When is fashion vintage?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by valerie cifaldi on September 12, 2011 at 3:45am

I tend to get technical about language; I majored in English. "Vintage" is one of those words that was borrowed from another area (wine) and really means very little. Feebay made it part of the common language. I have thrifted and worn "vintage" since my late teens and it was not called that then (1980's). I have a thing for mens tweed jackets and mohair sweaters and someone might say this is "40's vintage"  small "v" or WWII era but not  "Vintage" with a capital "V" . I have a friend who has owned a shop on the OSU campus since the late 80's and she didn't even start using that word in advertisements  until the late 1990's.

 the word "Vintage" isn't even "Vintage" .... most telling is that Merriam Webster has not updated the meaning yet and it adds approx. 100 words a year.

Permalink Reply by CheriShops - Admin on September 12, 2011 at 8:50am

This thread on the Ruby Plaza group may be informative, especially as Carol quoted the Ruby Lane guidelines re Vintage

http://thevintagevillage.com/group/rubyplaza/forum/topics/question-...

Permalink Reply by Out Of The Attic 2u on September 12, 2011 at 3:26pm

Vintage as we understand it today is from 20-25 years. But to anyone who collects will say their clothing is vintage when it is only 10 years. I tend to go with the 20-25 years as being vintage, retro, eames era or whatever other word you would like to use :)

Permalink Reply by Swanky Selections on November 28, 2011 at 10:43pm

I consider "vintage" when applying it to clothing and accessories, to be before 1980, preferably not later that the mid-70's back to about early 30's when it then changes over to "antique".

 I have noticed that some who sell 1980-90's are refering to it as "retro" which used to be the term for furniture from 50's-70's.

I know about the wine thing and have no idea when the term became to mean "clothing" as well. It just sort of happened as far as I can tell. However we "vintage clothing sellers" have made it a correct and acceptable term based on usage alone...........

Permalink Reply by RC Antiques on November 29, 2011 at 10:40am

Today's language has changed many things, the words antiques and vintage are two of the terms affected by change.
In today's world, vintage is usually an item 20 years old, which puts the term 1990's and earlier.
It also depends on the site.
All sites have the power to state what they believe fits the term.
Ruby Lane is very strict on the term " antique "...the item must be 100 years old.
Where as most of us in my area ( Northeast ) say, early 1900's give or take a few years.
I think the best way to date the clothing ( and other items ) in terms is to state circa because that gives an allowance of years, without having to be exact.
I also like the description to refer to the style.
Vintage is used as much as possible in the hopes of being picked up in the search engine.
So, if the item is used, not new, many people will use the term vintage.
It's buyer beware when it comes to buying on the net or anywhere...the buyer will know if the item is the era they are looking for...but, they also need the term, Vintage, to find it.
If I were to start over again on the net, I would have my shop name be, RC's Vintage, instead of RC Antiques, because times have changed and I have changed with it.
Vintage is most popular, antiques, not as much.
Rambling thoughts of a " vintage " RC :-)

Permalink Reply by Swanky Selections on November 29, 2011 at 11:52am

Hey Linda-don't hear much from you on the "new" facebook format so it's good to find you here

My beef with the far to often used term "vintage clothing"  on-line is the number of sites or sellers that use the term vintage to get picked up by the search engines, although I do understand why.  I do get quite irritated when there is so little in the title or description that refers to what it is exactly they are selling.  Often it's difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff.

I've found myself  having to read about an item twice before I pick up a clue re the age of a garment. That, I think, is totally unacceptable. If one feels for some reason, the need to put vintage in the title, then it should also state, if not also in the title,  right up front in the description, that  the garment is  "re-worked"  or "based on" or "inspiration taken from", "a copy of",  something so that the potential buyer is able to understand immediately what they are considering purchasing. People without a lot of experience in this field can be so easily misled.

One website I can think of right off the top of my head is located in Asia but there are many others right here in our own backyard.

Thoughts from this"vintage" lady.  :)

Permalink Reply by RC Antiques on November 29, 2011 at 1:26pm

Big hugs to you my Swanky girl.

I miss my old FB, so, I am back to good ole Twitter.

I miss receiving my notes when someone responds to my FB comments...so, back to good ole ning groups instead..mostly this one, and sometimes Iantique.com

I love VintageVictory, but, just do not have time to get to all of them.

But, it's wonderful that ning sites still  have the email notices, one needs that to be able to keep track of the conversation.

You are correct, although vintage is used for the search, the seller should at least by the second sentence explain it is vintage inspired.

I will say, trends are changing and these days in my opinion, vintage inspired is more in than vintage, because the sizes are today's sizes, not sizes that are tiny.

So, it all goes back to what one is buying the item for.

I am enjoying Polyvore these days more than anything..sort of semi retired. Time to play :-)

When I want to go on a shopping spree, you will see me honking my wares that I have listed everywhere LOL, so I can make money to shop, shop, shop.

I really should play the lotto, cause if I should ever win, I will make many many sellers on line and off very happy :-)

In the mood to shop, so, gonna list today to make money :-)

Gonna call everything vintage, even the spanking brand new stuff ( joke joke...no new stuff here, teeheee )