocks from the early Seventies and early Sixties Crimplene minis vie for attention with Fifties day dresses.

They will all find takers, because the market for vintage clothes is now a market force all of its own.

Emporium founder Heather Croft, who donates 25% of profits from clothes sales to local charities, discovered the attraction of outfits from past decades when she built up a small collection to sell in her nearby boutique.

Such was the popularity of the second-hand clothing that she decided to give it its own space in a mill unit at Upper Mills, Canalside in Slaithwaite.

The emporium, which also houses the work of local crafts people and artists, is tucked away at the back of a mill complex, but even its remote location along the towpath has not deterred shoppers in search of something different.

And it’s not just younger fashionistas who want to wear vintage.

Heather says: “The most popular eras are the Forties and Fifties and my biggest customers are women in their forties and fifties.”

“They like the styling and the elegance of clothes from that time.

“People are wanting to go back to traditional values and there is a lot of nostalgia.”

Claire Evans, a tutor in fashion at the University of Huddersfield, agrees that the classic looks of the mid 20th century have a certain appeal for 21st century women.

“Fifties is very much in at the moment and can look fantastic,” she said.