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Taking time to live well
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How to | Brocante Successfully

David Parker May 3, 2025

Planning to hit the flea markets and vintage stalls this summer? We enjoyed a day trip to a French ‘brocante’ in our Home Tour pages in our May issue. If you’re inspired to try a bit of vintage market shopping yourself, here are a few tips to get you started, whether you’re mooching in Maroilles or pottering in Paignton

Be prepared

If you’re in France there’s a small book that you can get from a newsagent (tabac) which lists where all the local markets are, or see brocanciel.fr or brocabrac.fr. Wear comfy shoes, and bring a tape measure, bags and packaging to take any items home with you. In the UK try fleamapket.com.

Arrive early or late

The best items are often snapped up quickly, so arrive as sellers are unpacking to get the best finds – or at the end, as prices will drop because the sellers want to get rid of things. If something catches your eye, don’t hang around, items go quickly.

Don’t be afraid to dig

Check out the baskets and boxes alongside the stalls. This is where treasures are often found.

Take cash and negotiate gently

Make sure you’ve plenty of cash as many brocantes and flea markets are in the countryside with no cash machines or card purchases available. Always smile and ask a few questions about the item before negotiating. Only offer a little lower than what you would want to pay.

How to speak second-hand in France

Brocante: Open-air flea market or bricks-and-mortar antique shop Marché aux puces: Flea market Vide grenier: Loft clearances Foire à tout: Similar to a car boot sale Depôts vente: Buildings where second-hand goods are sold.

If the French country lifestyle appeals, don’t miss our feature The French Connection in our May issue, in which we meet Cathy and Peter Bullen and have a nose around their house and home town. The words are by Kay Prestney and photography by Brent Darby.

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The Festival of Thrift: Meet Gerardine and Wayne Hemingway

lsykes September 20, 2014

From catwalk fashion to social housing, Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway have packed in a lot. The Simple Things chatted to them about their latest venture, the Festival of Thrift.

Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway know a thing or two about thrift. As we sit in their office in Wembley, surrounded by busy staff and sleepy dogs, the space’s previous incarnation as the family home is still obvious – we are sitting at what was once their dining table.

The Hemingways are best known for the business they built in the early 80s – the hugely influential fashion label Red or Dead – but today we are talking about their big project this autumn, the Festival of Thrift.

The Darlington-based festival is now in its second year. As with many projects that Hemingway Design gets involved in, the idea came from a recommendation. A friend suggested they check out an old wool factory in Darlington that had been reinvented as office space for start-ups. Lingfield Point, they were told, would be right up their street.

“It was one of the best examples of large-scale upcycling we had seen,” says Wayne. “It gave the building a new, modern purpose, and we felt that was great.” And so a venue for the first Festival of Thrift was found.

“The concept of upcycling was familiar,” says Wayne, “but no one had celebrated it in a place that represented upcycling on a macro scale.” The festival featured local start-ups, demonstrations and workshops based on making-do creatively and reviving forgotten skills. It drew 27,000 visitors, largely by word of mouth.

“It showed how keen people were to come and learn new skills. Everybody was on their phones saying, ‘You’ve got to get down to this’, so as the day went on, people flooded in.”

The Festival of Thrift 2014

The Festival of Thrift, Darlington, 27th and 28th Sept. Free entry. www.festivalofthrift.co.uk. The Hemingways are also behind The Vintage Festival at the Midland Hotel, Morecambe, 6–7th Sept, www.vintagefestival.co.uk

 

Read the rest of the interview on page 32 of September's The Simple Things. Buy or download your copy now.

 

In Living Tags events, the festival of thrift, vintage, wayne hemingway
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  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well
Feb 27, 2025
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See the sample of our latest issue here

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Feb 27, 2025
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The Simple Things is published by Iceberg Press

The Simple Things

Taking time to live well

We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.

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