A Vintage Affair

By Isabel Wolff

In my eighth novel, 'A Vintage Affair', the heroine, Phoebe Swift, has just opened a vintage dress shop in Blackheath. At the same time she is coping with the recent loss of her best friend, Emma. So Phoebe takes refuge in her work - restoring these wonderful old clothes to their former glory so that they can go on to have new lives. But what of the past lives these clothes have lived she often wonders? What stories would they tell if they could speak? One day Phoebe meets an elderly French woman, Therese, who wishes to sell her some elegant dresses and suits. In Therese's wardrobe Phoebe also finds a child's sky-blue winter coat, from wartime France. At first Therese wishes not to reveal the coat's history but, as the two women become friends, she opens up. Phoebe listens to the poignant story of the little blue coat not knowing that it is to have a profound and uplifting connection with her own life...

I have been hugely helped in my research for 'A Vintage Affair' by the auctioneer and textiles expert Kerry Taylor of Kerry Taylor Auctions. and if you click on the 'Resources' box, below right, this will take you to links to a number of wonderful vintage clothing websites, including Martha's Closet, My Vintage, Devoted2Vintage & Elizabeth's Vintage Closet & Candy Says.