HELENE FALLOWS was a fashion student back in the power-dressed 1980s.

The era of Dynasty and Dallas was, she says, "my time."

But in those days, wanting her own original style, she preferred to wear vintage clothing from the 1940s and 1950s instead!. "There was masses of it about and you could get it quite cheaply," she said.

"It was the revival of styles from those earlier decades that created 1980s full-on fashion with the shoulder pads.

"And now here it is again."

Much to her regret, 46-year-old Helene disposed of all her original vintage clothes and after graduating from York University went to work in personnel.

But her love of classic styles from the past caught up with her six years ago when she decided to open a vintage and fancy dress shop, Revival, now on Westgate in Huddersfield town centre.

Helene is part of a growing fashion sector involved in the finding and selling of secondhand clothes. Vintage is big business, so much so that there are now vintage wholesalers who source 20th century clothing from every decade and sell to small outlets such as Revival. The internet is awash with vintage sites and ebay customers have their pick of ‘original’ items.

Of course, as each generation parts with their wardrobes there is a continuous stream of secondhand clothing filtering its way into charity shops, secondhand shops (now calling themselves vintage retailers) and the wholesale market.

But, says Helene, it is nevertheless becoming increasingly difficult to find what she describes as "the better pieces."

"The problem in the future is going to be that the quality just won’t be there,’’ she said. "No-one is going to want to wear vintage Primark because it won’t stand the test of time. Today it’s all about throw-away fashion."

Availability is already starting to affect vintage values with clothes from the 1940s, 50s and 60s commanding much higher prices than they did a few years ago. Some outlets prefer to rent rather than sell in order to preserve collections.

But the revival of 80s fashion is good news as there’s still plenty of original stock around.

Helene says the key to wearing vintage is to bring it up to date with accessories or make a few alterations – change the hem length, for example. "You can take an original 80s dress and grunge it up with a leather jacket or a pair of biker boots,’’ she said.

"With fashion everything comes back around and designers are always looking for inspiration from the past."

Vintage clothing is not just worn every day by enthusiasts, it has also become popular for themed parties, re-enactments and is a useful resource for theatrical companies.

Another Huddersfield company, B Authentic in Milnsbridge, is run by Voirrey MacDonald and specialises in hiring out original 20th century vintage clothing and has a collection of 80s outfits.

"People come to us when they want something for a party," said Voirrey. "A lot of people who were born in the 80s have 80s parties. We have masses of original clothes and we also put together character outfits so that people can dress up as 80s icons such as Madonna, Boy George or Cher. The decade is becoming more and more popular."

A vintage market is coming to Huddersfield on Saturday, October 24, offering an opportunity to find original pieces – from clothing and curios to textiles and homewares.

It is the first Discover Vintage event in the town and will be held at the University of Huddersfield’s Quayside building from 10am until 4pm. The event is free to students.

Organiser Keeley Harris says: "Vintage is becoming extremely popular in the current financial climate and has very good green credentials."

The 35 stallholders will be selling goods from the 1920s to the 1980s.