Vintage Virgin

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By Richard Grainger

It’s a Saturday morning and I’m on Oldham Street, in Manchester’s northern quarter. A cloudless
sky manages to lighten the gloom of the late-Victorian industrial architecture.

Buildings resigned to a post-colonial functionality, home no longer to the grandiose
trading companies that built the empire, now with ground floors given over to alternative
retailers and upper floors to technology here-today-gone-tomorrowers.

It’s appropriate then, that Oldham Street is the hub of Manchester’s growing vintage scene.
Mostly what’s for sale is not new – let’s call it pre-owned, previously cherished or just
good old second-hand – unless of course it’s “own brand” vintage.

Down the road, the Arndale Centre houses 240 shops and department stores and is the High Street
shopper’s Nirvana. From Poundland to Pandora, there’s something there for
everyone.

I’m in Oldham Street to find out about Vintage. I must confess that somehow it had slipped
under the radar of my fashion antennae, but what doesn’t? You see, I wrongly
considered that there wasn’t much of a market for second-hand clothes,
bric-a-brac or semi-collectable knick knacks. And if there was, I’d figured,
charity shops had it pretty well cornered.

Time to browse. My first call is Pop Boutique, which opened in 1994. It has two floors of vintage
clothing, plus a large selection of vintage furniture and kitsch. There is also
the obligatory cafe on the ground floor.

In addition to the sale of vintage, Pop Boutique also has its own label and, more significantly,
its own wholesale business which serves as the parent company and wholesales
over 300,000 kilos of vintage clothing every year. Pop Boutique now has a chain
of six shops in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Gottenburg, Sweden.

According to Steve the deputy manager, the sort of people who buy vintage clothes are not
necessarily the same as those who patronize Primark. “It’s much more of a fashion
statement than about saving money. We get all sorts in here – students and
actually all sorts,” says Steve, conspiratorially spilling the beans.

I’m intrigued to know what the difference between vintage and retro is. No one I spoke to – even
Steve – seemed to know. Is it, I asked, simply new vintage…that is, new stuff
manufactured to look old…or is it old stuff that was manufactured to, well…look
old? I think my questioning is causing more confusion than enlightenment so I
decide to do what all good researchers do – resort to Wikipedia: “Retro
is a culturally outdated or aged style, trend, mode, or fashion, from the
overall postmodern past, that has since that time become functionally or superficially
the norm once again…It generally implies a vintage of at least 15 or 20 years.”
Well that clears that up then: retro is actually vintage…retro.

Moving on along Oldham Street, I take a look in Retro Rehab. I like this shop a lot, for
although I’m still a squidge confused about the retro/vintage (If indeed there
is one) the window display is terrific, if a tad voyeuristic. Made up of black
and white lined walls and a chequered floor on which, beside a seated mannequin
in a black dress, sits an old lacquered suitcase bearing the legend: “Style is
Timeless”. Time, indeed, to dig out the double denim then.

Company magazine likes it too, “A small vintage store that feels like you have walked into a
really chic dressing up box, for grown ups.” This pretty much sums it up,
although having never walked into a dressing up box I had to take this on
advisement. However, it raises another question about the reasons for the
popularity of vintage – is it about fancy dress or is it connected to fashion?

I decided to ask the punters. Jane Bibby, a mother of two and a florist from Stockport says,
“It’s actually about what you want it to be about. If dressing up to fit a
theme is your scene then there’s a lot in here that’ll be for you. But if
you’re into vintage and want to follow trends and seasons…or even seasonal trends
you can do that too.” That’s cleared things up.

But looking around Retro Rehab, I suddenly get what it’s about – entering the shop you sneak
inside the girl in the window’s wardrobe. I resist the temptation to seek out
the back wall and crawl between the furs into an icy world of fantasy
wonderment.

And that, I conclude, must be what it’s all about: it’s whatever you want it to be. The gap
between charity and vintage shops is defined by collection as opposed to
selection. Charity shops sell donations whereas vintage shops select what their
research suggests will appeal to their target market.

For those, Goethe once said, who understand, no explanation is necessary. And for those who don’t
understand, no explanation is possible.

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About Richard Grainger

I am a freelance writer, novelist and ghostwriter Last year I competed an MA in Professional Writing at London Metropolitan University and was awarded a distinction, I am currently doing another MA – in Magazine Journalism at University of Central Lancashire (Uclan). I suppose you could say that my life has lacked the benefit of a plan. That’s not selling myself- it’s just being honest. Being a student again in my mid 50s is akin to living life in reverse. I worked as a teacher – a profession to which, like my hero George Mallory, I was temperamentally unsuited – for 20 years. What triggered this was a love of sport – Rugby in particular – which led to a most memorable four years at Borough Road College. Although primarily a PE teacher, I taught English and History and edited the school magazine at St. John’s in Sidmouth. Then in 1999 I re-trained as a personal trainer and started my own business: Peak Performance Training. In 2000, I became a consultant for The Times’ “Fit to Play” page and worked as a ghostwriter answering questions for Jennai Cox and Catherine Riley for several years. I acquired a reputation as a fitness industry expert, and assisted with television productions such as Channel 4’s documentary: “Weight Maters”, fronted by Vanessa Feltz. Writing has always been a passion – yes, even more than beer, cricket and rugby! During the ‘80s and ‘90s I combined teaching with coaching rugby at top junior club level. I also wrote sports and running related features for various publications including the local paper: The Sidmouth Herald – “The Beano” as it was unaffectionately known. I have also been published in Runners’ World, The Cricketer and Rugby World magazines. In 1992 I ran around the Cornish coast path for charity. Whilst this was some way short of being enjoyable, it helped me to prepare and get accepted for the Everest Marathon in 1993. This is still the world’s highest and most demanding marathon. It was a life-changing experience, and ultimately led to my first book. THE LAST LATRINE Way back in the mid ‘90s when giving a mobile number as your point of contact confirmed your status as a criminal, there was something called ‘vanity publishing’. And this was how, in 1996, I had my book published. It took a year to write, and I didn’t even bother to re-read it, let alone have it properly edited. I thought it was good; it would be instantly accepted by the lucky publisher I selected and people would flock to buy it; sadly this was not the case. Surprisingly, it did nearly get accepted by a major publisher: I still have the rejection letter from the commissioning editor at Aurum Press who positively glowed about it but…well, you can guess the rest. An agent did suggest a bit of a re-write, but I couldn’t be bothered, so eventually I got Minerva Press to pick it up. I paid £5000 and got 1500 copies of The Last Latrine into print. For this I got some editorial comment– well, quite a bit actually – and they marketed it well enough to get it into most of the major retailers: Dillons, Waterstones, and WH Smith, and all 1500 copies sold within a year. I made nearly £10,000 and was extremely happy. Sadly I was unable to take up the offer of the 2nd edition at half price as they went bust. There were, of course, some horror stories about Minerva Press; but I can only sing their praises. The rejection slips I received were a fair indicator that I hadn’t penned a bestseller, and so vanity publishing seemed the best compromise for me. But vanity publishing still had a certain stigma – when asked who my publisher was, I would conveniently slur the ‘Press’ after Minerva, in deference to that other well respected mainstream outfit; a bit like saying you went to ‘Oxford’ when you actually went to ‘Oxford Poly’ – sorry – ‘Oxford Brookes’. But this was a real learning experience. I freely admit that I had written what seasoned writers refer to as “a first draft” and this should have been professionally edited before going anywhere near a publisher or an agent. It would have resulted in the culling of around 100 pages and a much more free-flowing and less introspective read. If I had known then what I know now, I would have contacted someone like myself and paid a relatively small fee for editorial advice, a market appraisal and to have the MS professionally scrutinised. This would have massively enhanced my chances of mainstream publication and with that, increased the success of the book. COWBOYS AND INDIANS I had started to write a satirical novel set in a minor preparatory school in south-west England in 1994. This sat on floppy discs, generated on an Acorn Archimedes for around 15 years until I went on an Arvon creative writing week-long course. This course – in more ways than one – was to change my life. Apart from realising that writing was something that I had a little talent for, it became clear to me that it was what I wanted to do as a “job”. The manuscript from 1994 (working title of “Mr Moody”) was resurrected, transcribed and work re-commenced. Using this as the template for my Masters’ writing project, I abandoned the original storyline and decided to set the majority of the narrative in South Armagh during The Troubles. At the time of writing, this first novel is nearing completion of the first draft. It is – as far as I know – the first work of “Troubles fiction” based on historical accuracy coupled with a fictional narrative presented in the format of a black comedy. Watch out kneecaps! This first draft, I now realise, is just the beginning. OTHER WRITING EXPERIENCE, INTERESTS AND QUALIFICATIONS A primary area of interest and knowledge continues to be sport, exercise and fitness. I completed a Postgraduate diploma in Sports and Health Sciences at Exeter University in 2006. In 2009, I studied editing and proofreading through an excellent and highly intensive course run by Chapter House. During my Masters’ course at London Met, I helped a large number of students – mainly from overseas – to improve the syntax of their work and to express themselves more precisely in their second language. I found this rewarding and I continue to provide this service for a modest fee. From 1996-2000 I was a member of the publishing syndicate QMM, led by Iain Ballantyne, an established defence journalist, now editor of the globally renowned naval affairs news magazine, WARSHIPS International Fleet Review’. Iain had many connections in a variety of editorial spheres and I was lucky enough to be a contributor who could cover a wide range of topics. My articles appeared in publications such as The Saab Owners Magazine, The Porsche LifestyleYearbook, British Airways’ and South African Airways’ in-flight Magazine. From 2008-2010, I worked in the media department of Exeter Chiefs Rugby club. As such, I wrote match reports for instant publication on their website and subsequently in match day programmes. I also compiled player profiles; however unfortunately this ceased when they were promoted to the Premiership and they engaged a full-time Media Director. I currently contribute a weekly column on the Championship for Rugby World Magazine, which can be accessed via link on the home page. For examples of my work, please click on the sidebar which will lead you to my blogs. You will find feature articles, commentaries and even a screenplay I’ve written. This will give you a flavour of my work. You can also find a link to the Harper Collins run Authonomy website (by clicking onCowboys and Indians on the left sidebar – where I have placed around 90 pages ofCowboys and Indians. Please feel free to read and leave a comment! OTHER INTERESTS Thanks to my daughter, Rosanna, I learned to ride a few years ago. I had not ridden since I was ten but took to it like a duck in water – which I usually was. I even beat her once in a show jumping class – but that was a long time ago and she is now jumping huge courses on her horses Surprise and Archie. I did a few Hunter Trails and hunted with the East Devon Hunt. This – in case you’re anti-hunting – mainly involved galloping furiously around the countryside then standing for ages in the rain drinking from hip flasks, eating mutilated sandwiches and chatting. I have also done the Man V Horse race in mid-Wales four times, twice on foot and twice with Billy. This is a 22 mile multi-terrain race over bog, forest trail and mountains. I can confirm it is a lot easier on horseback than it is on foot! I sneaked into this picture with Florian, a German runner who won the event in 2008 and was only the second runner to beat a horse. Billy and I were 15th – not bad for a cob! I am passionate about Rugby and Cricket. My son Cameron is a very promising cricketer who has played for England Schools (South and South West) and Devon Schools since he was ten. He was also in the England Under 19 squad and currently plays for Exeter Cricket Club in the Devon Premier League. I have been involved in coaching Rugby for many years, mainly at Sidmouth Rugby Club. One of my biggest regrets was missing out in a Twickenham final in 2005. We were 90 seconds away from glory in the semi-final against Sheffield Tigers (now in National League 2) when they scored in the corner and converted to snatch victory 36-34 and shatter our dream! My eldest son, Jake – now 24 – is seriously handicapped and lives in supported living in Torquay. I enjoy running, hill walking and beer and a good film. WHY BOTHER WITH A WEBSITE? This is a fair question; as Bob Geldof recently said: a websites and a blog are a bit like an arsehole – everyone has one. Quite funny for you, that one Bob. I suppose it is primarily to showcase my work – fiction and non-fiction, and also my services. Please refer to the Ghostwriting page for more information on this. If you wish to get into print, I can help you avoid the kind of mistakes I made. With my assistance; you will produce a polished, quality manuscript, which I will help you to market. Maybe you have a brilliant idea for a story but lack either the time or the confidence to develop it. You may just want some guidance or advice on a writing project which has lost momentum or direction. Please get in touch – it will cost you nothing to discuss your projects, interests or aspirations!

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