ABOUT

A shop for vibrant secondhand clothing made from Liberty of London fabric by different brands and makers over the years, from recently preloved to deep-vintage, via Y2K. An extravaganza of ditzy prints in an inclusive range of sizes from baby upwards.

Iconic textile designs, beautiful colourways and archive treasures in durable natural fibres, with a preference for the incomparable 100% cotton Tana Lawn. Obsessively selected, collected and fastidiously rejuvenated to preserve their beauty (and spare the environment the burden of new clothes). From one Liberty aficionado to another. Don’t just bloom, reflower. 

Collaborate
If you’ve got an idea of how we might collaborate, let me know what you have in mind. 

Wishlist
If there’s a particular print or size you are after, I’ve got more goodies behind the scenes than I list here, so it's worth getting in contact regarding what you have in mind. Also, I like a treasure-hunting goal to keep an eye out for. 

Rent
Want to borrow a dress? If you’d like to rent an outfit for a special occasion, do drop me a line and we can see if we can work something out.

Sell
Most of my collection is individually sourced from individuals. Slow going, but I appreciate a good accompanying story and enjoy helping these special garments find the next person who will love them. If you’re ready to part with your (or someone else’s) Liberty prints, clean and in good condition from any era, do send me some snaps and we can have a chat about possibilities. There isn't a more specialist place for secondhand Liberty to find an adoring new home.

About me
On a more personal (and lengthy) note, this all began with what we’ll euphemistically call one of life’s pivots. As the global pandemic started to ease, I took a leap and became a vintage market trader, setting up pitch at my local Ezra Street Market, conveniently bikeable with my wares in tow. It was something I should have done sooner, but I’m doing it now.

A lifelong creative and collector, with a special love for textiles, I started by parting with pieces from my own collections, rehoming them, really. Then I began seeking out more items that caught my eye. Liberty print always catches the eye. Whenever I had it, it sold quickly, and the conversations that came with those sales (and casual browsers) were extra encouragement: friendly, curious, stylish people, often with a fabulous streak. And lots of matrilineal reminiscing. Liberty prints are evocative.

Never one to do things by halves – and with a brain wired for pattern recognition – I went whole hog. I drew on the knowledge of Liberty prints I’d gathered over the years and had expanded in earnest during lockdown, when I threw myself into patchwork. It’s a bit like playing a giant game of Memory.

My mum gave me my first Liberty shirt when I was fourteen. It came from a charity shop, and I wore it to death over the next thirty years. Eventually, I turned the still-intact upper sleeves into handkerchiefs with hand-rolled hem. One for my mum, one for myself, and one for a friend heading into hospital. Other fragments made their way into quilts for our bed and for my niece and nephew. I later learned the print was called Wiltshire and became a Liberty Classic in 1979, the same year I came into being.

Betsy came next, in the form of a brand-new hanky. Again, a gift from my mum, this time in my late teens, as I headed off on an adventure. It lived in my sunglasses case for years and now migrates between pockets, regularly disappearing just long enough to make me think it's finally lost. 

In my early 20s I bought myself a shirt directly from Liberty of London. A summation of many visits to admire and be in that atmospheric building surrounded by beautiful textiles. Out of character, it’s a simple red and white stripe Tana Lawn, but embroidered with flowers and birds with a hint of lurex. It remains in rotation and is still one of my most expensive clothing purchases. I’ve grown up in secondhand. That hanky and shirt are the only new new Liberty items I own. To me that adds to their beauty. The possibility of many lives.

This Liberty project is the realisation of a dream I’ve long had: walking into a vintage shop and finding bright, beautifully patterned garments – not in meltable synthetics, but in glorious, breathable, biodegradable natural fibres. And with Liberty prints, I realised I could actually make that fantasy a reality.

While Liberty of London has a rich 150-year history, my focus is on the latter half of it – the pieces able to be worn and loved, not just preserved. I’m a Londoner and I like the history in London, but one that draws inspiration from the many places Londoners have come from and been inspired by. Although I may not always know the name of every print or who designed it (they don’t always have a name and there are upwards of 5000), I can recognise Liberty when I see it. My eye extends to the state of a garment and the skills for fastidious care and repair. I only sell pieces in excellent vintage condition.

By focusing on this high-quality fabric, sourced across a huge range of brands and home-sewn pieces, I’m able to offer a wide range of styles, sizes, and fits, from newborn to 6XL. That inclusivity matters to me. So does the environment. With the fashion industry and clothing in general being a major polluter and too often exploitative, making secondhand not just viable but desirable feels essential. Luxury shouldn’t cost the earth.

I firmly believe there's a Liberty print for everyone.