When they talk about fashion, they rarely ignore vintage clothing. Designers dedicate their collections to this style, and every self-respecting fashionista tries to have at least a couple of such items in his closet.
Why “vintage”?
Does everyone know where the word “vintage” came from? It’s a winemaking term, which means “wine or the harvest of a particular year” in French. As for fashion, this style name speaks of a reference to the forgotten in clothing, a revival of the fashion trends of past generations.
A bit of history
It is believed that the history of vintage fashion began with an idea of the then unknown John Galliano to dress effectively and fashionably, staying within the meager student budget. He had a truly extravagant taste, and he satisfied it by seeking out and buying up old fashions.
The first decades of the 20th century were the heyday of cinema, with Marlene Dietrich and other screen stars dictating fashion. Many things can be taken from this time that are now vintage.
- The tunic dress, suitable more for everyday wear than for a festive occasion. Although this outfit with a belt on the hips used to be considered stylish and kept for going out. Today such a dress has become an independent piece of everyday closet, you can also wear it with pants or jeans, with or without a belt.
- Blouse of a “blind” style, covering the throat and decorated with a bow. Such a monochrome blouse could become a part of the basic closet and will be useful for the office and business meetings, as well as for less formal going out, if you dilute it with jeans and other less classic things.
- The pencil skirt, firmly gaining popularity since those times and not inferior to other models.
Military time. Sharp weighted lines in clothes displacing romantic soft outlines. Here are the actual clothes of that period.
- A jacket with shoulder pads, more often fitted. It resembles a part of the military accoutrement. Such a jacket should be in every basic closet. It will advantageously emphasize the waist and will help out on cool days in the office or for a walk.
- Dress flared in polka dots or check with a wide belt at the waist. To walk down the street on a warm evening, go to the movies or meet with a friend, you can wear just such an outfit.
The post-war decade was a splash of sexiness and bright colors in clothing. Dominant clothing:
- A swimsuit with a strapless bodice. In hot weather it can be worn with a skirt.
- A cotton tank top in polka dots or plaid. A wand-handy in the heat, on a walk with children, to wear at home.
- Scarf or headband of bright colors as a headwear. Such an accessory gives a piquancy to the image and attracts attention, enlivening the rest of the clothing of calmer tones.
In the 60’s clothes become comfortable, not constraining the movements. Vivid examples of fashion items of this period:
- Knee-length monochrome trapeze dress.
- Pants with arrows. One of the things of a modern woman’s basic closet. A blazer shirt tied with a belt at the waist.
Men’s vintage
Vintage has found its place not only in women’s fashion, but also in men’s fashion, where the consistency of fans of one brand or another pushes them to look for things from the collections of the seasons. Men’s fashion, more conservative in its essence, gives men more chances to find actual things among vintage things, because the basic things of men’s closet are still actual.
Men are the biggest collectors of clothes and shoes, who not so much wear, but rather collect the clothes of cult brands. And what could be more interesting to a collector than antiques or vintage?
Varieties of Vintage Style
For a piece to be considered vintage, you either have to get it out of your grandmother’s coffer or sew a new one in the same style as it was fashionable almost a century ago. Depending on this, there are several varieties of vintage style:
- Vintage – clothes sewn by fashion couturiers earlier than the 1980s.
- Neo-vintage – modern works of designers made in this style. The clothes are copied from the models of the 20s-60s.
- Combined vintage – completely new models of clothing, to which are added buttons, braid or lace, popular in the last century.
- Vintage tailoring – new models made from 20th century material.
The difference between vintage clothing and second hand
Often people have a question: what is the difference between vintage clothes from those that we call “second hand”? If we take the technical side of the question, there is no difference. After all, both (though not always) used to be worn.
But not all second hand clothes are vintage. To put such a thing in his boutique, a designer looks through a lot of outfits, chooses the most worthwhile ones from them, and carefully puts them in order. That’s what famous fashion designers did in the ’90s. Tracy Tolkien from Britain, Didier Ludot from France and Franco Giacassi from Italy exhibited in their fashion stores old clothes and enjoyed unchanging success.
Characteristic features of vintage clothing
An item from grandma’s coffer can be considered vintage if it:
- well-made;
- beautiful;
- Is characteristic of the last century;
- It is in keeping with an idea of its time.
An example would be a jacket sewn by a famous twentieth-century couturier, or a dress worked on by a skilled dressmaker, with festoons, lace and hand puffs.
Why do people buy vintage?
Vintage items are things with their own history and zest, and besides they are really unique, which is especially important in the age of modern mass-market. In addition, fashion is cyclical, so in 20-30 years the old thing is guaranteed to be at the peak of popularity. Thus wearing a vintage thing, you can be in trend even twice (if, of course, you are aware of the latest trends in fashion, and not focused entirely on vintage bows).
Among the fans of the brands there are also quite a few collectors who buy clothes to add to their collection or resell later some valuable find. The popularity of vintage items is greatly contributed by E-bay, where everyone can put up for sale something, which has been hanging in your closet for a long time, and you can easily buy unique clothes from the other side of the world. And don’t discount the good old flea markets. A vintage item – it does not mean expensive: you can buy the thing for $ 1, and for a few thousand dollars. It all depends on the brand, the year of manufacture, and of course, on your luck.
At the fashion Olympus there are brands with a long history, and many fans of brands want to become owners of iconic things from old collections to mix them with modern things.
The second life of fashion collections
Vintage theme is actively exploited in the collections and designers, not only adding to clothes lace, flounces and other elements of antiquity, but also releasing items from their archives. Some particularly successful creations have gone through several reincarnations. And some brands went even further and based all collections on things from their archives or archives of designers.
How to choose and how to care for?
When buying vintage clothing it is very important to pay attention to the size and not to forget that modern sizes differ from those of a few decades ago. Size parameters change from year to year and vary from brand to brand, so in this case it is necessary to try on, or at least the most accurate parameters of the thing.
We recommend choosing things a little bigger than your current size: vintage clothing is extremely fragile and it is not recommended to stretch them.
And of course remember that modern care products can be too aggressive for old fabrics, so maybe you should even think about using your grandmother’s old care products. But you can not go that far, and just pick up a gentle product for delicate fabrics. And may the manufacturers of washing machines forgive us, we would still advise washing such things by hand, especially if they are of a venerable age.