Photography by Paul Smith
ben's vintage
Ben's Vintage, the hidden gem nestled within the Overstrand store in Folkestone. Discover a selection of one-of-a-kind pieces at bensvintage.com or visit their upstairs showroom.
Meet Ben, the owner of Ben's Vintage
loom: what got you into vintage clothing?
Ben's Vintage: I think from watching old films from the 40s and 50s on the TV on Saturday afternoons when I was a kid in the 1980s. I always loved what the actors were wearing, you could pick up similar stuff relatively easily back then (in the early 80s) in charity shops or the famous vintage shop Flip.
What is your background?
I studied Fashion at art college in Edinburgh, then learnt how to make shoes, and then when I moved to London I worked on Portobello and Camden markets selling vintage. I went off and did other things for a few years but always kept my hand in buying and selling pieces, then gradually drifted back to it full time.
When did you set up ben's vintage?
I was trading online for a year or so full time before opening a shop about four years ago.
how do you edit your buys? are there any particular pieces that feel very 'ben's vintage'?
There has to be something about any garment that’s exciting, the turn of a collar, a nice graphic or a clever pocket detail. If it’s got one or all of those things, and a sense of history about it then it’s a bingo, so to speak.
do you specialise in any particular period or type of vintage? what are you best known for on the vintage market?
We don’t consciously specialise in anything but it’s not an accident that we sell lots of old workwear and military clothing from the mid 20th century as manufacturing quality and innovation in practicality were at their peak then, which is why that stuff has survived and why it’s still wearable.
how do you find your pieces? do you go to markets or do people come to you?
We’ve built up a good network of contacts over the years, plus there’s a lot of trawling of markets and auctions and so on, but sometimes people just get in touch and offer us things. It’s a constant thing.
who shops with you?
Anyone and everyone who appreciates the quality of well-made and stylish old clothes, there’s genuinely no particularly type of person that we’ve noticed.
is there a particular piece that you would never sell?
No, there are a few things that I’ve regretted letting go, but there’s always the next thing to be found. Every time you sell something you’ve effectively created a vacancy.
what piece would be your dream find?
There’s an old type of linen, French fireman's tunic, that I’d be keen to track down, or indeed any old mountaineering or exploration kit.
strangest place that you’ve bought pieces from?
I was recently at an abandoned inland port in East Yorkshire that was pretty special.
