Vintage?

Finding vintage in thrift stores is thrilling however sometimes it can be difficult to know for sure how old the piece is or if it even is old at all. I feel fairly confident in my abilities to date vintage but sometimes I get stumped. The more I handle vintage and compare decades the easier it becomes.

I use to value my mother as the voice of truth when it came to this skill, that is until she dated this 1930's dress as 70's prom wear. ( I love my mom) Here are a few ways I use to judge vintage with the help of the Vintage Fashion Guild....

The zipper!

This is a huge one for me. When I find a beautiful dress with a metal zipper I get really excited.
This usually means it's early 60's and prior.

• Metal zippers not used on women’s dresses until the late 1930’s. This means if your dress buttons on the side it's awesome and old.
  
  
• Coil zippers - invented in 1940, but not in common usage until the early 60’s.
  
  
• Side seam zippers - late 1930’s-1960’s.
  
  
• Center back dress zippers - seen occasionally in the 1940’s and early 50s, but generally later 50’s and 60’s and always from the 70’s on.
  
  
• Velcro® invented in 1948, not used in clothing much until 1960’s.
  
  
• Vintage slips, bras and garters have metal hardware, not plastic.

Fabric!

Whose tired of 70's polyester? I know I am, Thats why when I find vintage made of a higher quality fabric or (gasp) Rayon I've got quite a find. New look 60's cotton is always exciting.

• Rayon (known as artificial silk) was a French process developed during the 19th century. AKA Viscose (English process). The name Rayon was coined in 1924 and was used extensively for lingerie and light summer dresses until the 1950s when nylon became popular.
  
• Orlon®, trademarked by DuPont stared development as Fiber A in 1941, but production did not strat until 1950 in South Carolina. Boom years of productionwere the mid 1950s and 1960s.
  
• Dacron®, trademarked by DuPont and denotes numerous types of polyester yarn. Used in manufacture from 1953.
  
• Nylon was the first true synthetic developed by DuPont in the 1938, available to the American public in May 1940, used in stockings. Not used in clothing until well after WWII.
  
• Qiana®, a filament nylon used for woven and knitted fabrics was registered by DuPont in the 1970's.
  
• Spandex - first commercial use in 1959, seen in lingerie in the early 60's, but not in clothing much until the 80's. (Registered to DuPont as Lycra®)

The Label!

Theres something very lovely and quaint about a home made dress, but honestly when I see a very old worn out tag that reads something like Lilly Anne or Jonathon Logan my heart skips. The tag can tell you a lot about the article of clothing. I love being able to hop online and learn about a fashion designer from the past.

• Look for labels in the side seams and even the hems of older garments.
  
  
• Garment Care labels began in 1971 in the USA. The current labels were introduced in 1983.
  
  
• International care symbols were developed 1971.
  
  
• The USA Textile Products Identifications Act, 1960 mandated the use of fabric content labels.
  
  
• The Fur Products labeling act of 1952 required an accurate description of fur. i.e. "Hudson Seal" became sheared muskrat.
  
  
• A small 'e' on the label of a pair of Levis denims means they were manufactured after 1971 and if a capital 'E' they are pre-71.