Go retro

Dressing in designer gear from head to toe is passe. The new in is old. Brand name shops like I.T. and Miss Sixty are packed with vintage styles, but what's the point of buying new clothes just because they look old? Hong Kong has a good selection of boutiques selling real retro fashion.

Midwest in North Point is possibly the biggest second-hand fashion shop in Hong Kong. Established by John E. Hollender in 1993, the shop offers a wide range of used clothing including army pants, western shirts, cowboy boots, and this year's great hits - terry tops and wrapped skirts. Most of them are from 1950s-to-1990s Texas.

The second-hand fashion boom has a lot to do with individuality, according to Hollender. 'Clothes in the 1930s and 40s were generic and basic except for evening wear. But in the 1950s, James Dean and Marlon Brando started wearing blue jeans and t-shirts and had their hair slicked back in the movies. This had a tremendous influence on young people,' he said.

'By the 1960s, hippies started wearing colourful clothes, bell-bottoms and hippy jeans. People wanted to feel free and show their individuality through fashion, which is the same as kids today.'

'Second-hand fashion offers an alternative, bridging the gap between expensive brand-name and mass-produced fashion. Young people mix and match vintage clothes to create their own look,' Hollender said.

The second-hand fashion market in Hong Kong is expanding. Retrostone has just opened its third shop in Tsim Sha Tsui after Causeway Bay and Mongkok. Decorated with 1970s-style wallpaper, Retrostone is a shop and cafe selling used clothing without that sweaty, mildew smell of many second-hand shops. You can find patchwork shirts, band tees, polo shirts, and t-shirts made from bits of other old clothes priced from $80 to $300 on average.

Besides this wearable clothing, the shop also has some collectable items - 30 pairs of vintage Levi's 'big E' jeans (a capital 'E' in Levi's on their red tag instead of a lower case one as it is today). The most expensive pair costs $19,000.