My favourite 'old fogey' brands

I think I need these! (Hotter 'France')

Style’s a funny thing. We all start developing our taste in clothes early, even if we’re not aware of it, and one day you wake up and realise your taste has actually dated. Despite not being especially into fashion during the 1980s and 1990s I’ve still absorbed some of the maxims of those decades. Thou Shalt Not Wear Brown, for example (brown was massively popular in the 1970s and therefore to be shunned, though I have abandoned that one, with some help from steampunk). Thou Shalt Not Wear Flares (another shunned 70s style). Recently I’ve been realising that some of the styles that are ‘just normal clothes’ to me probably mark me out as someone who was young in the 1990s, such as my conviction that clumpy boots go with everything. I still have slip dresses and a crushed velvet babydoll in the wardrobe, and I'd be wearing them now if they still fitted!

Because people cling to the styles of their youth a little, it’s always worth investigating ‘old fogey’ brands because they carry on making older trends for a bit longer, and they stock a good range of classics too. Van-Dal still make shoe clips, as well as fairly traditional-looking shoes – I like their court shoes. Miss Mary of Sweden manufacture corselettes and bras that are admittedly mostly low on glam, but rock-firm on shape.

My favourite old fogey brands 
Edinburgh Woollen Mill
A great source of pleated tartan skirts for women and Harris tweed-pretty-much-everything for gents, from waistcoats to trilbies to ties. I’d avoid the shortbread, though, as some of what they sell contains vegetable oil! (If it’s not all-butter, it’s not worth eating...)

Hotter shoes
They only do about one retro-styled pair of shoes a season, but I always get a pair and wear them to bits. I'm currently eyeing up a pair of France for winter workwear. (Helen Highwater included Hotter in her guest post 'Vintage style shoes in larger sizes' for Retro Chick.)

Triumph
Specifically, the Doreen bra. You can keep your modern foam rubber half-sphere bras – a Doreen gives amazing lift, plenty of separation, and is dead comfy. Okay, it’s not the sexiest garment in the world, but if you’ve got maximams (I’m a 34F), it will give you a better silhouette than anything else on the High Street. I know at least two other vintage-loving bloggers who are Doreen fans, and I bet we're not the only three.

Bronnley
Bronnley have been making toiletries since the 1880s. I’m a massive fan of the Orange and Jasmine (Seville in a bottle!) and Lemon and Neroli scents, though the Pink Bouquet and Freesia are also lovely.

Have you got a favourite oldie-but-goodie brand?