Stuart Talbot tells how his passion for vintage became his job and his life change unexpectedly.
If we think about parents, the first thing come to our mind is how much they took care of their child. However, sometimes things change and the positions are switched; that’s what happen to Stuart Talbot not long time ago.
It was a really bad moment in his life, he was raising a young child alone because his wife left, his dad died not long before and his mother started to be really sick after an heart attack. So, when Stuart’s elder son finish the university and came back home after the graduation he didn’t really know how bad was the situation and how the rest of the family was reacting to all the things were happening.
“When my son came back from university, after his graduation, and I didn’t tell him how was the situation, but when he arrived he saw how down I was. So.. I always had the passion for vintage clothes and he has always been passionate in design even if he studied something different. One day he told me ‘you know dad, why don’t we put together this two things, why don’t we open a shop?’ So this shop came from there form the fusion of this two ideas. It was brilliant! I can take care of my mum, she was 90 years old at that moment and she just moved with me. She was sick and needed help, in that way I would be able to stay with her when my son was here and stay here when he was taking care of her.”
He look at this idea as a new opportunity, his son had the greatest idea which would let him restart to think in a positive and productive way. “My son has a kind of energy around him, everyone tell me that. He is magnetic, whatever he does it’s good.”
It was a good moment to restart their life and Stuart had the chance to match job and passion. He started to figure out what is for him vintage and how to propose the perfect way to wear it.
“Some people says that something is vintage if it is 25 years old, if it is less it is not vintage. For me this is not my idea. Something is vintage when it tell you its own story, when you look at it and you can immediately recognize a period like the `70’ . that`s vintage. It is a feeling that you have when you wear it. If you wear this black suit, you think about 007, James Bond, Sean Connery, you have straight away that feeling.”
The most important rule with clothes for him is just one: never compromise. “There is not a lot that I can do by myself, it depend on you, but I can give a suggestion. I mean, I can think that skinny jeans are perfect on girls but if you don’t feel comfortable you wouldn’t wear it, it’s human nature. But that’s my point, you should never compromise. If you wear a jacket and it looks fine but then you look down and the sleeves are too short, and you think ‘ah..that’s ok I can wear it, I’ill just push it down…’ You can do it but I would not suggest someone to do that. Vintage cloths can make you be really elegant or can be just old cloths, it depends how you choose it.”
The shop has been opened for more than three years now,It’s an important part of Cardiff Market and one of the most well known Vintage shop in the city. Amazing memories have been built every day there for Stuart, beautifully funny that give even more value and make him happy and laughing in this great experience.
Cardiff is known for its vintage shops and here there are three of the best you can find here. Whatever you are looking for, you will be able to find it here.