Vintage boutique to bring touch of glamour to Bognor

Louise Arram, 52, has always loved vintage fashion.

She remembers being wowed by black and white movie stars like Marilyn Monroe, Jane Mansfield and Audrey Hepburn as a little girl, blown away by their distinct sense of style and presence: “I loved everything about them. From head to toe- their make up, their hair, their clothes- they just oozed sexiness, class and sophistication,” she said.

So, when her shop Vintage by Loulou opens its doors next month, it will represent the culmination of a lifelong passion, the next step in a lengthy love affair with vintage fashion.

Although she was inspired by form-fitting dresses and luxury furs, Vintage by LouLou, which is due to open on Norfolk Street, August 7, will go beyond the fashion of the fifties. Ms Arram said she wanted to create something a bit more comprehensive.

“I’m going to go from the fifties right up to the nineties,” she said.

“The thing about vintage- and people get confused- is, if it’s over 20 years old, it’s considered vintage.”

“We’ve got (Goodwood)Revival, which is fantastic, so I’ve got some dresses that can be worn there: some coats, some suits, that sort of thing. But otherwise, I want to get the original wrangler jeans, the levi jeans, the denim jackets, the denim shirts. Everything that’s sort of eighties.”

Part of the reason for that scope is inclusivity. Ms Arram said she wants to create a place where anyone can find something they like.

“I want it to be for everybody. When you walk in here, you’re walking into a wardrobe.

“I don’t want it to be a shop as such, it’s a vintage boutique. You can walk in here and it doesn’t matter if you’re an old man, a young man, an old woman, a young woman, a child- anything.

“You can just walk in and go ‘oh my god look at that.’”

Ms Arram’s love for vintage fashion is nothing if not infectious- and she hopes to pass it on to everyone else in town.

“There is a buzz about it in town already.” She said.

“I just want everyone to come in and have a look and just really enjoy it, to love it as much as I do.”