Posts Tagged ‘portobello’

Stop Me and Buy One

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

I was walking in Notting Hill, West London about four years ago when I was stopped by one of those extraordinarily trendy Japanese women who seem to look good, no matter how ridiculous their outfits. I thought she was going to ask for directions, but, in charmingly Japanese accented English, she asked if I would sell her the denim jacket I was wearing.

I wasn’t offended, or surprised by her request. The jacket is a red tabbed, denim blouson, single breast pocket, with yellow stitching and rear belt. I had stopped a man in Portobello Road two or three years earlier and asked him to sell me the same jacket. I knew it was a desirable Levi vintage of the 40s or 50s and I paid £15.00 ($30.00) for it.

I asked the Japanese lady how much she wanted to pay? She smiled, thought for a minute and replied: £400.00 ($800.00). I was surprised, but I was pretty well off, at the time, I didn’t need the money. I thanked her, very much, we bowed to one another, she giggled and we went off in different directions. I never saw her again.

In the early seventies, having returned from a year in Spain, I arrived penniless on Portobello Road. I crashed with friends and they introduced me to a guy making a good living from recycled denim, bought by the ton, ripped, re-cut and made into coats, jackets and shirts. He and I became friends and eventually partners.

At the time, denim was considered very low-grade by rag merchants, who recycled most of the rags they collected for use as wiping cloths in industry. Denim is not very absorbent, so it was cheap. A ton of washed denim cost us £75.00 ($150.00). In the early seventies it was not the fashion to wear your denim with holes or rips, so the denim we were buying was nearly always in good condition and reusable.

We took it in turns travelling around the UK, visiting rag yards with which we had agreements to sort and save denim. We also bought denim from the USA via a dealer named, Mr Denim. At his warehouse in Croydon, south London, we were allowed to sort through piles of denim pants and denim jackets and, as much of this denim was collected from prisons, large numbers of denim overalls (bib and brace). For each garment we were charged £0.75p regardless of condition. We found many interesting vintage denim garments too and we always had a ready market for those on Portobello Road, where we opened one of the very first stalls selling vintage.

Unfortunately we could never buy enough denim to make into clothing to satisfy our customers. People would queue outside the door of our workshop in Basing Street on the days we received new stock from our machinists and fight over whatever arrived. One of those customers decided to use the name we’d painted on the door in pink paint, but had neglected to register, turning it into a very successful brand name.

One of our very best customers for the denim clothes we were making was an Italian, with a shop in Kensington Market. Years later he became a very successful vintage watch dealer and we have remained friends. A couple of years after the Japanese lady stopped me and asked to by my denim jacket he saw me wearing the jacket and he asked if I would be willing to sell it to him. I told him about the Japanese woman and asked if he would pay more than £400.00? He offered £300.00. He said the jacket was rare, but prices had fallen since the Japanese lady had made her offer. So had the pound sterling against the dollar and £300 then was little more than $450. I thanked him and refused his offer.

I probably would not have sold it for a thousand pounds. Although it is now a little tatty at the edges and faded, I love it. I’m always looking forward to the next offer though.

Author Bio: Visit VintageRagTrader.com!

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