My five current favourite Etsy clothes shops

I've bought some lovely pieces off Etsy over the past 12 months, so I thought I'd share my five favourite Etsy clothes shops with you. These are all shops I look at regularly, because I know they have great stock, in a good choice of sizes, and they're not massively expensive – though everyone has a different definition of expensive, and I'm lucky enough to have a full-time job; you might feel differently. Being fuller of figure, as much as I love a chazza bargain I'd spend a lot of time naked if I didn't fill in with stuff from vintage dealers or modern manufacturers. I've stated what I've bought from each one not to be boastful, but to reassure you that I do put my money where my mouth is – I've bought from them as a regular punter and had good experiences.


I should mention that these shops are all in the US, which might put you off if you're worried about customs charges for bringing things into the UK. I've only had to pay customs charges a few times, and at a UK size 18, given the greater choice of vintage garments from the US and the generally lower prices, I'm prepared to risk it. If you're slimmer, you might have more options from UK sellers and prefer not to import. (You'll probably have a better choice of charity shop buys too.) And no, I'm not getting anything from any of these shops for this piece, I just think they're really good and you might like them too.

Stutterinmama
Really nice items, including a good supply of separates, AND items are divided by waist size. Having been very slender as a young'un, I appreciate that when you're thin, buying something a little bit large isn't necessarily a problem as you can get it taken in, or even just pop a belt on. I'd cheerfully wear things that were a bit baggy back when I was a size 8. However, when you are plus-size, it gets really dispiriting clicking through item after item and finding they're all too small. With this shop, you can go straight to what you're looking for, without having to see lots of things that aren't for you. This is where I got my coral, full-skirted, broderie anglais dress.

Maeberry Vintage
No dividing by size, but size descriptions are included in the item names on this site, which saves a lot of time as you can just hover your mouse over the description to see if it's worth investigating the item further. My most recent buy here is a perfect grey wool late 1950s/early 1950s dress with 3/4 sleeves and a pencil skirt – if you ever read Marija's 'Burda Wednesday' posts, as soon as I saw it I thought, “That's a definite Burda Wednesday number.”

Soulrust
A more eclectic selection of clothing, with some nice 1960s stock. My last purchase here was a cream Printzess 'Cooltimer' skirt suit. Take a look at a few of the items in the size band you think is yours and compare them to what you know your own measurements are, as that will give you a clue which set to browse – while I'm usually an XXL for Etsy purposes, I can get into items in Soulrust's L/XL band.

Dethrose
Dethrose neither divides by size nor mentions size in the item descriptions, which is usually the first thing to turn me off a shop. However, the stock is so attractive, I make an exception for this one, though I don't browse it as often as the others I've mentioned. It's where I got my 1960s 'Top Modes' sundress. I keep an eye on the Instagram feed, as sizes of garments are usually mentioned when pictured there, and I've learned to judge from the way things hang on the model (who is also the shop owner) in the thumbnails whether it's worth taking a closer look at a garment. Also, if you follow the Instagram feed you get to see lots of photos of Smokey the cat, who is just gorgeous. (There will never be too many cats on the internet for me...)

Simplicity Is Bliss
Like Dethrose, this shop is one that I follow on Instagram as the sizes are never mentioned in the item descriptions but they often are stated on Instagram. I got a caramel/chocolate print rayon wiggle dress from here - it was a steal in a sale.

Have you got some favourite Etsy shops?