Spring: a season of realization, overused floral, and a warm night out with your girlfriends. Some may hate it, some may dread it, and some may, well use it to their advantage. A time when you thought you had more time to get into your “perfect summer body”, only to come to terms that May is around the corner and you’re still in December. I mean let’s be honest people, weren’t we all just having Thanksgiving dinner but now we’re putting our turtlenecks away and exchanging them with shorts. Don’t even get me started with jean shorts, nothing screams Spring more than humidity, denim sticking to your thighs, and to top it off, frizz. Now although I am not the biggest fan of Spring weather, that doesn’t mean I hate the clothes that come with it. I’m just about ready to say goodbye to my knits and hello to a new wave of Spring fashion, starting with boxers, micro glasses, and vintage slip dresses! (I still hate jean shorts)

As a Fashion and Makeup enthusiast, and a YouTube fanatic, I tend to spend any free time I may have browsing hundreds of Vogue videos that reveal the hidden treasures of Beauty Secrets, styling tips, and even exploring what lies within the handbags of our favorite celebrities, models, and icons. However, I recently came across one of my Fashion and Beauty inspirations, Camille Charrière, on Vogue France sharing her most admired and prized vintage shops in the beloved Notting Hill, which she calls home. As she emphasizes the importance of secondhand shopping and the world of vintage thrifting, we dive into the archived looks by Tom Ford at Gucci, Coco Chanel, and John Galliano at Dior.

Camille Charrière, a well-known Fashion influence and contributing editor at Elle UK, finds her way through the corners of Notting Hill and lengths of Portobello Road, and the historic vintage shops that stand along the pavement that Charrière is most familiar with. Some may even say she is an acclaimed athlete in the sport of shopping. She first makes a stop at “One Of A Kind Archive”, where she dresses in the legendary John Galliano pink dress worn by no other Kate Moss on the runway in 1995. “The beautiful thing about buying something vintage in a place like this is if one day you were to decide to get rid of it, there will be someone who will want to wear it because these are unique pieces,” says Charrière.

The next hidden gem she visits along Portobello is “Karen Vintage”, where Charrière explores the beauty of chic silk, silver sparkle, and ethereal dresses. Not only is vintage shopping all about searching for pieces, but also you must overcome an obsession almost because if you have a feeling about a skirt or a blouse and you decide to sleep on it, the next day, most likely, it will be in the hands of another. This Spring I will be practicing the lessons that Karen Stott, founder of “Karen Vintage”, loves to preach when finding garments and accessories that best fit her store and image. “90’s, figure-hugging, must be silk. I love a long showing back because you don’t get enough of it these days. I love that and I love very sexy dresses,” says Stott. So, as the humidity begins to rise, take note that the back of your dress should lower, showing nothing but the spine, shine, and divine.

Lastly, Charrière’s final destination is “Found and Vision”, a jewel that thrives off of uncertainty and uniqueness. Co-founder Karen Clarkson says, “When people ask me what you specialize in, we specialize in not specializing.” What I loved most about Charrière’s ode to Notting Hill vintage shops was how she says, “how leopard is to Britain what stripes are to France”, my favorite line throughout the whole video because it frames the main message. What you find, what you wear, and what you make of the fabrics you wear, all come from a place of history and without the vintage stores, Fashion has no heartbeat.

As we take away from the brilliant advice of Camille Charrière and the owners of these collective shops, one thing that I urge you all to take away from this is the more risks you take in the dressing room, the more you get to know yourself. I never would have thought I would find the best pieces of clothing I own would come from secondhand stores, but now as I discover stories through garments and play a part in sustainability, I am in full blossom and I hope you bloom too.