Darcy Clothing

Tucked away down a quiet side street, just yards from the Lewes Arms, the Vintage Shirt Company sells period men's clothing. I was enticed in by an unbleached cotton bag in the window reading 'I [heart] Mr Darcy'. It's not typical of what the shop sells but it got me through the door.

If you've ever fancied the young fogey look, this is the perfect place to kit yourself out. They have collarless shirts, baggy corduroy trousers with a waistline half way up your chest and braces to match. They also sell loose white flounced shirts as worn by Colin Firth to go diving into ponds in Pride and Prejudice and striped flannelette night-shirts and night caps that might grace a Dickensian Scrooge. Classic accessories include top hats and boaters, monocles, sock suspenders and maroon silk scarves with small white polka dots that were sported by ex-RAF types back in my 1950s childhood.

The shop is an off-shoot of a theatrical costumier, not a fancy dress shop, so these are real clothes, made to authentic patterns in cotton, linen, wool and silk with prices to match.

The Vintage Shirt Company is a unique shop doing what it does extremely well.

Nice double-fronted shop which stocks a good range of clothing. Lighting's a little doubtful. Easy access from car park at rear of buildings.

This is the shop front of a business that provides authentic looking menswear in styles dating from 1700 to the present day for use in costume dramas and so forth. As a result, the shop itself is a bit haphazard - more of a storage room, and you have to ring the bell to get in because the staff are generally working upstairs. However, the stock is fab. They do a wide range - unsurprisingly - of vintage shirts, the sort you see in costume dramas with high collars and cravats. These are the more specialist items, but they do also do some pieces which are wearable on a more day to day basis. I bought my boyfriend a navy cotton drill work jacket, in the style of railway engineers from the early 20th century. It's basically just a retro looking loose cotton blazer, but it looks cool. Plus they do vintage style square ended ties and stuff. I've got really into menswear recently, which saddens me a bit because I can't really wear most of it (at least not wear it well). If I was a guy I would definitely buy some pieces for myself from here.