About
Actively searching for vintage gems is our way of life! We endeavour to find alternative, individual items with fashion trends in mind. Jolly Brown is always looking for items which take our wonderful customers out of the high street shops and into their own style.
At Jolly Brown our customers are always our priority and making you feel comfortable and gorgeous is our aim! We offer a personal shopping experience, where you can pop in or call us for style advice and using our 'search & retrieve' service you can be united with the vintage item of your dreams!
Jolly Brown has worked with Singers, stylists, fashion shows and actors, finding specialised, year specific outfits or items as part of our personal shopping experience. We will endeavour to assist you with any 'particulars' you may have!!
Wearing vintage is not only a style choice but a life choice, at Jolly Brown we feel that re-cycling clothing and accessories is essential, not only to look good but to make a change to ever growing 'throw-away' clothing industry that threatens not only the economy but the environment.
Jolly’s Inspirations
From a young age I was made to appreciate the quality and history of vintage brands, clothing, cosmetics, accessories and household items.
I vividly remember being dragged around vintage markets and auctions with my mother. Hating every minute of it, not realising at the time what treasures I was being shown and how much I would come to love and appreciate them.
When I got a little older and became more interested in style and fashion my mother introduced me to Biba. Of course I didn’t know what she was talking about and no idea who or what Biba was.
Biba came from the imagination of a Lady called Barbara Hulkaniki. Founded as a corner shop selling just one dress, Biba grew in less than a decade to become a 7 storey department store filled with own brand products. You could buy not only a new wardrobe, fully co-ordinated from head to toe, but a full range of cosmetics and soft furnishings.
That’s where my passion for vintage came from. The thing I love the most is knowing the history of them, where they came from and who wore them previously. Just seeing the way the clothes were made, the pattern, materials, attention to detail. How beautiful and glamorous everything looked. It was so different from how things are made now. It just reminds me of all the glamorous old movie stars. Audrey Hepburn, Betty Davis, Greta Garbo, Clarke Gable, Cary Grant and Steve McQueen to name a few. They always looked so well dressed and groomed to perfection.
Vintage clothes can be classics, can be works of art in their own right, and I’d like to share with you my appreciation for all things vintage.
Brown’s Inspirations
I come from a large family, so second hand clothes have been part of my life since I can remember! I am passionate about fashion and clothes and especially vintage fashion. In my teens I used to collect vintage band tee shirts and customise them to make them my own, I have carried this on into the world of Jolly Brown, making head wear and customising items for our customers.
I have always loved Mary Quant, Ossie Clarke, Chanel and Vivienne Westwood’s classics. I think my passion comes from my mother’s love of individual designs and my father’s classic dress sense. There is a lot to be said for wearing a classic base outfit and putting a focus piece with it, to really make an outfit your own.
These days it’s so easy to get hold of catwalk copies and to stay ahead of fashion is not just for actors and models, it’s in the hand of everyone who is interested. I believe that fashion and design should be for one and all and not reserved for the rich or the famous! I apply my love and passion for vintage and fashion to Jolly Brown and my own wardrobe. Big Up Vintage!