‘It’s cool to wear second-hand now’: Cork's Katie Sloane on changing shopping habits 

One year after opening her doors in Midleton, Katie Sloane, owner of Peach Vintage Clothing store, says time has flown by.

“I think it’s gone so quick, because it’s just been genuinely full of joy.”

The shop, tucked away in a mews just off Main Street, has a colourful and welcoming vibe.

“When I opened here last year, I wanted people to feel like they were coming into my sitting room. Just to make it feel like you’re comfortable, and there’s no obligation to buy,” says Katie.

She started her business in 2018, initially as a Facebook page to sell her own clothes.

“It was just an overnight thing. I set up the page, made up the name, and started the page straight away,” she says.

“I was still working full-time and I wasn’t thinking this could be a career or a business idea. I knew the clothes were too good. I didn’t want to just give them away, and I knew they needed to be valued.”

She soon expanded to markets, where initially she felt self-conscious selling second-hand clothing.

“At the start, everybody would go to the craft or they’d go to the food before they’d come to me,” she says. “And they’d come over and they’d say, ‘What’s this? Is this second-hand clothing?’ And I used to get really uncomfortable. I’d say, ‘No, no’, and I’d be trying to explain myself.”

Over time, her confidence grew, as did the interest in second-hand clothes.

“If you run a vintage market, if you run a vintage event, or you’re running a second-hand clothes swap, people are interested now. It’s a trend, which is brilliant,” she says.

She also sells clothing on her website and in a Facebook group called Peachy Auction.

The concept of the group is simple – Katie photographs and lists items with a minimum bid, and group members can bid against each other. “There’s always good banter. I have sisters bidding against each other, or people will private message me and say, ‘I want to bid on this because my sister’s on it and I want to get it for her’,” she says.

Peach Vintage is a consignment store, so a lot of the stock is modern, second-hand clothing.

“I put vintage outside the door, because everybody knows what vintage is. They class it as second-hand. What vintage actually means is it needs to be 20 years old,” she says. “The idea of consignment is people will bring you their stuff, mostly clothes and jewellery. You sell it, and then the owner gets a percentage of the sale.”

Katie was inspired by thrift shopping while living in the US: “I used to go to the Salvation Army and all the second-hand shops. But my favourite were the consignment shops, because it was just a world of wonder.”

The only thing she sources wholesale is plus-size clothing, because it’s more difficult to find.

“I went to Holland last August, and I could have filled 40 suitcases with smaller vintage clothes, but I only picked up size 16 plus.”

Some people are a bit anxious about selling plus-size clothing.

“Body positivity is a huge thing and that people are anxious with. There’s some people will say, ‘Oh, you won’t like my clothes,’” she says. “Nine times out of 10, the stuff I get is amazing. I get gorgeous plus-size pieces.

“It’s getting better for the pre-loved vintage, but I have to keep asking people for it,” she says.

“If a plus-size person gets something beautiful, they tend to hold on to it, because it is so hard to get plus-size clothing to suit their body shape.”

Katie believes second-hand clothing has become more popular because young people want to stand out.

“It’s cool to wear second-hand clothes now. Individuality is massive, they want to look different. They don’t all want to be in uniform,” she says.

“When I was younger, if you wore a pair of sunglasses in the middle of the day when the sun wasn’t shining, you’d be laughed at.”

Although the second-hand market is growing, Katie says sustainable shoppers are in the minority.

“The people that come into the shop are the people that are inquisitive about what’s going on. They are the people that want to be more sustainable,” she says.

“Second-hand shoppers are definitely in the minority. That’s just an honest opinion on what’s going on. I think it’s unfortunate.”

Although the vintage clothing market is expanding, so is the production of fast fashion.

“The market is definitely growing, but it’s not going to alleviate the problems happening in countries where there’s mass production, and those packages are still coming into people’s doors every single day,” says Katie.

“The market for unsustainable clothing, throwaway clothing, is still growing as well, dramatically.”

She is encouraged by the growing trend of people re-wearing their clothes.

“It’s wonderful to see everybody is reusing their clothes. I have a sign that says, ‘We have six generations of clothes on the planet’, so we have enough clothes right now to sustain us for six generations.”

Katie’s advice is to only purchase something if you will get lots of wear out of it.

“I say the same about Peachy Auction. Don’t bid unless you really want it. That way the intention is right for shopping,” she says.

“Just make sure you want it and it’s not going to be sitting in your wardrobe, taking up space, and you looking at it going, ‘It’s not bringing me any joy.’”

For anyone new to vintage shopping, Katie recommends popping into the shop for a look.

“It can be quite daunting, because there’s so much colour and so much variation. Just take your time to go through the rails, and you mightn’t see something the first, second or third time you come in, but you might get to know the process or the colours that you like, and you might pick out something.

“Don’t ever feel like you can’t come in and have a browse and feel like you’re under pressure to buy.”

The last year hasn’t been without its challenges, such as the departure of neighbouring restaurant Sage.

Now, with the arrival of new dining destination Cush into the premises, Katie is breathing a sigh of relief.

“I love it right now, and I’m enjoying every bit of it. I weathered the storm when Sage left last September. Footfall was down dramatically,” she says.

“I just had to keep working and keep plugging away to try and get people down. I managed to get through the whole winter with no neighbours.”

As she celebrates the shop’s first birthday, Katie is enjoying the present and not thinking about the future too much.

“I’ve never in my whole entire life had a plan,” she says. “For now, I’m quite content being just a lovely little shop off the main street.”