The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word EGOIST
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
E
G
O
I
S
T
More clues leading to the result EGOIST
- Number one fan
- Selfish being last to come and first to leave
- Narcissist first to pursue, say, Oscar
- Say love first for selfish person
- I get so agitated no one should ignore me
- Self-seeker, say, is found in the Bible
- It goes amiss to be a selfish type
- As a self-centred person, I get so confused
- An extremely self-conscious person
- Bighead, finally undone, is caught out
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Vain type" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case vain type = egoist.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.