What to Look for When Vintage Shopping
Your Guide to Identifying and Sourcing Vintage
This is a long one. It may be clipped in your email, you can read it in the app or in a web browser.
I recently asked my subscribers what they wanted to see and follower,
asked how I choose my vintage items. Since “how do you shop vintage?” continues to be a very popular question across my social media, today I wanted to compile some of my favorite sources into ONE detailed, streamlined guide for you, with additional resources available for you to look into.It’ll be broken up into sections as follows:
Designer
Script/Font
Location
Union Label
Care Labels
Lot Number
Sizing
Closures
Zippers
Buttons
Fabric
Seams
Silhouettes
Other tells
(What is vintage? Generally, if an item is 20 years or older, it’s considered vintage, while 100 years or older is considered antique. However, some collectors say a garment must be over 50 years old to be considered true vintage. Today, I’ll be focusing mainly on 1920s-1990s garments.)
Labels
This is the first thing you’ll want to look for. A label can most frequently be found on the back collar of shirts/dresses or waistbands of bottoms/dresses, but sometimes can be hidden in seams. Really turn your garment inside out and scour for tags or labels- I have definitely missed tags on numerous wears that eventually solved mysteries for me.
1. Designer Labels: This is a great starting point. If a label lists the brand or designer of a garment, you can often research the history of the brand and find a rough time period when the piece existed. The Vintage fashion Guild is a great resource for dating specific years of well-known labels, as they show examples of when the font/style changed. If you can’t find it here, you can also scan labels with Google Lens to see if they appear on other vintage garments for sale online. (Note: pre-1970s garments from niche brands may not show up online.)
1a. Script/Font: Learning typography on labels is also a good way to guess the era of a piece, but takes some time to learn. In general, vintage labels are busier, prettier and have more details than modern logos.
1b. Location: Many garments of the 1960s and earlier were made in the USA, but will contain a specific city or a location of creation.
Cities: Made in Paris, San Fransisco, California, Hollywood, New York, Hawaii, Chicago, or other American cities are typically 1940s-1960s.
Zip Codes: Didn’t exist before 1963.
Made in China: After 1990.
Made in the USA: ~1980s.
2. Union Labels: Union labels are one of the easiest ways to confirm vintage status. The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) label is a common indicator. Cornell University and SammyDVintage are personal favorites for identifying specific years and have much more valuable information, but here is a brief rundown of some examples for you:
1900 – 1936 ILGWU AFL
1940 – 1955 ILGWU AFL
1955 – 1963 ILGWU AFL-CIO
1964-1973 ILGWU AFL-CIO
1974-1995 ILGWU RED, WHITE & BLUE
1995-2005 UNION LABELS UNITE!
3. Care Labels: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) mandated care labels with at least one mention of care in 1971, so garments without care instructions are likely pre-1972, with some exceptions as explained here by Circa Vintage.
Dry Clean Only: Care text like this indicates after 1971.
Clothing care symbols: Symbols with written instructions are likely after 1996.
Just symbols: No text, only symbols may be after 1998.
4. Lot Numbers: Used until 1979, lot tags are small labels indicating a production lot and are a sign that a garment is pre-1980.
5. Sizing: Look for odd or unique sizing numbers. If you compare it to a modern item of the same number sizing and there is a huge disparity, it may be vintage.
Half Sizing: The 1940s through the 1970s, half sizing existed for shorter gals and denoted shorter length.
Odd Sizing: Pre-1980s for petite women (unless it’s a modern junior’s garment.)
One size fits all: 1980s or later.
Construction:
The way garments are constructed can also be a huge indication of decade. Look for the placement of closures, fabric types/tags, and stitching details.
1. Closures:
1a. Zippers: first widely used in women’s clothes in the 1930s.
Metal Zippers: Usually indicate between 1930s-1965.
Plastic zippers: Usually indicate after 1965.
Side closures: Buttons, snaps or zipper usually indicate pre-1955.
Back zipper: Usually indicate after 1955.
1b. Buttons: Popular on blouses and shirtwaist style dresses. Dogbotz Boneyard has some great information on how to tell plastics apart.
Bakelite: Colored plastic from 1930s-1940s.
Lucite: Transparent plastic from the 1950s.
Plastic: Cheaper and more widely used 1960s and after.
Snaps: Usually indicate pre-1950.
Hook and Eye Closures: Usually indicate 1900-1920s
2. Fabric: The Textile Fiber Products Identification Act of 1958 made it law to disclose the content of fabrics on all mass produced clothing items. No fabric content label may mean pre-1958.
Wool: The Woolmark label was established in 1964 has been updated/blended a few times and may be helpful (although not everything wool will have the symbol regardless of year)
100% Woolmark: post-1964
50-99% Woolmark: Post-1971,
30-49% Woolmark: Post-1999
Nylon: Post- 1939.
“Qiana” Nylon: 1968-1970s
Acrylic: (Also called “Orlon,” “Acrilan,” “Zeran,” and “Creslan”) Post-1950.
Polyester: (Also called “Celanese,” “Kodel,” and “Vycron”) Post-1953, but HUGELY popular in the 70s.
“Dacron” Polyester: is between 1958-1970
Lycra/Spandex: Post-1959
3. Seams: The inside of a garment can give you great insight as well.
Unfinished seams: pre-1950s
Pinked seams: 1950s
Serged seams: 1960s and on
Styles
If all else fails, it’s helpful to know the hallmarks of different vintage styles/trends in order to guess which decade a garment may come from.
1. Era-Specific Silhouettes: This takes time to learn, but familiarize yourself with the silhouettes of each decade. The Fashion History Timeline is a good start, but I’m excited to announce that I have a whole book coming out in spring of 2025 with more help on this! A few examples:
20s/60s: Long, straight, rectangular, rising hemlines, and boxy shapes.
30s/70s: Natural, flowy, curved, soft, natural, narrow
40s/80s: Wide shoulders, nipped waist, athletic, strong
2. Other tells: A few features that I look for to help denote era.
Shoulder Pads: Hugely popular in the 40s and the 80s, but much bigger and sometimes removable in the 80s.
Underarm Liners: Pre-1950s, before deodorant was widely popularized.
Strap Holders: Pre-1960s, used to keep straps in place, they may be fabric or just thread.
Lining: Post-1965. Before the mid/late-1960s, slips were worn to prevent sticking/smooth lines, thus lining wasn’t as necessary.
All this being said, there are always outliers! You may find a garment that defies these rules, so if you’re still stumped, you can always submit your piece to me to potentially be researched/featured in future Vintage Vault episodes!
If there is anything I missed, or anything that is particularly helpful to you, please let me know below and share with anyone who needs a little help!
What an excellent article! So thorough, helpful, and well written. ☺️🙌🏻
I have watched so many of your videos and I’m such a big fan! You explain everything so eloquently and it’s so interesting for me to hear about. I love your personality and humor! I recently found your Substack and I will absolutely be reading your articles.
I am very impressed and I really admire you!
Thank you so much! 🤍
This is so great! Two easy ones I use to search are single stitch and made in hong kong for more 80s 90s stuff!