Let's do the time warp again

Cayte Williams samples Yesterday's Bread, purveyors of never-worn Seventies originals

Relax hipsters... Why trudge the high street for your swirly patterned loons, bell-sleeved mini-dresses and other early-Seventies trash, when just around the corner, Seventies boutique Yesterday's Bread is selling the original stuff fresh out of the packet?

Shelves of never-been-worn midi-skirts and T-shirts line the walls. Rails are full of combed-cotton, baby-doll mini dresses, Vintel clingy shirts and Crimplene slacks in petrol blue and forest green. And afro-wigged mannequins, David Cassidy motifs and Elvis Vegas-period sunglasses complete the Seventies time-warp.

"I started buying Seventies clothes in the mid-Eighties when there were large quantities available of everything," says owner Deirdra Crowley, who set up shop in London's east end in 1991 and moved to Carnaby Street last September. "Now, 20-year-olds are buying never-been-worn clothes that are older than they are and are getting value for money. If they buy something similar from the high street, it loses its value as soon as you walk out the door, but if something is an original it has a value. A lot of our customers insure their wardrobes because they know they could never replace them." Yesterday's Bread customers include Baby Spice, who snaps up the white, lace mini-dresses, and Twiggy, who pops in to buy original "Twiggy" T-shirts for her daughter.

In fact, those who scoff at Seventies collectors may soon be joining them, as the decade of distaste becomes big business. "Christie's, Sotheby's and Bonhams have started selling Seventies watches and clothing," says Dierdra. "It's one of the fastest growth areas in collectables at the moment. Fashion stylists keep telling me that the Eighties and Sixties are back, but business has never been so good."

Combed-cotton mini-dresses are on sale from pounds 24 and pounds 32, original Seventies watches from pounds 55, midi-dresses from pounds 30 and polyester print flares from pounds 24. Yesterday's Bread is at 29 Fouberts Place, London W1, 0171 287 1929.