Vintage Glasgow

Denim Treasure Trove

The first fabric I fell in love with was Denim. I, like most people, have always had blue jeans in my wardrobe and worn them regularly. If you’ve read my article “Stop Me And Buy One” you’ll know that I often wear a 1950s vintage denim jacket and people have stopped me in the street and tried to buy it.

I’m still excited by the memory of buying my first pair of blue jeans. In a shop in Ipswich, Suffolk when I was fifteen, with money I had earned cherry picking on a local farm. I purchased a pair of Lee Riders. I was skinny then, the waist was probably 27″ or 28″ and fit low. I loved the feel of denim immediately and have never stopped loving it.

So I was excited to read that a young man in Glasgow had discovered a warehouse stuffed with vintage & retro clothing, purchased in the 70′s and never sold, including a large stock of vintage Levis, Wranglers and Lee jeans. Web designer, Bali Rakhra discovered the treasure trove of over 10,000 items in a warehouse owned by his father, Nahar Rakhra who closed his clothing business in the early 1980s, locked his storeroom and walked away. He never forgot about the stock, he just thought the items were out of date and un-saleable.

Luckily Mr Rakhra’s son Bali thought differently and the hoard, most of it in excelent condition, has been valued at £200,000 ($300,000). In an interview, reported by The Independant On Sunday, he said: “I uncovered amazing clothing dating back to the 70s. The stock consists of some great brands, like Levi’s, Lee, Wrangler, Brutus, Lonsdale, Lois, Falmers, Gap Jeans, as well as my father’s own knitwear brand, Tops of Scotland. There are denims, cords, big-collar tops and denim jackets from the 70s and 80s, wool jackets, acid-washed clothing, sleeveless denim jackets, 100 per cent Shetland wool and lambs-wool knitwear, Indian cotton dresses, shiny trousers, batwing jackets and some crazy acrylic and crimplene numbers.”

Some people think high street fashions of the 1970s are best forgotten. Lucinda Chambers, fashion director at Vogue says: “… some of it was verging on hideous. The designers in the 70s were wonderful, but high street fashion wasn’t that desirable.”

Rosemary Harden, manager of the Bath Fashion Museum begs to differ, “It’s good that it’s high street … It offers a more real picture.”

Mr Rakhra meanwhile is happily selling the clothing on his web site Retro-Guy and at local vintage fashion fair, Affordable Vintage. Lucinda Chambers had to admit, “There will be a market for it … no one else will have it.”

Retro- guy was down for maintenance when I went to browse the vintage denim, but I hope to be buying a pair of Lee Riders when it’s back up.

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