Inspiration: Emily Rose Vintage

Meet Liz, owner of Emily Rose Vintage.  Full of community spirit, vintage passion and business determination, Liz has injected some much-needed glamour into old Cwmbran.  Teaming up with friend Nicola, the pair brought a derelict former railway cafe back to life by transforming the premises into a base for their two business - Nicola's 'Creative Cakes', and Liz's 'Emily Rose Vintage'.

Emily Rose Vintage stocks a collection of hand made vintage inspired dresses, hand-picked original vintage clothing, gifts, jewellery, shoes, and bags. Vintage china and wedding decor is available to hire, and a mobile vintage tea party service is offered!

As part of my series of posts highlighting inspirational members of the vintage community, as well as drawing your attention to where you can shop for vintage in South Wales, I met up with Liz to hear how she got her business of the ground, and what her plans for the future are.

How did your love of vintage begin?

In 2005, I went to Shoreditch Vintage Fashion Fair with a friend.  It was something I’d never really experienced before, in that people were quite creative in what they were wearing and had the confidence to express themselves.  I also fell in love with the nostalgia of the dresses.  I just started wearing vintage scarves, buying my own vintage items for myself, and fell in love with other clothing that wasn’t quite my size and bought it anyway, because I had to have it! 

Is that how Emily Rose began?

Yes, rather than hoarding, it’s nice to share it with other people and for other people to get some enjoyment out of it.  There are other people out there that do love vintage but don’t necessarily know where to source it, other than online.  In Emily Rose Vintage, they can try things on, and if I’ve got a story about that outfit, I can share it with them.  Sometimes I’ll look at an item and wonder if somebody wore it to their first dance.  Once I bought an old stocking box filled with silk scarves, and in the bottom was a wedding hymn sheet from 1952, it’s those personal histories that I love.

  

What have been the high and low points so far?

Opening the physical shop has been the high point, not just for me, but for Nicola too with her cake shop. The low point was the time and effort it has taken to get to that point - our planning was opposed and rather than open with a bang, we had to be quite low key because of the feeling.

  

Do you have any advice for someone starting a vintage business?

I’ve been very lucky, I’ve started small, I’ve got plans and as money comes in, it’s investing time and money.  You’ve got to have the passion, the drive, and be prepared for late nights and to go out and source things.  At the same time, I’m a mum, a wife and everything else.  Making sure you’ve got time for all of that is important.  Finally, I’d say not letting anybody faze you – I had someone come in and say, “Do people actually wear this?  Is it fancy dress?”, and I thought, “Well, I’d wear it!”.  There are people in the Cwmbran area who love vintage, like me.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I want my own brand, to see my own Emily Rose clothing range.  I also plan to upskill so that I can do bespoke tailoring, offer that service to people who come in with perhaps just a pattern.  We're also offering workshops and other events to get the community involved.

Below: the start of the Emily Rose Vintage clothing range - pencil skirt in pin-up fabric

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Emily Rose Vintage is at 3 Ventnor Road, Old Cwmbran, South Wales, NP44 3JY.

OPENING TIMES: Weds 10 - 4.30, Thurs 10 -4.30, Fri 10 - 4.30, Sat 10- 2

For enquiries/purchases, please visit the Facebook page here.  A brand new website will be launched in May.

As part of Liz's drive for her business to be part of the community, Emily Rose Vintage is running a vintage hairstyling workshop on Wednesday 24^th April from 5.30-8pm.  Tickets are £3.50 and available by contacting the shop through the Facebook page here.