Business women spotlight vintage fashion

Vintage Vibes

Liz set the store up originally in Old Cwmbran, opening in Griffithstown only six months ago. The business has proven a success, with customers travelling for miles to get hold of her bespoke dresses and vintage threads.

Being a destination store, Liz hopes more people will be attracted to the village.

“We have a beautiful cake shop,” she says, “I’d like to see more people coming for the day to have a mooch around.”

“If you are good enough at what you do, people will come to you”

Says Liz, who took a giant risk on her dream of running a vintage shop, but it is her personal touch that really makes her store special.

“Every client that comes in, I like to know their names,” Liz admits. She keeps all local events in a diary, recording who purchased what for which event.

“I’ve spent money on dresses, rocked up at a wedding and someone else is wearing the same dress,” she recalls, an embarrassment she is adamant will not happen to her clients.

Liz’s salon offers free rein of the store with vintage makeovers and photo-shoots

Retrospective Future

Liz has many plans for the future of her business. Located in the back of the store is a 1950’s salon, booming with package deals for birthdays, hen parties and baby showers. Liz would like to offer 30 minute intro classes to Burlesque or Jive dancing. She also plans to take the salon on tour with her, offering pop-up salon services at the vintage fairs she sells at.

Recently, Liz has approached Business Wales with plans to move production of her house brand to the basement of her shop. She hopes to offer wholesale and get her brand into other niche shops.

If all this wasn’t a big enough plan for one woman to tackle, Liz has also seen a store up for grabs in Caerleon. “I’d like to hit the student market, offer original vintage. Students can have a rummage through old suitcases and £10 vintage rails and I’d like to go quite alternative with it, style-wise.”