Love at first sight: a look inside Southwell's newest vintage boutique

If shopping more sustainably is on your New Year’s resolution list this year, then you’re not alone. In fact, a recent YouGov survey found that 84% of shoppers now buy second-hand items. And if you’re lucky enough to live in Notts, then it’s safe to say you have your pick of sustainable and vintage clothing shops to choose from.

We featured a round-up of preloved clothing haunts in our September issue, but Love at First Sight is a new boutique that opened its doors a handful of months ago. Located in Southwell, down a hidden sidestreet, it is stocked with treasures ranging from affordable to high-end luxury designer pieces.

Its owner Lottie, has been selling vintage clothing since the age of sixteen. While most people were spending their teen years getting into mischief, she could be found rummaging through car boot sales, hunting down coveted silk scarves and garments from yesteryear. It’s this eye for a bargain and a celebration of fashion from years gone by, that has helped Lottie fund the dream that would become the launch of her very own pink palace boutique six years later. 

“I've always been into fashion. As soon as I got interested in having my own sense of style and needing to shop for clothes, I opted for charity shops and going to the car boot,” says Lottie. “So I think the interest for it was always there, and the shop was just a natural progression from there for me.”

“I've always been quite introverted too, but for me clothes have always been how I expressed myself,” she adds. ”I felt very at home when I was rummaging through piles of clothes. I think some people just have that connection to clothing. I don't feel like myself until I've got dressed in the morning – an outfit is therapeutic to me.”

Lottie’s love affair with selling preloved treasures began during lockdown, after buying secondhand silk scarves for just 50p and successfully selling them on for £15 a piece on the popular reselling app, Depop. This experience gave her a little taste of reselling and began the Love at First Sight journey.

“You get a dopamine hit from it. I built a bit of a collection, was having regular sales online and then got a stall at Sneinton Market where I would go every Saturday,” Lottie says. “I loved selling on that market. It really helped me come out of my shell a bit because it was out of my comfort zone. That's when I realised, okay, I like online selling but I love doing this in person because I'm able to actually connect with people. It's a bit faceless online.”

This marked the first time Lottie got to meet her customers, with many loyal fans visiting her Sneinton Market stall to see what treasures she had or put requests in for pieces they were on the hunt for. But it wasn’t until her hairdresser offered her the chance to set up shop in her salon’s basement in Southwell that Lottie got to make her dream of a permanent space a reality.

With a trail of pink and red signs featuring the iconic Love at First Sight heart and eye logo, leading the way to the shop, the boutique stocks a carefully curated array of womenswear ranging from the ‘50s, to the ‘00s, with something to suit all styles and wallets.

“I've always had quite a random mix of stuff,” says Lottie. “I try to make sure that there is something for anyone of any age. You could be a goth or you could be really girly or into cottage-core and you'll find something in the shop. That’s what I like about vintage, it's so varied and you never know what you're going to find.

“As for me, I love the 70s. It’s my favourite era. The bold prints, the colours, the textures - and things were really well made. It was an era where they paid attention to details but also had fun with bold floral prints and big flares. I also love 1920s style because I love the glamour and the femininity of that era.”

Since opening the doors to Love at First Sight last year, Lottie has amassed a throng of loyal fans with shoppers travelling from across the city as well as from further afield to get their hands on a rare vintage piece.

“People - especially older people - come in and comment about how an item just takes them back to a time. They'll share memories that they had wearing certain items or styles – whether that’s a gig they went to or a family memory. I think that's the joy of old clothes. Everything has a story attached to it and a memory.”

There’s no denying that the likes of giants such as Shein and TikTok still have the world in a chokehold. Lottie believes it means shoppers have lost touch with the clothes they wear.

“People buy a bag full of stuff and it's dirt cheap, and they wear something once and forget about it. Whereas before, you'd invest in one jacket, you'd wear it to all occasions and it would be on your journey with you. Now, clothes don't last long enough in your life or in your wardrobe for you to feel attached to them. So I think the only way people are going to get that sentimentality and joy again, is probably by buying old clothes and cherishing the things that they already have.”

It’s this ethos Lottie has channelled into the shop, taking care to find extra special pieces and one-of-a-kind items often not found elsewhere. Hailing from Nottingham herself, Lottie also has a special eye for finding vintage Paul Smith pieces, and she’s now garnered a collection of items including shoes, bags, jackets, blouses and more.

“I had one Paul Smith bag that was in the shop when I opened and it created an absolute frenzy. The amount of messages I received and people coming in asking if they could buy the Paul Smith was crazy. It's a Nottingham brand and Paul Smith himself seems like a lovely guy, so people clearly have that real connection to it. So I bought in loads of Paul Smith stuff and customers love it.”

Following the successes of the shop, Lottie has her sights set on launching a preloved fashion show later this year, which will feature a curated runway of looks put together by Lottie with vintage pieces from the shop. 

Find Love At First Sight at 17 Market Place, Southwell, NG25 0HE.

@loveatfirstsightvintage