Derry's Elaine shortlisted for Miss Vintage UK 2023

Elaine, who owns the newly opened Vintage Star shop on Pump Street, was the first person from Northern Ireland to be shortlisted eight years ago and is ‘delighted’ to be shortlisted again this year.

She said: “Twinwood Festival has been going for quite a number of years and it's a lovely, family friendly event with lots of events and concerts. You've got everything from the old style music of Glenn Miller, right the way through to the likes of rockabilly, rock and roll sessions as well. So it fits all the different genres and all the different age groups. It's basically from wee tiny children right the way through to 80, 90 year olds would be attending it.”

Elaine opened her shop Vintage Star on Pup Street on the first day of the Jazz Festival in May this year, after first having a place in the Re:Imagined pop-up shop in Foyleside. The shop gave a platform for people to set up their small business or to have a physical space for the first time and Elaine says the initiative gave her the confidence to take the leap and open her own shop after it ended.

"I found this lovely wee unit in Pump Street and thought ‘just give it a try for a year and see how it goes’. Sandra Duffy our mayor at the time, came up and cut the ribbon and christened it for me and there’s been a really lovely response from all of the the neighbours here on the street. All the businesses near me were very, very welcoming - everyone came in with their well wishes and said they were all there if I needed anything. It's been a lovely wee introduction to having my own shop.

"I sell womenswear at the moment but I'd like to do menswear as well and I'd like to be the hub for vintage items from the 1930s through to the 1950s. Even if a theatre company was looking for pieces that I might be able to help them out in the future and do other things like that."

Not only is Elaine interested in vintage fashion, she also has a keen interest in history, especially the history of women in Derry. She has a special interest in one historic woman in particular.

"I'm part of the Amelia Earhart legacy association,” she said. “So, I have a permanent exhibition of Amelia pictures here in the shop. It would be really nice if the tours and tourists could stop off to have a wee nosey and I could tell them a little bit more about what we're getting up to over the next coming months and years. It's 91 years since Amelia landed here so we’re working towards something now over these next nine years, leading up to the 100th anniversary. We want to be highlighting her story much much more because there’s not nearly enough done about her in Derry.”

Elaine prides herself in providing a range of vintage clothing for people aged in their teens to their 90s. She also has clothing to fit every body shape, with one label providing clothing up to size 26. She also loves working with other local businesses in the city to promote and support them as much as possible. The picture Elaine used to enter Miss Vintage UK was taken by a photography student in the North West Regional College, Cassie’s Studio.

Vintage fashion has been on the rise recently with TV couple Angel and Dick, from Escape to the Chateau, giving the way of life much publicity as they renovated an old French chateau on the small screen. Elaine had the chance to visit the chateau herself recently, where she stayed for two days meeting the couple and touring their home.

The final of Miss Vintage UK will be judged at the Twinwood Festival in England on August 25-29. For more informationl, visit https://twinwoodevents.com. For more information on Elaine’s shop, visit Vintage Star on Facebook.