10 of the best vintage clothes shops in Ireland – from Y2K style to glitzy occasion wear

​I Can Tell By The Moon, Blackrock, Co Dublin

Hopeless romantics and daydreamers have fallen hard for I Can Tell By The Moon, a highly unique vintage shop that started life online before setting up shop six months ago in Blackrock Market. Inspired by “classic literature and a golden-age Parisian fantasy”, Susanna Vittoria Caprara sources unashamedly feminine pieces that make women feel “like a heroine in their own personal story”. The Italian expat has lived in Ireland for over 15 years but sources pieces from the 1950s to the 1990s during trips back home. Expect pristine linens, decadent silk nightwear and the occasional Victorian- and Edwardian-era antique piece. It’s open Thursday to Sunday. bythemoonvintage.com

Collected, Dublin 6

Elva Robins’s Collected in Harold’s Cross started life as part of a multi-brand pop-up shop. Today, the focus is entirely on jewellery, which includes a beautifully curated selection of antique and vintage rings, lockets and pendants. Steeped in history and spanning the early 1700s to the 1980s, her pieces are unique yet affordable, and ideal for women who want to mark their own “micro milestones”. “I want to get away from this idea that you have to be bought a piece of jewellery and encourage women to celebrate their own moments,” says Robins. Prices start at €175. collected.ie​

35 Vintage, Dublin 2

Regular stock rotation is the USP of 35 Vintage, a Mayo-born business that recently marked its first year on Dublin’s Fade Street. Founder Cian Charlton restocks every week so the rails always have new pieces for customers to riffle through. Better still, it’s open seven days a week, and until 8pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Its customer base is on the younger side, with a wide selection of vibrant, size-inclusive 1980s and 1990s sweatshirts, track jackets and fleeces, and a Y2K section that’s stocked with at least 200 pieces at a time. Check out the well-priced knitwear section if you’re in the market for timeless staples. 35vintage.com

Sister Vintage, Kinsale, Co Cork

Eve Russell of Sister Vintage in Kinsale has an eye for sourcing fashion that is as relevant to current trends as it was way back when. A self-confessed former high-street shopping addict, she discovered the world of vintage while searching for an alternative to fast fashion. These days, she travels across Europe to hand-pick each and every item to ensure the highest quality for her small but perfectly formed boutique. Expect womenswear and menswear from the 1960s to the 1990s, and timeless styles and shapes. @sistervintageshop​

Finders Keepers, Bray, Co Wicklow

Wearable and affordable are the watchwords of Finders Keepers in Bray, Co Wicklow. “It’s vintage for everybody and every day,” says founder Ruth Dempsey, who launched the business online in 2011 before opening the bricks-and-mortar shop in 2017. Open from Tuesday to Saturday, the popular shop stocks vintage wardrobe staples from the 1930s to the Noughties, along with a hand-knit collection by Dempsey’s mother-in-law. It’s known for its vintage jeans (all priced at €30) and leather jackets (€45-€80), but its ever-increasing range of quirky contemporary homewares and accessories is worth keeping an eye on too. finderskeepersbray.com

Lucy’s Lounge, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

Deirdre Macken has been at the helm of the Irish vintage scene since 1982. Her first shop was in the former Mary Street Arcade. After a stint in London, she opened Lucy’s Lounge in Temple Bar in 1987. A treasure trove of 1960s to Noughties vintage clothing and accessories, it opens only at weekends (12pm-6pm on Saturdays; 2pm-6pm on Sundays) and by appointment during the week for long-standing customers. Expect unisex, maximalist statement pieces, or as Macken puts it, “vintage for peacocks”, as well as a popular range of reworked vintage sweaters. @lucyslounge

Vintage Finds You at Siopaella, Dublin 2

Vintage fashion has been a life-long love affair for Naomi Fitzgibbon, the founder of Vintage Finds You. Rare, luxurious and highly curated, her pieces are for collectors who want to acquire a piece of fashion history. Fitzgibbon sources all over Europe and occasionally the US for her customers who, she says, tend to be a little older. She largely sells online but also runs regular pop-up shops in Siopaella at 29 and 30 Wicklow Street, Dublin — once a month in spring/summer and twice a month in autumn/winter. Prices range from €30 for accessories to €575 for a 1970s Ossie Clark dress. vintageclothes.ie

Nine Crows, Dublin 2

When vintage-loving A-listers visit the capital, they beat a path to Nine Crows in Temple Bar. Singer Lana Del Rey paid them a visit last year; Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox popped in the year previously. Nine Crows has two shops in Dublin: its flagship in Temple Bar and a thrift shop on Mary Street, where prices start at just €2. Both shops stock womenswear and menswear, with a focus on Y2K, designer denims and vivid retro sportswear. If you’re searching for a unique festival look, this should be your first stop. shopninecrows.com

Alf And Roe, Co Tyrone

A self-proclaimed maximalist, Erinrose Arthurs of Alf And Roe leans towards vibrant hues and statement pieces for people who like to make an entrance. Her Dungannon shop stocks an abundant selection of beautifully chosen vintage womenswear, which she sources in London and throughout Italy. Arthurs has been slowly building up a collection of vintage kids and baby clothing but glitzy occasionwear remains her speciality, with dresses starting at approximately €40. If you love a vintage co-ord, this is where you’ll find it. Add one of her handmade silk hair bows (€18.95) and you’re good to go. alfandroe.com

Betty Bojangles, Thomas St, Dublin 8

There’s a lovely story behind the name of vintage shop Betty Bojangles. When owner Charlie Rankin was 14, he used to visit his granny in Dublin 8 to do her grocery shopping, after which she’d give him £1 for his troubles. One day, he went into town to spend his wages, which is how he came across Liberty Belle, a vintage shop on Fownes Street, which was run by the late and great Betty Wall. It led to a Saturday job, which is how Rankin cut his teeth in the business, and how he came up with the name for his first shop, which is both an ode to Betty and his favourite song, Mr Bojangles.

Starting life as a stall in The Ferocious Mingle Marcade in 2016, Rankin opened a bricks-and-mortar shop in Smithfield the following year before moving to Thomas Street, where a recent renovation has breathed new life into the shop, while the Tiffany-blue shopfront has brought a welcome pop of colour to the street.Pop culture trivia: Rankin also supplies costumes for TV, film and theatre. Emmy-winning costume designer Joan Bergin paid him a visit to source the jewellery worn by the evil queen in Disney’s Disenchanted. @bettybojanglesdublin