The Perfect Gifts For Vintage Lovers

If you have someone with a very particular, quirky fashion sense in your life, then you know that the average gift doesn’t always cut it. You need something unique, whimsical, and irreverent. You need the very best gifts for vintage lovers.

Luckily for you, I know exactly what to give them. As an absolute enthusiast of vintage fashion myself, I know a thing or two about what pleases the eye (and the soul) of a fellow vintage lover.

But not everyone understands vintage in quite the way a vintage lover does. In fact, I find there is often some confusion surrounding the term “vintage.”

Some people believe vintage fashion to be synonymous with “old fashion” and that something cannot truly be vintage unless it is at least 40 years of age.

I do not subscribe to this definition in the slightest - and certainly not when it comes to our handbags. Our purses are not old. In fact, our handmade handbags get sent straight to you from our ateliers.

But our handbags are most assuredly vintage my dears.

So what does this mean?

I’m fully prepared to tell you.

What makes a handbag “vintage?”

When it comes to handbags, a vintage bag is one that is unique, iconic and high-quality. We are not talking fast fashion here - we are talking something that will be a statement piece for years to come.

A vintage bag is a piece of art. It is stunningly crafted with the best quality materials and most exquisite workmanship and care - like, for example, the hand-painted details on our purses. It will also far outlast most of the modern bags you see in stores.

What makes a vintage bag so special is that it is one-of-a-kind. It’s an absolutely unique style. A conversation starter. A true historic memento.

A vintage purse does not need to have been created in the past. It can simply be a designer handbag that references shapes, styles, or fabrics from past decades.

And so, the wicker animal purses at Wicker Darling are decidedly vintage.

Some bags are fleeting fads, but a Wicker Darling bag is an investment piece. It’s a handmade, artisan accessory made in retro styles with top-quality materials - and a whole bunch of quirk to boot.

These ridiculous purses are the picture of vintage, and thus, the perfect gifts for vintage lovers. If you are looking for gifts for vintage lovers in your life (or if you have a deep love of vintage yourself) keep reading for our list of bags that make the absolute best presents.

6 quirky gifts for vintage lovers

There are so many wonderful gifts for vintage lovers to choose from in the Wicker Darling collection, but I thought I would highlight a few of my favourite options for you first before throwing the whole wicker menagerie your way.

Here are some of my favourite gifts for vintage lovers - from teeny, tiny coin purses to behemoth brontosaurus bags.

1. An adorable coin purse

Coin purses make fantastic gifts for absolutely anyone. We all have coins to carry around (and we pretty much all despise doing so) and a mini coin purse of ridiculously cute shape and proportion just makes the whole ordeal so much more bearable.

Fun, even.

And with some adorable animal shapes to choose from, a coin purse from Wicker Darling is one of the best gifts for vintage lovers.

Your vintage-obsessed friend can mix and match their coin purses to their already existing handbag collection. They can even use them as a sort of clutch if they so choose.

We have little mouse coin purses, cat coin purses, triceratops coin purses, and more on the way. Plus, we should always have some coin purse designs in stock, so you don’t have to worry about timing your gifts for vintage lovers around our pre-orders.

Our coin purses are made from leather or sturdy vegan-friendly fabric with zipper closures and gold metal clips so you can attach them to anything you please. You purse, your luggage, your keychain, or even your belt.

This versatile gift will be used again and again. I’m sure of it.

2. A fabulous flamingo handbag

Nothing screams vintage quite so loudly as a flamingo.

Hear me out.

In 1957, Don Featherstone created the pink plastic lawn flamingo that would exemplify an era and go down in history. These leggy lawn ornaments became so popular that they became the very image of 1950s American material culture.

They were loud, bright, pink, playful, and a rejection of the stuffed-up image people were expected to portray. In other words, they were exactly the sort of thing we love about vintage fashion.

They symbolise not only a bygone age, but a rejection of the norm, and an unabashed celebration of colour, flamboyance, and awkward proportions.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a vintage-ista who doesn’t relate to flamingos.

And so, a pink flamingo purse is one of the most perfect gifts for vintage lovers - and we have multiple flamingos to choose from.

A pink flamingo purse was the very first design at Wicker Darling, and flamingos will always be here to stay.

3. A ridiculous dinosaur bag

As people obsessed with vintage...we love old things. And what is older than a dinosaur!?

A dinosaur purse is the ultimate classic and an instant hit with people young and old alike.

There is something about dinosaurs that just leaves us in awe - and your vintage-loving friend will find that a dinosaur purse has a similar effect on people.

Our timeless wicker dinosaur bags currently include three different triceratops options (one aqua, one lavender, and one previously mentioned coin purse) and Charlotte Bronte-saurus, our resident brontosaurus bag.

I say currently, because our dinosaur family is constantly growing.

These bags are simply the most fun ever, and they work for any occasion at all. (Dinosaurs are just ridiculous enough that no one can tell them where they don’t fit in.)

4. A too-cute-to-handle cat purse

Now, this is not true of ALL vintage lovers, but I have found the grand majority of us to be deeply fond of cats. Which is why a cat purse is one of the most fabulous gifts for vintage lovers you can possibly give.

If you have a vintage crazy cat person in your life, you can’t go wrong with a cat purse present. That’s because as all us cat enthusiasts know - THERE IS NEVER SUCH THING AS TOO MANY CATS.

Luckily for you, we have plenty of kitty accessories at Wicker Darling.

Our original cat handbags dropped on International Cat Day 2020, and what a glorious day it was indeed. Orangey and Oscar the Cat were hot-ticket items, and understandably so.

Orangey, the more svelte of the two kitties, is modeled after Orangey Cat, the ginger tabby star of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Oscar, on the other hand, is one wickery chonk of a tuxedo tom, modeled after Unsinkable Sam. He has a swishy tail and haughty air about him, which we love.

We love it so much in fact that we brought back his wicker design in a whole new colour way with Armel the Cat, the ombre-painted splendiferous seal point cat.

Some of our cute wicker kittens come with a mouse coin purse as well, which makes them not only ridiculously adorable, but extra versatile too.

And, since cats are always loveable, we will be bringing back some other cat purses soon. Mark my words.

Since cats will often be coming and going, and there are so many cat types and colours to choose from, our cat purses would make fabulous gifts for vintage lovers to start their own cat purse collection. (Or to add on to one they already possess!)

5. A wicker bag raincoat

If you’re looking for gifts for vintage lovers, it’s quite probable that the person you’re shopping for already has a vintage wicker bag or two. And, if that’s the case, they could really benefit from a wicker bag raincoat.

You see, wicker just simply cannot abide by water, and sometimes it’s very hard to predict the weather when choosing which vintage accessory to strut out with.

If you have a wicker bag raincoat like the reusable tote bag collection from Wicker Darling, then the problem is completely solved. These totes fold up oh-so-compactly, and are easy to put in your purse, car, or even a large pocket.

But, when unfolded in all their glory, these totes will fit wicker purses of most sizes. I've personally checked that our largest wicker design, Moby Wick the whale purse, fits with room to spare (ironically, this particular whale doesn't fare well with even a single drop of water on his larger-than-life body).

They also double as shopping totes, so they’re incredibly useful wherever you go. From vintage flea markets to candy stores to the local book shop.

See? They make the perfect gifts for vintage lovers.

6. Any of our vintage wicker purse designs!

At Wicker Darling, we have vintage wicker purse designs of every colour, shape and style - and at least one of them is sure to be perfect for the vintage lover in your life.

Bubbles the Fish, Batholomew the the Bat, Midori Llama, or Fineapple the Pineapple purse could all make fabulous gifts for vintage lovers. Take a look through our stock and see what strikes your fancy.

And don’t be alarmed if everything says it’s sold out - that’s business as usual here.

We operate mostly on a pre-order basis, but that doesn’t meet old styles can’t pop up when you least expect them. In fact, they may be popping up rather soon.

Here in an instant, gone in a flash

Soon we will be having a year’s end opening with highly limited edition stock at Wicker Darling. This is a special yearly event that I diligently hoard a few bags each year for. It happens just in time for you to get your gifts out to your vintage-loving friends in time for Christmas.

You’ll never know which styles will show up, and I’m not going to give you any hints. What I can say is that this year, the flash sale will be the hottest of them all!

These sales go incredibly swiftly, with just a handful of bags of each variety to come around. As soon as the sale is announced, they simply disappear! So, in order to get your hands on one of these handbags, you’ll want to make sure you’re signed up for our mailing list and then read up on how to leave a Wicker Darling restock with a triumphant smile on your face.

Get those mitts on the perfect gifts for vintage lovers!

Our flash restock sale will be here before you know it, and you don’t want to miss the opportunity to snatch up one of our most-loved styles!

As long as you stay in the know, keep your eye out for our announcements and keep your mouse-clicking fingers at the ready, you’ll have a good shot of surprising your vintage-obsessed loved ones with a fabulous wicker handbag.

And, if all else fails, please remember that coin purses and reusable tote bags should always be available, and that we have new styles of wicker purses arriving every single month. There is never NOT something fantastical to snatch up in our showroom.