Tobacco pipes, a suitcase full of neckties and a rack of Levi jeans - the retro spirit came to Nottingham at the weekend as hundreds flocked to a vintage clothing sale in the city.

Taking place at the Nottingham Conference Centre, based at Nottingham Trent University, on Saturday, March 16, the event was run by the Sheffield-based company Preloved Kilo.

The company's general manager, Steven Lynam, 34, said that the trend for vintage had 'taken off'.

He said: "It's all about sustainable fashion nowadays and I think everybody is a lot more conscious of the environment and their carbon footprint.

"Smaller companies bucked the trend for vintage but now most of the major retailers have a vintage section in their stores."

General Manager of Preloved Kilo, Steven Davies

Those attending the event certainly agreed that the fashion had become more popular recently.

59-year-old Libby Murphy, of Aspley, said: "I've found a few nice dresses today and one of them I'm going to keep but with the others I'm going to use the material to make nice things like skirts.

"The material is just lovely and things were made so much better in those days and as today is proving - clothes lasted.

"Nowadays we live in a 'buy it and chuck it' culture where things only last for a couple of washes."

Libby Murphy, 59, of Aspley, with her bag of finds on the day

Luke Barraclough, 20, a student at the University of Nottingham, said: "I heard about the event on social media and all my mates were going so I thought I'd come and have a look.

"I personally wear a lot of vintage jackets and vintage clothing is just really cool.

"A lot of people just love the eighties and I think it's an era that we all romanticise, plus with all the environmental issues that are in the news at the minute people like to think that they are helping the situation by re-using clothes."

20-year-old student Luke Barraclough attended the event

The environment is certainly a focus for the company behind the event, who provide shoppers with perishable plastic bags, rather than traditional carrier bags, to fill with vintage items.

Clothes are purchased by the kilo, hence the company name, with the price for the customer decided simply by the weight of what they have purchased.

Preloved Kilo is very much a family-orientated business, with the director of the company being Steven's dad Mark, whose partner Wayne is the buyer of all the items.

Steven said: "Wayne spends about 6 months of the year outside of the country handpicking all of our stock.

"He has teams in Asia and Eastern Europe and we are just shipping tonnes and tonnes of stock in.

"We also have our own launderette based at our warehouse in Sheffield so every single item of clothing on sale has been handpicked, washed and dried by us."

Tobacco pipes were among the merchandise available to purchase on the day

Another family member involved in the company is Steven's auntie, Amanda Lynam, 47, who has been braiding dresses for the company for around a year and a half following a career in health and social care.

She said: "A few months back one dress came in and as soon as I saw it I recognised the dress.

"I knew straight away that it was a dress I had got when I was 16, a plain black one from Topshop.

"I'd given it to a friend to borrow and she never gave it me back, so to see it come back all those years later was just amazing."

A suitcase full of ties attracted the attention of shoppers

The event was of particular interest to Francessca Geldart, 25, of Sheffield, who is a school teacher by day but a vintage singer by night, with the stage name Ms Trixie Holiday.

She said: "When I was a kid I always wanted to dress up in vintage clothing because I wasn't very confident when I was younger.

"But when I turned 18 I just ignored all of the funny looks I got and became more confident in what I liked.

"I even dress in vintage in my day job, and the kids at the school absolutely love it.

"There's a few boys in my class who get particularly excited about my collection of brooches and wondering which brooch I'm going to wear on a particular day."

Husband and wife Tom and Francessca Geldart

Francessca's husband, Tom Geldart, 29, also has a love for vintage.

He said: "My wife is absolutely obsessed with it but I really like it because it's all about letting people find the stuff that they like and can wear, and I'm quite a big guy so finding the right clothing is a rarity for me."

Rebecca Murphy, 31, of Aspley, said: "I just love to find a bargain and the stuff you can find at events like this is so much cheaper than in the major shops.

"It would be good if some of the big retailers offered more in terms of vintage clothing."

The company holds hundreds of events throughout the year, and in the rest of March alone will be moving on from Nottingham to Stoke, Bath, Brighton, Portsmouth and Ipswich.