Shop of the Week: Heartfelt Vintage

Wedding dresses float elegantly on the rails and mannequins stand proudly, adorned in silk gowns and delicate day dresses. The clothes in this shop appear to be made to last and it is breathtaking to see them all so beautifully arranged and kept in mint condition. Owner Kate and her partner Will lay a tablecloth down for us to have afternoon tea at one of the intimate tables reserved for customers who need refreshments after a morning of browsing: they clearly care a lot about the items they sell and the customer experience they offer.

Kate and Will initially worked for years at workshops, festivals and outdoor street parties across the south of England after studying at drama school, where they met. However, their busy lifestyle, cuts in funding for the arts and long hours of form-filling became tiring. In need of a change, the couple settled in Bristol (because “you won’t get bored in Bristol!” Kate says) and started their own business. In a strange twist of fate, Kate knew Bristol fairly well thanks to an ex-boyfriend, and their premises on Alma Vale Road virtually back onto the house he lived in. Just like styles in fashion, life does indeed run in circles.

A selection of vintage wedding dresses and accessories

Combining their theatrical background and individual skills in baking and fashion, the couple has been based in Bristol for nearly a decade, running Heartfelt Vintage for four years. The shop previously existed as a more chaotic vintage store which required a lot of rummaging; the former in-house Finnish seamstress, Pia, is still employed by the couple and uses her to skills to help tailor clothing for their customers.

The shop is the only vintage bridalwear store in the area, and Kate and Will pride themselves on being able to give customers extra long appointments, so their needs can truly be explored and met. “One thing we can give a customer is time,” Will says, going on to say that they aim to be the absolute antithesis of mass-produced clothing shops, which often just rush customers through for profit. At Heartfelt Vintage, dresses are handpicked and restored with Pia’s help so that customers leave happy: “They take home what they like, not with what the current fashion industry makes them think they like,” Will says.

Not just wedding dresses, plenty of other clothing decorates the hanging rails here too.

Music dances softly around the shop to create an atmosphere of a room held in a time past. Clothes range from the early 1900s to 1970s; a few 1980s pieces are now creeping in, although Kate laughs in denial as she calls this period ‘vintage’ because it makes her feel old. “I live for vintage,” Kate admits, and says she is always learning more about the art of the trade. Her idea of the best day imaginable would be starting early at a flea market on a Sunday morning somewhere quirky like Berlin to hunt for treasures. “Vintage has a value that we underestimate,” she says.

This shop is arranged as more of a gallery in ode to vintage, curated to present the finest clothes in their best condition, to be admired during afternoon tea. It’s an experience that is refreshingly different to squeezing into a jam-packed room of things no one really wants in a rush and missing out on the experience of discovering the perfect outfit; all with the added bonus of cake.

Heartfelt Vintage
32 Alma Vale Road
Clifton
Bristol
BS8 2HY
www.heartfeltvintage.co.uk
0117 904 2898