Younger people are driving the second-hand revolution, with Gen Z and millennials looking to have a very vintage Christmas.
Dirty Jane's owner Jane Crowley is about to open her third vintage and second-hand emporium, in Orange in late April, after already opening Dirty Jane's outlets in Fyshwick and Bowral.
She's noticed in the last five years, an uptick in younger people looking for one-off, unique pieces, confirming research by ThredUp that 62 per cent of Generation Z and Millennials say they look for an item second-hand before buying a new one, mainly as a way to help the environment and to save money.
Research by Deloitte's also found 35 per cent of people buy more second-hand than they did a year ago and more than 55 per cent of Australians say they bought something second-hand in the past year.
"The younger people are wanting something very unique and they are very environmentally conscious," Ms Crowley said.
"They don't want to go and get something that is going to go to landfill in two or three years' time."
In the face of potential mass-waste at Christmas time, Mrs Crowley said she's noticed a lot more considered buying in the face of the cost-of-living crisis.
At Christmas time, families were opting more for Secret Santa, rather buying something for everyone.
"They can buy something really fabulous and because it's not the stress of buying for six people, they're putting a lot more thought into buying that one gift," she said.
Dirty Jane's is teaming up with Canberra interior designer Gina Beschorner, whose business Style Curator has more than 150,000 followers across platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram.
Ms Beschorner will be giving her followers tips on incorporating vintage pieces into their homes and showing how finds from Dirty Jane's are styled in her own home in Hughes.
"I think a lot of people in Canberra have more modern, contemporary homes and are maybe looking to add warmth and personality," she said.
Ms Beschorner said she was finding people wanted to break away "from that 'showroom looking' home and creating warmer and more inviting spaces".
Trying vintage doesn't mean suddenly swamping your house with brown furniture.
"For people who are just getting started, I would suggest just getting a hero item. That could be a beautiful, over-sized mirror or a great vintage artwork or an occasional chair or a lamp. You know, one large item can be the hero in the room," Ms Beschorner said.
"You can make it more cohesive my picking up colours in that item and repeating it in other decor across the room, if you want to.
"Or otherwise just finding a pocket of the room and just getting started there. It could be a bookcase or a bedside table and you can start with a style arrangement with something you've thrifted like a beautiful trinket dish or something that brings you joy."
Dirty Jane's opened in Fyshwick in 2020 just as COVID lockdowns were starting. It is a business that allows individual stallholders to sell their wares under the one roof.
Jane said the cost-of-living crisis had forced many of the stallholders to change their buying patterns.
"From the perspective of Dirty Janes's and the stallholders, the beautiful thing about our business, is we're very adaptable and we change our buying accordingly," she said.
"I kind of saw the cost-of-living crisis as it was approaching so I'm now pitching my furniture, because that's primarily what I do [personally], at a more affordable level
"And I think a lot of stallholders are also reacting that way.
"This is where vintage and second-hand can really stay on our toes and adapt as needed.
"My heart does go out to businesses that aren't really quite as adaptable because I think the cost of living is hurting. Businesses are hurting out there.
"We got through COVID and we all sort of breathed a sigh of relief and now to have to get through this cost-of-living crisis, for some businesses it's just as hard as adapting to COVID."
At Christmas, Jane says she likes to keep it "remarkably simple".
"It's just family and we have a nice lunch together and then the afternoon is generally about reading a good book or having a nap," she said, with a laugh.
And there is always a special vintage item on her Christmas table.
"My daughter bought for me at Dirty Jane's Waterford crystal jug and glasses. We think it was done to commemorate the Queen's visit to Africa when she did world tour in 1954 because it's got African trees and birds on it. It's just fabulous," she said.
"So that's always sitting pride of place, filled with some lovely punch of some kind."
