Blue Rinse Vintage, Northern Quarter

Originally founded in Yorkshire, Blue Rinse is an emporium of vintage and refurbished clothing offering a wealth of styles both original and their own brand. Although sometimes a touch pricey, you can guarantee any purchases here will be good quality, and their reputation as one of the largest vintage wholesalers in Europe means that there is no shortage of interesting and totally unique pieces to suit every taste.

There is absolutely something for everybody, and their Oldham Street shop is organised and recently refurbished, making discovering your latest buy an adventure, rather than a chore.

WE ARE COW, Northern Quarter

COW’s two-floored store in Manchester’s Northern Quarter reflects the strong musical influences on the city’s taste in fashion. An excellent place to find denim jackets, sportswear, bags and a plethora of belts, exploring sends you straight back to the 90s.

Although a tad dear, the store is welcoming and spacious, making shopping considerably easier. Unlike many other vintage stores, it also has changing rooms, allowing you to try on your finds before purchasing.

Pop Boutique, Afflecks

Pop Boutique has been around since 1985, building up a great reputation for its trendy and unique collection, frequented by many of Manchester’s musicians. Their Afflecks Palace unit was the first, but as the franchise has expanded, the quality of their clothing has remained as high as when they first opened, back before vintage was trendy.

With a strong green agenda, as well as being fairly priced, this store has a firm group of loyal customers expanding into Europe and America, as well as offering a trove of exciting and unique pieces right in the heart of Manchester.

Thrift Shop, Piccadilly Gardens

Sitting on the corner of Piccadilly Gardens, Thrift Shop possesses carefully selected items in excellent condition. Each piece has a strong character, and the shop is organised and concise, with each item colour coded dependant on its price; there’s no denying that this is one of the best value-for-money vintage stores in the city centre.

The staff are well-known for being friendly and helpful, and the store is airy, bright and colourful, with enough to keep you occupied and an almost guaranteed promise of a great find.

RSPCA Store, Oak Street

This hidden treasure is home to a wide variety of vintage pieces, each with their own character at very affordable prices. Not only is everything being sold for a great cause, but the small store is never short of an excellent find from jackets to dresses to shoes.

Vintage pieces are hung beside designer labels, practically unworn clothing and the best of the unique and rare within Manchester’s fashion scene. Despite being relatively unheard of, it’s well worth a visit. You’ll almost certainly find something that you can’t help but buy, and thankfully won’t leave you out of pocket!

Kilo Sale, Oldham Street

Despite there being little to no system of organisation within the expansive depths of the ground floor of one of Sasha’s Hotel’s old function rooms, the wealth and sheer quantity of vintage clothing are hard to ignore. At £15 per kilo, it’s affordable, and sometimes a great place to find some unique pieces… although quality cannot always be vouched for.

There is a serious argument here for thoroughly inspecting everything before purchase, just in case the item is more damaged than you realise, but if you’re willing to do some light restoration work, then this could be ideal for finding something unique and stylish.