What is Vintage Clothing?

What is Vintage Clothing?

We will be looking at what vintage clothing is, how vintage clothing is defined, where it all started and vintage clothing today.

What is Vintage Clothing?

For an item of clothing to be considered vintage it must be between 20 and 100 years old. Vintage clothing not only needs to have been manufactured within this period, but also clearly represents the era its from. Such as the 1920s with its drop hem flapper dresses, 1940’s with its shirt waist dresses, 1960’s mini skirts and the 1980’s windbreaker shell jackets. Anything older then the 1920’s would now be considered antique, not vintage.

How is Vintage Clothing Defined?

• 20 -100 years old
• The item must strongly reflect the styles and trends within that era
• Manufactured in the era that it’s associated with and not a replica

Where did it all start?

Recycling old clothes started during WW1 when there was a shortage of fabric. People would reuse, upcycle, and mend clothing but this was more of a necessity rather than fashion.  Vintage clothing as we know it started to become popular in the mid 1960’s. Mods wearing three-piece suits from the Edwardian era, Rocker’s upcycling wartime military clothing and leather jackets, and hippies recycling second-hand clothes and creating their own unique style. Since then, each generation has looked back on the previous for vintage style inspiration.

Vintage Today

Fast forward to today and vintage clothing is more popular than ever. We are lucky to be able to pick from so many different fashion eras and still find shopping for vintage clothing relatively easy with fantastic independent stores such as Rokit and Beyond Retro, to lots of online stores, like ourselves. Growing up in the 90s and 00’s we’re very nostalgic about the vintage trends that are currently coming through and can’t wait to see more baggy jeans, crop tops and bucket hats at festivals this summer.