The beauty of vintage clothing is that it never goes out of style.

They say fashion comes in 20 year cycles, for example, take a walk down Brick Lane today and you can expect to see youngsters wearing all sorts of colourful 1990s creations which would not look out of place on the set of the fresh prince of bel air.

Trendy vintage shops tend to adhere to this cycle and stock what is en vogue, but if you like clothes from a particular era, second hand shops and car boot sales can be just as fruitful, and a darn sight cheaper.

But even charity shops have now twigged to the potential mark up on item. If it looks old, it is not uncommon to see an something which a week before was 50p, now in the vintage section for a fiver.

Car boots and charity shops can be a labour of love mind you. You can find yourself trawling through reams of tat to get to that one item, and it can be frustrating, but you may find a bargain.

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"Did you know JFK killed the hat?"

If you want a one stop shop for vintage, head to a specialist shop.

One such shop is Cenci in West Norwood. Formally of Monmouth Street in Covent Garden, charismatic owner Edythe Vaughan decided to swap WC2 for SE27 after seeing her rent rocket.

Twenty years since the move, and now the owner of a beautiful building tucked away off the main drag, Mrs Vaughan and her Italian husband Massimo regularly welcome Giorgio Armani through the door with his team to pick out items which they would like to redesign.

"He's a very humble man Giorgio, he truly appreciates fashion as you might expect. Louis Vuitton designers come here too and there are rows of cars parked down the street for them, its always a big team that they bring."

So why is vintage clothing still going strong?

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The lady from Wisconsin thinks she knows why: "My husband started in 1972 in Italy, so we have seen a few things change.

But more so now than then, people don't want to be dressed by someone else, especially Primark or someone like that. All these clothes are different and they last because they are made from good quality fibres.

People want to express themselves by what they wear, they don't want to buy into what the high street dictates to them. Well, some do. Those insecure about their own style want to wear a uniform and look like everyone else, they don't want to stand out, and that's fine. It's just not what we are about."

Fashion captures the mood of an era like nothing else can, says Mrs Vaughan. "Did you know that JFK killed the hat?

"When he became the first president not to wear a hat for his inauguration, men stopped wearing hats.

"They went out of fashion for a good 20 years, the hat is still recovering now."

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Price is king at the moment, and that means high street fashion at knock down prices wears the crown, but people are waking up to the fact that at such cheap prices, quality is sacrificed.

Judy Berger, who runs Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair, that tours the country, says: "We're seeing a huge revival for quality which means the 50s is still popular, the prints and the shapes have all been shown by Gucci, Burberry, Mulberry and Prada again this year.

"Recession means people want to buy things that last and the 50s will always be sought after as they made things solid.

"And the punk revival is just around the corner thanks to Anna Wintour's last Met Ball, so expect an invasion by the tartan army imminently."

Vintage fashion is also the subject of a new Channel 4 that is soon due to hit the screens. This Old Thing is set to titillate the vintage tonsils and get the tongues wagging.

"The show claims to "celebrate vintage fashion, and show how to repair and revive clothing to bring it up to date, and hope to cure the country’s addiction to fast fashion."

Vintage fashion is here to stay, so leave your inhibitions at the door, and join the revolution.

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