Glad rags of yesteryear Print E-mail
Written by Jane Garner, 2004   
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Do you love clothes and feel like collecting something that's fun and a bit different? 'Vintage fashion' has rather more of a ring to it than 'old clothes' but basically that's what it is, writes Jane Garner. There's plenty of hype talked about 'vintage' but there is also profit and plenty of fun to be had in a rapidly-growing market. If you can't afford today's big names in couture, then track down a classic from a few decades ago.

Anne Dettmer, an ardent collector who caught the vintage bug herself nine years ago, says 'vintage' is a more refined term than 'old clothes' but it is also an abused term: "People are wary of terms such as 'vintage' or 'retro' which often actually mean 'repro'."

She compares vintage fashion to wine. "A vineyard can produce an excellent wine one year and not the next. Just because something is Dior doesn't mean Dior himself designed it," Anne explains. "The same with Chanel - Karl Lagerfeld revitalised Chanel, bringing back the spark in the 1970s.

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A French velvet evening coat by Jean Lanvin, dated around 1938, sold for more than £5,000 at Sotheby’s Passion for Fashion auction in November 2004.
 "You need to buy what a designer is most famous for: with Coco Chanel that was the 1920s little black dress, 1930s eveningwear and 1950s tweed suits. With Dior it's his New Look from 1947. Then there are brands, like Pucci, which were so prolific there are still original pieces to be found."

And just like wines, the source of vintage fashion can be crucial. For example, not all French-designed clothes were actually made in Paris. Find the right name, the right year, the right design and the right source and you're on to a winner.

Anne, who set up the Vintage Fashion Guild in May, is determined to create a website (see "Contacts") that will be accessible to everyone, not just the experts. She learned by experience herself, often through the generous advice of other collectors. The Guild website has pictures and a timeline to explain the history of fashion, decade by decade, as well as a chat room where questions can be answered. To help others, the Guild is developing a labels library on the website, photographing and dating them to build a reference that will be useful to veterans and novice collectors alike.

Anne explains the intricacies of the world of vintage fashion: "The strict definition of vintage is 25-30 years old or more, prior to that it may be very collectable but it's just 'old'. I say, if you wore something first time around, it's not vintage! At the moment 1950s is hot.

"You have to be careful that what you're buying is true vintage, not just a recreated look. You know something really is vintage if there's a metal zipper, because there were no plastic ones until the mid-1960s, unless of course the zip has been replaced. Examine the inside because modern clothing, unless it's haute couture, has lots of machine stitching. Hand stitching may indicate vintage. And watch for fabrics like gabardine - synthetics came in comparatively recently."

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Sotheby’s estimate of £1,500-2,000 for this Balenciaga bouclé wool and mink trimmed evening gown proved conservative when it was bought for £7,800 at the ‘Fit for a Princess’ sale – jewels and couture from the late Princess Lilian of Belgium and various other owners – in London in May 2005.
 Once a vintage collector gains an eye for detail in the manufacture, she or he will look for classic clues. Says Anne, "If the label on a Dior has a number, then the design is registered in the Dior archive. They know the year it was made, who designed it, how many pieces were sold and to whom. These are the high-end pieces, but some Dior made for the stores and prêt-a-porter wasn't numbered.

"Not every Dior was made in Paris - designs were licensed in New York and the UK. An Éclair zipper, a French brand, tells you an item was made in France, whereas a Talon zipper will indicate the US."

Anne, who wears only vintage clothes these days, buys mostly from overseas. Thanks to American socialites' determination to be seen only once in a dress, lots of good quality vintage fashion is still available, especially in the US. "They say that if you go to a dinner party in Italy and the hostess comments that you're wearing a dress you wore recently, it's a real compliment.

But in the US it's almost shameful to show up in the same gown twice!" says Anne.

Like what you buy

Anyone buying vintage should start with what they like. Eventually, when you run out of space for your personal collection, you can think about selling.

"You learn all the time you're buying and prices will vary according to many factors affecting demand," says Anne. "There was a 1953 Dior dress that sold for US$13,000 and I have an identical one bought for about $3,500.

I wanted a dress on eBay that started at $99 and went for $2,600. The market finds its own level - if something is considered 'hot' it will often surprise you," says Anne. (She warns that anyone buying from eBay should look out for a seller rating that's more than 99 per cent positive or "be wary".)

Size concerns many potential buyers because sizes years ago were different to those of today. "Be aware that a vintage 12 is more like an 8 today, so never look at the label and imagine a modern size. If you're 163cm (5ft 4in) tall and a size 12, you're OK, but even if you are 183cm (6ft) and size 14 it is still possible to find something. Not all vintage clothes are small. Look for exact bust, waist and hip measurements, especially on websites."


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