Vintage chic is what the smart set wear

HIRE COST PER YEAR: £3,500 WARDROBE VALUE: £40,000

Anne MArie, 47, lives in london with her husband Anthony, also 47, a company director, and their two children, Archie, ten, and luella, nine. She hires pieces, such as this one from Belinda Belville, from vintage couture shops such as Modes & More in Pimlico, Central london.

IT IS entirely possible to turn up to an opening at the Royal Academy wearing a dress worth thousands of pounds ... and find oneself face-toface with a woman in exactly the same piece. We always go to the Summer Exhibition Preview party, where you run into style icons such as Alexa Chung and designers Alice Temperley and Roksanda Ilincic, so hiring a designer vintage piece is the only way to go. The chances of bumping into someone you know also wearing vintage Dior or Chanel are slim to none. For this year’s party earlier this month, I wore a Balenciaga gown, which would have cost about £1,750 to buy but which I hired for little more than I’d pay for a High Street brand; and I wore a stunning £1,400 Chloe dress to a Jimmy Choo event. To be honest, I think these days the smart set are all trying to find completely original pieces, as well as being aware of the value and beauty of pre-loved vintage items.