Fashion Update

IF YOU are into the Seventies revival but not into the prices of Nineties versions, second-hand clothes are the answer. And for once, in fashion terms, you are at an advantage if you live well away from London and close to a hill village in the Scottish Lowlands. Marcelle Thomas runs Second Hand Swank from a converted general store in Moniaive, Dumfriesshire. She has an Yves Saint Laurent floor-length black satin skirt overprinted in brillant blooms with matching wrap-top trimmed with swans' down. Also, Seventies stack- heeled boots, Tina Turner-style Lurex flared trouser suits, and a floor-length frock in apricot nylon. 'I've got some Fifties Dior stilettoes by Roger Vivier and some great shoes by Salvatore Ferragamo,' says Ms Thomas, who has at least 2,000 garments in stock, priced from pounds 12 to pounds 120.

Second Hand Swank, High Street, Moniaive, Dumfriesshire, telephone 08482 389.