With the rise of second-hand shopping in the past several years, it’s hard to actually tell what is “vintage” and what might just be a convincing modern impersonation. Identifying and defining what vintage clothing means can vary by person or place that sells vintage, but we can establish a general consistent idea of what vintage clothing truly means.
Across many vintage platforms, the general consensus seems to be that vintage clothing is around 20 to 100 years ago, or starting at the 2000s decade and going backwards in time. Ebay’s Vintage Buying Guide actually defines vintage as anything from the Victorian era to the 1960s, and then the 1960s forward would be considered “retro.”
Clothing that is considered retro is an imitation and replica, not an original. Vintage clothing is usually an original item, meaning we haven’t entirely seen this in fashion before, but retro is taking that vintage clothing as inspiration to create a similar piece. For example, the popular Smeg kitchen items are retro, designed to look like vintage 1950s items! Items pre-1920s are most generally considered to be antiques.
If an item truly is vintage, it should be reflected as such. High-quality fabrics, paper tags and brand research can help identify if that item is vintage or considered more retro or modern.
Lots of companies now will use the term vintage loosely to attract consumers looking for such. If you really want to find true vintage clothing, be careful of this loose usage of vintage and dig to find out some more information. Finding vintage is a true treasure hunt!
Written by Macy Berendsen