Corbridge shop gives vintage a new life

A vintage shop in Corbridge is celebrating 14 years of giving clothes, jewellery and other pre-loved pieces a new lease of life while championing a more sustainable approach to fashion.

Vintage in the Tower, tucked away beside the historic Pele Tower in the centre of the village, is run by former fashion designer Gayle Foster, whose love of vintage stretches back to childhood.

From dressing up in her grandmother’s clothes and jewellery to embracing New Romantic style and searching charity shops and markets during the 1980s, Gayle has long been drawn to pieces with individuality and history.

That passion eventually led to Vintage in the Tower, which began as a pop-up with two other vintage dealers before developing into an established independent shop.

Gayle has run the business herself for the past four years.

She said: “We’ve got so much clothing on this planet right now. 

“We’ve got enough clothing to clothe many future generations without making one single more piece.

“So, it’s so important to reuse and recycle, and more and more people are understanding that now.”

Vintage in the Tower’s collection ranges from clothing, handbags and accessories to cutlery and crystal glassware, with jewellery among its biggest draws.

Gayle has built what she believes is one of the country’s largest collections of pre-loved Butler and Wilson statement jewellery, alongside restored silver and gemstone pieces.

British names including Liberty and Jaeger also feature prominently.

Gayle added: “I often get pieces and think, ‘What kind of parties have these been to?’ 

“Sometimes I get stuff from the 1920s and you can just imagine they’ve just walked off the set of Downton Abbey.”

But behind the fashion and nostalgia is a wider focus on sustainability.

Gayle’s philosophy is centred on reuse rather than replacement, with unwanted or unsuitable items resold or donated to charity wherever possible.

Vintage fabrics that can no longer be sold are passed to a local maker to be transformed into bags, while broken jewellery, buttons and craft materials are donated to a children’s nursery for creative projects.

Even packaging is reused, with people encouraged to bring unwanted bubble wrap into the shop rather than throwing it away.

Gayle added: “It’s about keeping as much stuff out of landfill and the rubbish dumps as possible and giving it another life.”

Gayle also combines old materials to create something new, including denim jackets decorated with vintage Liberty fabrics.

She believes the quality and craftsmanship found in many older pieces means vintage has an important role to play in reducing waste while offering customers something more individual than mass-produced fashion.

And that appeal is increasingly crossing generations, with younger shoppers seeking out vintage jewellery, handbags, clothing and leather jackets.

For Gayle, each item also carries its own history, whether a piece of jewellery or a handbag dating back to the 1920s.

Her longer-term ambition is to make Vintage in the Tower completely carbon neutral, although she believes the business could already be close to achieving that goal.

Alongside its Corbridge shop, Vintage in the Tower showcases its collection online through Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Want your business, product or service to be seen regionally and nationally? Bdaily helps you get your story in front of the right audience, every day. Find out how Bdaily can help →

Join more than 55,000 subscribers by signing up to our daily bulletin each morning here.