If you love vintage - like real vintage not the copy cat designer vintage - then you'll love this…read morelittle boutique. It is filled with old and beautiful treasures. The old hats, suitcase, ties and dresses are from a time long gone but have been preserved well so are still wearable. The store girl looks the part with her strawberry blond hair and red lipstick pout. Prices are OK except for the baby clothes. $70 for a little boys top is bit pricey for something that is second hand even if it is super cute. They also have costume jewellery some as old as a century old. Oh and I loved the swirling blue and green patterned carpet - this is not just an old clothes shop - it's a step back in time. For vintage lovers this store is a must see.

Affordable designer wear that does good. What may sound like an oxymoron is reality at this…read morecharity-run vintage store with a focus on designer wear. A must!

There are many vintage clothing stores around Sydney, however many of them would be more…read moreappropriately categorised as overpriced junk shops. I am blown away sometimes by how some of these shops stay in business as they are not selling good clothes and what they are selling could be picked up at any St Vin's or Salvo's shop for a fraction of the price. Reuze Vintage in Paddington does not fit into this category but is rather offering quality vintage stock. A relatively new shop, Reuze is more geared towards women and with much lacy garments and formal clothing for both men and women, it is not a shop, which particularly appeals to my sense of style, but none the less their clothes are high in quality and providing a fashion style many people will love.

I stumbled upon this place last week and fell in love. With everything. The owner has done a…read morewonderful job of collating a killer wardrobe full of clothes, jewellery, shoes, hats, bags and collectables. Girls who like vintage clothes will be in heaven - there's actually so much to go through that I had to take a time out and go back another day. While some dresses are around the $100 mark (some worth it, others only racking up the dollars because they're old), there's also a great range for $25, which is a steal considering all the love and effort that went into making clothes back in the day. Yes, you could probably spend your weekends trawling op shops to find similar items at a fraction of the price, but here all the hard work has been done for you and it's definitely worth supporting a local shop owner taking a brave leap.

Leona Edmiston is a landmark name in Australian fashion. Her pieces regularly feature on the red…read morecarpet and are the subject of the fashion elite's adoration due to their sleek, vibrant and versatile nature. But how can we mere mortals access these garments? Well, Leona has thought of that. In this shop, and in its sister store in Balmain, the unsold items from past collections are on offer at greatly reduced prices. You might worry that that means they're slightly outdated pieces but one of the advantages of Leona Edmiston's pieces are that they are brilliantly timeless. I found that she is particularly good at designing bold printed wrap dresses which would be both wearable as a show-stopping daytime number or as an elegant evening dress. The shop is nicely laid out too with a boutique-y table set in the centre under a chandelier and embroidered chairs by the changing rooms. Shopping here makes you feel pretty special!

I hate the term 'recycled fashion'. It immediately conjures up images of sifting through smelly…read moreclothes for the odd something that just might be salvageable. Blue Spinach is the antidote to this preconception of mine. The best of the best in 'recycled fashion', Blue Spinach is a designer consignment store located in the depths of Darlinghurst (well not really, it is just off the main drag of Victoria Street). These guys have a beautiful range of rescued clothes and accessories for both men and women, with a real focus on quality. I bought a beautiful Juliette Hogan silk blouse ($135). It is so unique and the quality is so fantastic I have never once thought of it as 'recycled fashion'.

This store is as weird as spinach would be if it were blue. The store lady was nice enough but not…read morewarm and the men and women's clothes there, along with the shoes, kind of imitate their owner's style. They're nice enough but not warm - a description which is enough to scare off most of Sydney's trendy, pretty young things who like to feel comforted (definitely not comfy) in their clothes. In Grease analogy that would mean that Sandy would never go here (not even in her sexy end-of-movie phase). But Rizzo? Most definitely. And if you like paying less for big-brand name items you're in good territory. But keep mind that the stuff (most stuff? Perhaps some stuff?) here is recycled. I didn't walk out of here with anything but like I had mentioned (warned?) this is not my kind of store. I'm not Rizzo, folks.

Cream on King is remade vintage done right. Similar to its counterpart on Crown Street (rightfully…read morenamed Cream on Crown), the reconstructions and print / pattern variations are delightful. I have this shameless love for cowboy shirts with the pearly snappy buttons and the scalloped pockets. To the left of this skinny shop, you will find a couple racks of these, but wonderfully redone for the ladies. With styles that have peekaboo shoulder cut-aways, or midriff exposing tie ups, you can be vintagey and sexy all at once (which, lets face it, is NOT always a given when dealing with vintage). Teeter on over to the boys side and you'll find this same style of cowboy shirt in its original form. Hey guys, from the point of view of a little hipster-loving, San Francisco born female, try one of these shirts with a leather motorcycle jacket over it. BAM. Insta-hot. The prices here at Cream are midrange for vintage. Not as good as if you sourced the same shirt from Vinnies, but could you? Probably not. The bonus here is that they've done all the sorting for us and elected what the Sydney edgy, "in" crowd should be wearing. I realize it's not for everybody, but they definitely had me at plaid.

Cream on Crowns sits pretty amongst the many other vintage and second hand stores on Crown Street…read morein Surry Hills. Selling recycled and re-designed clothing, Cream on Crown has many similarities to its Newtown sibling, Cream on King. In fact, the two stores hardly differ at all, except that Cream on Crown's sunglasses stand is far less grand than that of the King's. As for its stock, many of the dresses are same same - beautiful, but if you've bought one from there within the last two years, chances are that the one you wish to buy next time will be exactly the same cut and style, simply made from a different fabric. Whilst I'm a fan of knowing what you like and what's right for you, I had to stop buying from King and Crown Creams when I realised that a majority of my wardrobe was made up of the same dress in different colours. Aside from dresses, Cream sells plenty of vintage cowboy boots which are still in pretty good nick (although I'm always certain to check for slippery soles) and a bunch of guys flannies, sleeves pre-rolled.

Come As You Are, but leave looking like everyone else? I guess you run the risk of being…read morecommonplace if you shop at stores that carry the big name brands. Many of these brands are based the States, however, so not necessarily everyone in Australia will be looking like you after shopping here. J Brand jeans has finally got with the picture and started cranking out an array of different color denim. WIth your hip primary colors, as well as the more reserved basic denim blues, J Brand are worth the money.They will give you an arse lift as quickly as you can say Kim Kardashian. Some other brands at Come As You Are include True Religion, American Vintage, Rock and Republic, Old Molly, Velvet and Masons. Although the style isn't ground-breakingly innovative, there are some fun separates and classic jeans in here that might find a spot in your frequent rotation.

As the name would suggest, Come As You Are is a place to come for individual style. Come As You Are…read morestocks some of the hottest international labels like Nolita, Rare, J-Brand, American Vintage. They defiantly have an ear to the ground when it comes to what's in demand - they were one of the first places J-Brand jeans were available and I saw recently they've got cult blouse label Equipment in stock. The overall style is eclectic glam. This is the sort of place you'll want patience to sort through the racks. The kaleidoscope of colour and labels means that you need to take the time to look through each piece.

There are some great pieces here, however this place has a negative haunting energy attached to it…read more Buyer beware.

This place looks like a pink flamingo gobbled up the last five decades and vomited them back up…read moreagain. In the best possible way. Situated just off Crown and a block or two from Oxford, this vintage store involves two levels of mens and womens vintage clothes and accessories, the bottom floor selling stock at sale prices. The dresses here are more expensive than you'll find at your average second hand/Salvos store, but not as pricey as you can expect from some of the city's spendy trendy vintage stores. I don't really mind paying that little bit extra for someone else to fish out the good from the bad for me, as long as I'm not paying over $100 for someone having a better eye than I. Zoo Vintage Emporium has a bunch of nice skirts and real fur shrugs and jackets and their racks of dresses come from an exciting variety of styles and decades, a nice change to the racks of same style different material dresses you get at some vintage stores. Zoo Vintage Emporium was a new find for me and I think it's my pick of this cluster. Also, the exciting descriptions on the tags of each item all but impel you to buy them. Wanna buy a "Summery fun lemon swing skirt"? When you put it like that, who wouldn't?!