Herman Brown

One of my favourite vintage stores in Edinburgh — a great selection of quality vintage clothes — all specially sourced and in good, clean condition. You can just spend hours in here looking at everything — I especially love the beautiful jewellery on offer… looking for a special present for a friend — then this is the place for you — dont forget to have a good look in the window — such a beautiful window display as well. I have been a Herman Brown customer since the 1980s when I was an art student and never tire of looking at new stock — cant wait until they develop their online site — then I can also browse all their treasures from my sofa.

Absolutely wonderful shop run by a delightful lady who knows a thing or two about vintage. My favourite finds: a pair of cherry earrings and a puff sleeve blouse with a lace collar. Perfect! Make it a trip worthwhile and take in Godiva on West Port also.

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of vintage clothing, I find most of it ridiculously over priced for what it is. Fair enough if it’s designer but many «vintage» items are just cheap, fusty old tat that’s been thrown out. I guess this place is like any other second hand shop, if you take the time to browse you might just come away with something really special. I usually can’t be bothered and find many vintage/​second hand clothing shops a little bit tiring as they can be so chaotic and often uninspiring with a complete overload of items.
Herman Brown, on the other hand is somewhere I would happily spend hours browsing without getting stressed. This shop is well organised, well kept and everything is chosen carefully and not just because it’s old like so many other vintage shops. Everything on display is in excellent condition, even if it is from the 1930’s and I noticed some stunning bags and sunglasses. It isn’t the cheapest, but if vintage is your thing, Herman Brown is one of the best stores in Edinburgh for it.

Vintage isn’t really my sort of thing really.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate fashion, and I love vintage dresses, but I can never seem to put together a good vintage look without looking a bit like an explosion in Oxfam. The reputation of Herman Brown certainly proceeds it, and I had heard so much about the shop that I just had to visit. My real Vintage passion is accessories and home-​ware, so I hoped I would find something I would like here.
The shop wasn’t like any other vintage place I’d been before. The stock wasn’t everywhere, on floors, over chairs, or bustled together like it usually is. This shop had a much more commercial feel to it, if that’s at all possible. That might have taken away from the experience for me, if I’m honest.
The kind of things that caught my eye were the beautiful beaded 40’s shoulder bags and gorgeous powder press compacts, which probably cost less the first time round. Plus, what am I going to do with a powder compact? It was very pretty though!
My overall opinion might be a little bias because of my lack of vintage flair, but in my eyes, places like this are best left for browsing, and not wearing day to day.

I got so excited the first time I stumbled upon Herman Brown.
It’s a vintage store with originality, and packed full with well sourced stock. There was granny jumpers aplenty, batwing sweaters, suede jackets and a decent selection for the boys.
It’s not overwhelmingly busy with stock, leaving you free to browse without your brain being bombarded with a ton of information. There is definitely enough to satisfy your vintage cravings however, and loads of accessories for you to dig into your wallets for. There is a good supply of boots, buckles and bangles, not to mention half a ton of gorgeous brooches in a glass cabinet underneath the cash desk.
You can always tell vintage suppliers who hire experienced staff, and Herman Brown has that. They are a very approachable bunch who are informative if you want to find out more about an item. Herman Brown is full of goodies, and being established for over twenty years it’s safe to say they didn’t jump on a bandwagon — they built it!

Herman Brown is hands down my favourite vintage shop in Edinburgh’s old town. Maybe it’s because I feel assured that the owner, Anna Richardson, knows a good quality vintage thread when she sees one, and really because I just felt that sense of true, honest, vintage in the range of clothes, and in the feel of the shop, the first time I headed along to have a look.
My friend and I were on one of our crusades that day to do something different. Having both lived in Edinburgh for ages, we were feeling a bit jaded with all the usual shops we’d frequented over the years. The theme of the afternoon was vintage, and Herman Brown was the shop we came to at the end of our wandering, and to be totally honest, I’d never actually noticed it before. The entrance is pretty unassuming, and I think to an extent the inside of the shop is the same, but I like the fact that the carefully selected clothes and jewellery on display speak for themselves in terms of quality, and don’t necessarily need a jazzed up interior to prove their worth.
My friend and I oohed and aahed over the clothing, and seeing as it had just started pouring it down, we stayed for a while, trying things on, posing with high waisted belts and gazing at pretty sets of beaded necklaces. I really think the jewellery here is spot on, and I’ve never left without buying something pretty to adorn my neck/​wrist/​clothing with. I love antique style brooches, so the selection here always makes me gleeful. Being a bit nosy, but also just really interested in the story behind vintage shops in general, I chatted to Anna, the founder of the shop, about when she first opened, and she talked away to us for ages, answering my many questions patiently. Check out the Herman Brown website for details about the current collection, plus the latest vintage arrivals news.

Take an individual piece of clothing out of Aladin’s cave it’s probably the worst thing you’ve ever bought. According to everyone who’s older than me this is one of the oldest established vintage clothing boutiques in Edinburgh.
Lots of animal prints, lots of sequins and polyester, like any second hand shop really. but for some reason Herman Brown seems to be slightly uglier (which as we all know, is a great thing) having never found an excuse to wear a 150kg dress I’m sad to say I’ve bought NOTHING in the 800 times I’ve been in but it’s still great fun trying stuff on. Shop owners everywhere are shaking their heads, right?

I thought I knew all the vintage places in Edinburgh, but somehow I had managed to miss Herman Brown! A tragedy! I’ll have to make up for lost time, how awful ;) ! The place is totally amazing — it’s all really good-​quality vintage and wonderfully wearable. The accessories are my favourite bit so far, I think. There are cases and cases of gorgeous jewelery and beautiful unusual objects: I’ve been dreaming of the mother of pearl purse… there are bags and hats and shoes everywhere, scarves and handkerchiefs and purses… The only downside of this place is its position: it’s right on «the pubic triangle», the place that is home to many of edinburgh’s seediest strip clubs.