Genuine Vintage Clothing? Or Retro? How To Tell The Difference

 

Most current clothing will become vintage one day, and all vintage clothing will become antique one day as well.

For example, garments over 100 years old and above are not vintage but antique.

In simple terms, 'vintage' describes garments between 20 and 100 years old.

The origin of the word 'vintage', comes from the French ‘vendange’ and it means ‘grapes picked during the season’.

That's why the world vintage is often used to describe old and exquisite wines.

However, not all old clothes are vintage, as to be considered vintage the apparel must be able to reflect the trends and styles of a particular era.

Vintage clothing can include any brand, style, and materials.

Vintage clothing can be from mainstream fashion brands, from haute couture labels, made by machines or hand-made, from dead-stock discarded scraps, or from super rare materials.

In recent years, 'vintage clothing' is a term used to describe garments that belonged to a previous (quite recent) stylistic era.

When purchasing vintage clothing, it is important not to confuse vintage with antique.

Just remember that if the vintage piece of clothing you're trying to buy is over a century old, that's no longer vintage but antique, and that could mess up your style.

It is also very important not to confuse vintage clothing with retro clothing.

Unlike vintage, retro clothing has no association with a stylistic period of time during which the garments were produced.

The term ‘retro fashion’ refers to a dressing styles period covering the '70s and '80s.

Also, new clothes that imitate famous retro fashion styles of the past can be called retro-clothing.

In that sense, many fast fashion brands, including Topshop and H&M, have retro collections seeking to attract customers who want to achieve 'vintage fashion' looks.