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Last Updated on February 2, 2023 by Dominique de Merteuil
In this detailed post, I will share with you some useful tips on how to date vintage clothing.
Time needed: 10 minutes.
How old is my vintage garment?
- Firstly, there are certain clues that will help you with establishing the era when your vintage garment was made. Dating vintage clothes is both an art and a science and it can take years of experience to master the skill, but I want to focus on the main signs that will get you started.
We will look at:
☞ ZIPPERS
☞ LINING
☞ SEAMS
☞ CARE TAG
☞ WHAT’S ON THE LABEL (TESS)
☞ RN
☞ ILGWU UNION TAGS-for American garments
☞ WOOLMARK LOGO
☞ FABRICS
☞ VINTAGE ADS
- Secondly, search through fashion archives and you might find an ad or editorial that features garments identical to or at least similar to the one you are researching.
You should check archives of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Women’s Wear Daily, Sears Catalogs, NYPL Digital collections, and Newspaper Archive. I found my Handmacher suit in an ad in Harper’s Bazaar from 1952!
The Intro to Dating Vintage Clothing
The word ‘vintage’ refers to the year in which wine was produced.
Etymology in a nutshell: From Old French vendange (wine harvest), from Latin vindemia-grape gathering (from ‘vinum’ wine).
☞ It gets much more complicated when it comes to fashion and you will get a different answer depending on whom you ask.
☞ For many, the garment has to be at least 40 years old to qualify as vintage.
☞ In recent years, the word vintage replaced the term ‘second-hand’ to make it more appealing to the buyer. You will often see in editorials the word ‘vintage’ used to describe a designer piece from a few seasons ago.
☞ The reason why a lot of us in the vintage community started using the term ‘true vintage’ is to separate us, the wearers of 1930s-1950s garments from those who refer to clothes from the 90s and 00s as vintage.
☞ Generally speaking, a piece of furniture or a garment has to be at least 100 years old to be an antique.
☞ True vintage (the 1930s-1950s), vintage (1960s-1980s), retro (imitation of a style from the past).
☞ To describe the years 2000-2020 in fashion, I will quote a character from The Devil Wears Prada.
‘If she deosn’t like it she shakes her head. Then, of course, there is the pursing of the lips.’ And that means. ‘Catasrphe.’
Needless to say, I’ve been pursing my lips since the late 90s.
The Art of Identifying Vintage Clothes
It’s not always easy to identify the era in which a vintage garment was made. It’s a very tricky and daunting task indeed, especially when there are no tags attached. And that’s the case with a lot of garments from the 1930s-1950s. Clothes were often handmade, or perhaps the tags simply did not survive the wear and tear of time.
Some of my most valuable 1940s skirt suits were bespoke and undoubtedly made for well-to-do clients.
PRO TIP: Familiarize yourself with various styles and trends popular in the fashion era of your interest. Look for vintage magazines and ads. You should also know how to identify the different fabrics that were used in different eras.
As much as the topic of the history of vintage clothes is a never-ending learning curve for me, there are certain ways by which I’m able to date most but not all of my collected pieces.
Readers have asked me many times to write a post about that very topic and I hope my tips will be useful!
The older I get, the more vintage I buy and the deeper I fall into the rabbit hole of research, the more I realize that there is still so much to learn.
Before you continue reading my post, please, do understand that when dating vintage garments, you should look at many different clues. Don’t obsess on just one. Also, I regularly update this article so do subscribe to the post notification.
If you love vintage fashion as much as I do, you might also find this article interesting! HOW TO TAKE CARE OF VINTAGE CLOTHES!
How to date vintage clothing! In the pictures, I’m wearing a dress from circa 1955.
How to Date Vintage Clothing with the Help of Zippers, Lining, Care Tag and More.
Zippers
ZIPPERS HELP WITH DATING VINTAGE CLOTHES
I find zippers fascinating and they certainly deserve a separate chapter or even a post. For the time being, you have to forgive me for giving you just a couple of simple clues on how to date a vintage garment thanks to zippers.
- Though the metal zipper was invented in the 1800s it was only first used in women’s clothes in the 1930s and placed either in the side seam or centre back of the dress, usually very short in length, concealed with a flap of fabric, as it was considered vulgar. You see, zippers made it too easy to take one’s garment off and clearly a real lady wouldn’t be in a hurry to undress. Or would she? 🙂
- I really struggle to find 1930s evening gowns that would be the right size and have a zipper, without which putting on a velvet or liquid satin gown is almost impossible, at least for me.
And that brings me to point of alterations and I would like to remind you of what I said earlier about looking at more than one clue when dating vintage clothes. You might find an original 1930s dress or a 1940s skirt with a modern zipper.
- Contrary to the popular belief of many people on the internet that 1930s clothes did not have a front zipper, there are MANY examples of 1930s dresses, blouses and patterns with a zipper placed in front.
TIP * Vintage patterns that can be found on Etsy and eBay are a great resource for learning about the different styles popular from the 1930s to-1950s.
Elsa Schiaparelli used colourful plastic ‘Lightning’ zippers in her 1935 collection and shocked everyone by placing them in very visible parts of her clothes.
She wasn’t the first designer to use a fastener in a woman’s garment though. In 1933 the American couturier, Charles James incorporated a long zipper in his spiral wrap-over dress which he named the ‘Taxi’.
- You will often find a metal zipper in women’s clothes from the 1940s in the side seam, sleeves as well as on the back. All of my 1940s dresses have either a zipper or buttons placed in the side seam.
- In the 1950s it was popular to place a long zipper at the centre back of the dress but always concealed. Don’t be surprised to see a 1940s gown with a long zipper that runs down the back.
Stills from “Blithe Spirit” (1945) depicting not one but two dresses with a very long zipper on the back.
- Plastic zippers replaced metal ones after 1963
NOTE that some zippers might have been replaced at a later stage! I’ve seen many 1940s dresses with a contemporary zipper.
Lining
LINING OR LACK OF IT CAN HELP ESTABLISH THE ERA OF THE VINTAGE GARMENT
In the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, women always wore slips and half slips with skirts and dresses. Of course, slips were still popular in the 1960s and 1970s but most skirts came with a lining.
Tip* If you find a skirt suit that looks like a great example of one from the 1940s but the skirt is fully lined, then you can be sure that it’s from the 1970s or later.
I have one dress from the late 1950s with a lining on the bottom half.
How to date vintage clothing!
The 1950s Copeland Skirts of California with a lining at the back of the skirt.
Seams
This is actually the most difficult part for me to identify a vintage garment, as I don’t know how to hand-sew, I’ve never used a sewing machine and even attaching a simple button is like a mission impossible.
So… For me looking at different types of seams is like trying to read hieroglyphs. The one thing I’ve learned really fast though is that if a garment has unfinished seams it‘s most likely from earlier than the 1950s.
The three seams you should familiarise yourself with are French, pinked and Serged seams.
- In a French seam, which I call the invisible seam, the raw edges of the fabric are completely enclosed and this type of seam was used from the 1900s through to the 1940s.
- You will find pinked seams on a lot of 1950s garments that were cut with pinking shears and the easiest way to identify them is by the zigzag teeth cut of these shears.
- Serged seams, which are overlock stitches, replaced the pinked seams in the 1960s when the Serger sewing machine became widely available and affordable.
TIP *Please note that the overlock/serger machine was developed in the 19th Century by Merrow Machine Company and a line of “A Class” machines were produced in 1932. Don’t be surprised if you find an overlock stitch in garments pre-dating the 1960s. I’ve seen it on breeches and a skirt from the 1930s.
How To Fix a Hole in Vintage Clothes Without Sewing
If you are as hopeless when it comes to stitching, sewing and mending, as I am, you will LOVE the Bo-Nash Fuse It Powder!
Care Tag
- In 1971 the Federal Trade Commission issued the Care Labeling Rule. The rule states that manufacturers have to tag their apparel with at least one cleaning method such as “dry clean only” or “machine wash cold”.
- There are a lot of 1970s dresses inspired by the 1940s but if you see a tag bearing the words “dry clean only”, and the dress happens to have a lining, and it’s made of polyester, you can be sure that it’s NOT from the 1940s!
- The lining would be your second clue that the dress is not from the 1940s.
- The polyester fabric would be the third clue.
Tip* Care instructions on clothing from the 1950s and 1940s were not that uncommon but the wording on the tag will be most likely ” DRY CLEANING RECOMMENDED” rather than “DRY CLEAN ONLY”. I once bought a deadstock 1950s dress with a removable care tag attached to the dress and kept the tag. I will post a picture of it as soon as I find it!
If you happen to have a vintage garment predating the 1950s with ‘dry cleaning’ as a recommended method of cleaning on a tag, please let me know! I would love to post more examples on my website.
A couple of days ago, one of my favourite vintage shops in the UK, Gingermegs Vintage, listed this beautiful 1940s dress by Dorothy Hubbs. As you can see, the tag on this 1940s dress reads Dry Clean Only.
The Dorothy Hubbs brand & Lucille Ball
On a side note, all the dresses that Lucille Ball wore on the tv show ‘ I Love Lucy’ were by Dorothy Hubbs.
We read in the book “The Real Story of Lucille Ball’ that
“On television, Lucy also wears the “I Love Lucy” dresses made not by her dressmaker but by Dorothy Hubbs Inc. and sold in three thousand stores around America.”
Care Symbols
CARE SYMBOLS HELP WITH DATING VINTAGE CLOTHES
According to GINETEX ( the International Association for Textile Care Labelling), the care symbols were introduced in 1963.
You might be interested in my article on how to clean vintage clothes headache-free!
DISCLOSURE; As of October 2021 (three years after I published this article), I’m part of the Shop Style Collective affiliate program and I get a commission for purchases made through some of the links in this post. When you purchase a product via the link in my post you are helping to keep my website alive for which I’m very grateful!
I handwash all my vintage lingerie in Eucalan Wrapture which I wholeheartedly recommend to all of you!
How To Get Rid Of Yellow Stains from Vintage Clothes & Linens!
Retro Clean is my secret weapon in removing yellow stains on vintage and antique washable linens and clothes!
My little miracle worker made all the stains disappear.
WHAT’S ON THE LABEL-HOW TO DATE VINTAGE CLOTHES!
- If you see a brand’s name on the label, I strongly recommend that you check if it’s listed on the Vintage Fashion Guild’s website, as it’s a good source of information and they have pictures of vintage tags so you can compare it with the one sewn in your garment.
- TRADEMARK ELECTRONIC SEARCH SYSTEM (TESS)
- ‘It’s all in the name.’ If you are lucky enough to have a manufacturer’s or designer’s name attached to your garment, check TESS to see when it was registered. It won’t help with establishing the exact date of when your vintage piece was made, but you will at least find out when the brand was registered. This is a database for American companies.
- Example of a St Michael Label courtesy of Emma from NYLON NOSTALGIA. You can read an in-depth article about how to date St Michael labels on her website!
CC41-The Utility Clothing Scheme
- CC41 (Civilian Clothing, Orders 1941) – the utility logo (Rationing of clothing started in 1941 and lasted until 1949). The utility clothing scheme started in 1942 and lasted till 1952. Garments with the CC41 logo on them were synonymous with good quality for a low price.
RN -On Vintage Clothes
Registered Identification Number
- Very helpful in determining the age of your vintage garment are RN numbers (issued by the Federal Trade Commission to businesses in the U.S. that manufacture, import or sell; textile, wool or fur products).
- RN numbers issued from 1952 through 1959 starting at 00101 continued to 04086.
- If the RN number is 13670 then your garment is younger than 1959!
- Please remember that the RN number does NOT show the number of when a garment was made, but the date of when the RN number was issued!
Tip* I use RN database to find more information.
LOT Number on American Garments
I had to mention the LOT numbers because the LOT tag appears on some of the vintage clothes and a lot of people ask about them, but I would ignore them as a clue for dating vintage.
- The lot numbers were a way for manufacturers to keep track of their garments. I’m still gathering information on when they were first used and if they really ceased to exist post-1979.
- Mary, in the comment section, pointed out that LOT numbers didn’t cease to exist after 1979 and are still in use. I have never seen a tag with a LOT number on contemporary American clothes so this topic needs further investigation.
ILGWU UNION TAGS (International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union)
Union Tags
- 1900 – 1936 ILGWU AFL (The International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union was formed in 1900)
- 1933-1935 NRA (National Recovery Act) with Blue Eagle
- 1936 – 1940 ILGWU CIO
- 1940 – 1955 ILGWU AFL
- 1941 – New York Dress Institute Label created
- 1955 – 1995 ILGWU AFL-CIO (In the picture below!)
How to date vintage clothing! ILGWU AFL-CIO label was found on one of my dresses.
The union tag is not older than 1955 and not younger than 1963 as there is no R symbol or “Union Made” inside the circle.
You will see the words “UNION LABEL” right above the scalloped crest, a needle with thread and no R symbol, which appeared on this label in 1964.
- 1963 -1973 ILGWU AFL-CIO (The R symbol appeared and the word UNION MADE is now inside the circle)
- May 1960 – Coat & Suit Industry Recovery Board Label and the ILGWU label were merged.
- 1975-1992 ILGWU AFL-CIO (Red colour is added)
- 1995 – 2004 UNITE!
- 2004 – UNITE HERE
“R” TRADEMARK
The Trademark Act of 1946 introduced the trademark symbol.
Woolmark Logo
The Woolmark logo first appeared on tags of garments made of wool in 1964. Also, garments with a 100% Woolmark logo will be not older than 1964. The Woolmark blend logo was introduced in 1971.
Through the years the logo has changed but you can see and compare the different tags on the Vintage Fashion Guild’s website.
This particular tag is from my 1952 Handmacher suit. As you see, it says “100% WOOL SUPER-FINE WORSTED.”
Vintage Size
None of my dresses and skirt-suits from the 1930s and 1940s have a size tag, which shouldn’t come as a surprise as it wasn’t until 1958 that standardised sizes appeared on tags.
It doesn’t mean, of course, that size tags on clothes from pre-1958 didn’t exist. They did, but the number will make no sense to you.
When buying vintage online pay attention to the measurements given in the description, and allow 2 inches for ease of wear.
For example, if a blazer measures 36 ” across the bust it will be suitable for someone who is 32″ or 34″. Don’t forget to ask about the shoulder-to-shoulder measurement if it’s not already in the description.
VINTAGE FABRICS
Invented in;
1911 – Rayon, invented in 1846, was first manufactured in the United States in 1911. (very popular in the 1920s-1940s). Rayon, which was a cheaper alternative to silk, was called artificial silk until 1924. Other names used to describe rayon were; artificial silk, art silk, rayon silk, chemical silk, and manufactured silk.
1924 – Acetate
1939 – Nylon (nylon was first commercially used in 1939 by E.I. du Pont) Qiana, a silky nylon fibre was developed in 1962 and introduced by the name of Qiana in 1968 by DuPont. That particular material was very popular in the 1970s in the production of faux-silk men’s shirts with bold patterns. A la Travolta “Saturday Night Fever” 😉
1950 – Acrylic (DuPont created the first acrylic fibres in 1941 and trademarked them under the name Orlon. It was developed in the 40s and wildly available in shops in the 1950s. It’s a soft and warm wool-like fabric used for example as an alternative to expensive cashmere)
1953 – Polyester
1959 – Spandex
1961 – Polyolefin/polypropylene (in 1966, polyolefin was the first and only Nobel Prize-winning fibre).
If you see rather unusual names of fabrics it usually means it’s vintage. For example;
Dacron Polyester appeared in garments from the late 1950s through to the 1970s. Polyester was very popular in the 1970s but was first commercially used in 1953 and Celanese was an acetate fabric softer but stronger than satin or taffeta and most importantly much cheaper.
SEARCH FOR VINTAGE ADS
When you are lucky enough to have a tag with the brand’s name attached to the garment, look through Pinterest or Google for vintage ads with the brand in question and even if you don’t find the exact same model of a dress, suit or a coat that you have, it might help you to narrow down the date.
Being the tenacious person that I am, after two days of searching and going through countless Handmacher ads, I found a picture of my Handmacher suit in Harper’s Bazaar from 1952!
How to date vintage clothing! In the picture on the left, I’m wearing the exact same model of the Handmacher suit which I later found in Harper’s Bazaar from 1952.
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The 1930s Fashion Illustrations
I published a post depicting fashion illustrations from January 1930 to September 1939. If you subscribe to my newsletter, I will send you 10 PDFs over the next 10 weeks with over 600 fashion illustrations from the 1930s.
I sincerely hope that this post was useful to you! If you enjoy my articles, please consider a donation to my book fund. Thank you!
Dominique x
dating vintage clothesDominique de Merteuilhow old is my vintage dresshow to date vintage clotheshow to date vintage clothingidentifying vintagevintage bloggervintage fashion blogvintage fashion tipsvintage tagsvintage tips
Alana
December 20, 2022I am stumped! I have a presumably velour housecoat labeled Dela-Ann. Rn tells me 1956. Tag says hand washable and seams are pinked but VERY unfinished. I can find no other info about this piece of clothing! HELP!!
Dominique de Merteuil
December 20, 2022According to TESS, the Dela-Ann brand was first used in commerce in 1948 and registered on October 9, 1956. The registrant on file is HAGE & AZRAK CO. Firm 164 Atlantic Ave. Brooklyn NY.
All the Dela-Ann house coats I’ve found online that are currently for sale (or sold in the past) are from the 1960s. I suggest you use GEM App to look for available Del-Ann house coats and compare them to yours. I don’t know how familiar you are with the popular designs of house coats in the 1940s, the 1950s, and the 1960s so have a look at the Vintage Fashion Tips category on my website. Perhaps, the article entitled ‘How to Shop for Vintage Lingerie. Expert advice!‘ might be useful to you for comparing robes from different decades.
I haven’t had time to look for ads for Del-Ann but I will when I have a moment.
Abby C
November 1, 2022I have a completely beaded flapper style dress that I bought at a thrift store in SoCal almost 20 years ago. There is no designer label, no size, no RN. The only tag found is a thick white tag extending about 1/2” from the seam & 1” in width that reads on one side “100% silk lining rayon” and the backside reads “professionally dry clean only made in India”. There is a metal zipper on the side & the straps are halter style (also fully beaded) with 2 metal closure hooks. Is there any way to find more info on this dress?
Dominique de Merteuil
November 1, 2022Hi Abby,
Based on your description I can tell you that the dress is not ‘true vintage’ (the 1920s to the 1970s).
You bought it around 2000, and my guess is the dress is from the 90s. The “flapper look” was ubiquitous on the runway in the 90s. Try Pinterest or Vogue for the 20s-style dresses in the 90s, and you might come across something similar. Your dress might be a designer piece with a tag cut off on purpose, or it’s a copy of a designer piece.
Alison Cloonan
October 4, 2022What a great detailed post and full of great information. Loving the vintage fabric and illustrations.
Dominique de Merteuil
October 5, 2022Thank you so much!
It’s an important topic considering the increasing popularity of vintage amongst people who are only starting their adventure in buying clothes from past decades.
Goldie Kean
April 9, 2022Arr yes, thank you, I happy to find you. My history may interest you as I also have become a dress detective due to searching fruitlessly for the couture garments my mother made when partner to a couturier in Johannesburg in the late 1940’s. I was brought up on tales of hems being re-sewn 15 times before perfection was reached. Of diamond barons wives ordering gowns covered in beaded fish scales, Of the parties and artisans of that era. Coats that were made in the atelier that she wore during the war that never crumpled after long train journeys sleeping in them. So sad it appears nothing is left of their work. I also was taught by her and in my way made a small ripple in the 70’s. Now to the present day in the South of France where I’m finding some real gems. The nostalgia for my families past is burning agin, thank you. Goldie Kean.
Dominique de Merteuil
April 9, 2022What a fantastic story! It’s hard to believe that all the couture pieces perished. I bet with you that some of them survived and are part of a private collection. May I ask for the name of the couturier?
Isobel Barrett
February 28, 2022Great information and written in a light hearted manner. I have learned a lot from you. My background is in theatre and over the years have accumulated quite a number of vintage pieces. At the moment I am sifting through them to find out the best way to treat and care for these precious garments.
Thank you again
Dominique de Merteuil
March 1, 2022Thank you for your lovely comment!
I wrote an in-depth article about how to store vintage like a pro, so please check it out as my tips and recommendations might come in handy.
Janett
February 2, 2022Very informative article! I’m learning so much about vintage fashion thanks to your blog!
Dominique de Merteuil
February 2, 2022Thank you!
Alison Cloonan
January 1, 2022What a great post with some great help and tips. I find dating vintage clothing very difficult also we get alot oc St Michael’s so will checkout the other link. Thankyou.
Dominique de Merteuil
January 1, 2022I’m thrilled that this article is useful to so many people! It’s not always easy to date vintage garments, especially when they have been altered many times over. Emma, at Nylon Nostalgia, wrote an in-depth post about the St Michael label.
Autumn Reed
October 2, 2021Thank you for this article!! It is very thorough and helped me get some idea about the date of a vintage dress I just found at an antique store. It is 100% wool, made in Italy, size 8 and the brand says “Romia”. I can’t find much online except one shirt on Ebay with the same label. It is a tight, short sleeved, “pencil” dress, with a matching cape and tie that I assume goes around my neck but I am not sure!! Wondering what you think? 🙂 I thought it was 50’s or maybe even 40’s but then you said the bit about sizing so I am not sure.
Dominique de Merteuil
October 6, 2021Thank you!
Does it say “Romia” or “Roma” or maybe something entirely different? I can’t find a brand under that name. Impossible for me to say without seeing the garment or images. Try to find images of similar dresses to yours on Pinterest.
Deanna J. McFarland
June 23, 2021Hi, I just wanted to write to let you know how much I appreciate your knowledge of vintage garments and the willingness to share! I found your blog informative and straight to the point (which I love). I do love vintage fashion–learning about it. I troll the thrift stores looking for a good vintage garments. I then research the garment which helps broaden my knowledge:) Thanks again for sharing your love and knowledge! Warmest regards, Deanna
Dominique de Merteuil
June 24, 2021Deanna, you made my day with your kind comment! I’ve been buying, wearing and writing about vintage for longer than I would like to admit, but I shall never stop learning and sharing my knowledge with my wonderful readers.
Stephanie
August 25, 2021I picked up a Cynthia Howie dress at Goodwill. There is a ILGWU tag and the store tag (Seiferts) states it is a 1958 style. However the Garment tag says “Dry Clean Only.” Along with Made in USA and style# 1950-2,
Can I assume that this is not a real period based dress?
Dominique de Merteuil
August 25, 2021Hi Stephanie,
I’ve found many dresses by Cynthia Howie currently listed on eBay and Etsy, and they are all from the 1980s or later. Several of them are in the 1950s style. If the ILGWU label on the garment is in; white red and blue colours, and Made in U.S.A. is in red, you can be guaranteed that it’s NOT from the 1950s. Hope that helps.
Lori Binetti
May 24, 2021Hi , love the info provided. TY . I recently inherited a few Vintage garments. I believe from what I read there is one garment that had a union tag on it from 1955 . I’m not sure how to appraise this ! Do you know anyone that could help! Thank you!
Dominique de Merteuil
May 24, 2021Hi Lori,
Happy to hear that you found the article useful!
If you are a new vintage buyer or seller, I strongly recommend that you look on Etsy for similar garments to yours! You mentioned a Union tag, but are there any other tags? The brand’s name? The price of a vintage garment depends on many factors. The overall condition of the piece. Is it NOS (new old stock), immaculate (hardly ever happens), good, fair, sold As-Is? The design of the garment matters, the colour the size etc.
You might find this article useful! The Value of Vintage Clothing: Demystifying Modern Cost of Vintage!
Alison Cloonan
April 17, 2021Great blog and very interesting reading as im just learning on how to date tweed jackets and alot if them have the 100% pure new wool label. Great read thank you.
Dominique de Merteuil
April 18, 2021Thank you, Alison!
I’m thrilled that so many people find this article useful.
I see more and more 1970s jackets and coats with the Wolmark logo sold as 1940s even though the Woolmark logo first appeared on tags of garments made of wool in 1964. There is, of course, nothing wrong with jackets from the 1970s, but when they are advertised as 1940s and sold for the price of a 1940s garment, that is simply not fair.
I have the 100% pure new wool label on a lot of 1940s and 1950s suits!
Penny
February 1, 2021Jacket with woolmark label numbered 506393
No other label
Can the designer be identified from this?
Dominique de Merteuil
February 2, 2021Hi Penny,
Get in touch with someone at Woolmark. They might be able to help. Every brand needs to pay a licence fee in order to use the Woolmark logo. It should be in their database.
Vermilion Novak
October 30, 2020Loved this article! I’m always drawn to vintage looking dresses when i’m out and i want to make a custom one for myself so i’ve been trying to identify the era’s that are my favorite. I had never looked at the tags until today for some reason and discovered two of my dresses are from the ILGWU. The dress that i am struggling with the most is a wedding dress that doesn’t have any tags on it, so i’m inclined to believe it was tailored for someone. It does have a long metal zipper down the back that is covered by a flap filled with fake buttons. There are pads underneath the sleeves that are surged but other than that all the seems are pinked. Would love to hear your thoughts!
Dominique de Merteuil
November 1, 2020Thank you for the lovely comment!
I’m thrilled that the article turned out to be useful to so many people. I will be adding more tips in due course.
Without seeing the dress in question or at least pictures, I can’t help you, I’m afraid. I’m not surprised that the wedding dress doesn’t have any tags, a lot of wedding dresses were and still are custom made. Any idea what fabric is the dress made of? A long zipper at the back would suggest a dress that’s not earlier than from the 1950s. Zipper and its placement can be a good indication of the era when the garment was made, but it’s not always that simple. I have seen examples of the 1930s dresses with zippers at the back, although they weren’t very long! You can find authentic zippers from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s at a vintage fair, Etsy or eBay. It’s possible for a dress to be from one era and the zipper from another.
Unfortunately, there are some unscrupulous people out there who make vintage reproductions, use true vintage buttons or zippers and sell the garment as vintage.
Let’s not forget about the possibility of alterations that could have been done much later. You have to look at each clue individually and start putting them together, like a Vintage-fashion detective. 🙂 Take a close look at the zipper. What brand is it? Compare it to vintage zippers on Google! There a few vintage-zipper experts!
I suggest that you take as many detailed pictures of the dress and post them on the Vintage Fashion Guild Forum.
Dx
Gayla Esch
January 2, 2020I am so glad to have stumbled onto your blog post on how to ID and Date vintage clothing. This was so interesting, and was a reminder of the clothing my grandmother and mother wore in the mid 1950s. I have made my own clothing, and that my daughters clothing, and so I was quite surprised that plastic zippers were used as early as the 1930’s. Wow! Great article!
Gayla
TheJewelSeeker on 21VintageStreet
Dominique de Merteuil
January 2, 2020Hi Gayla,
Your comment made my day! I’m thrilled to hear that people find my articles helpful. I envy anyone who is capable of making their own clothes. Sewing is definitely not my forte. I can’t as much as attach a button. 🙂
Ann Elkington
October 29, 2019In your descriptions of seams, above: A French seam is, in a way, self enclosing, and is always in the inside of a garment, while another kind of self enclosing seam, the flat-felled seam, is often found on the outside of the garment. For example: the outside leg seams of some types of jeans. This is what I was taught, but if there are others out there who have more info, I am perfectly happy to be corrected.
Dominique de Merteuil
October 30, 2019Thank you for your comment!!!
As I explained in my article, identifying different types of seams is rather difficult for me. Most of my clothes are from the 1940s and have an unfinished seam.
“In a French seam, the raw edges of the fabric are fully enclosed for a neat finish. The seam is first sewn with wrong sides together, then the seam allowances are trimmed and pressed. A second seam is sewn with right sides together, enclosing the raw edges of the original seam” The Fashion Dictionary: Fabric, Sewing and Dress As Expressed in the Language of Fashion Mary Brooks Picken (1957)
I don’t own a pair of jeans so can’t really comment on the flat-felled seam. From what I’ve read it’s a very strong and durable seam so it makes sense to use it on jeans.
It’s my understanding that flat-felled seam shows stitching on the right side while a French seam does not.
It’s all a learning curve but if I can’t see the stitching on a garment, usually lingerie, from the 1930s I know that it’s a French seam. 🙂
Dominique
Cara
August 31, 2018Love the article! Had no idea about RN!
Dominique de Merteuil
September 4, 2018Thank you!
Mary J Wickham
August 9, 2021This information is false, please do not spread this on your webpage and remove it.
“The lot numbers were a way for manufacturers to keep track of their garment. These numbers stopped being used in 1979.”
Lot numbers/tags DID NOT STOP in 1979, in fact they are still issued today.
You cannot use lot numbers as a tool to date a garment, especially if you think they ceased in 1979, you will be wrong all the time in your dating of items over that date with a lot number.
Dominique de Merteuil
August 9, 2021Hi Mary,
I pride myself on accuracy with my information and your comment certainly raised an interesting point. Does the lot numbering still operate on American garments? I own a few pieces by contemporary designers, by my standards at least, meaning post-1990 and they do not have lot numbers on the tag. Mary, if you have any examples of any contemporary American garments which have lot numbers on their tags, please do share with us and I will investigate further. Mary, when I’m wrong about something, I’m the first person to admit it and if what you’ve told me is accurate then I will admit my error and credit you for the new information!
Please do understand though, that when dating vintage clothes, one should look at many different clues rather than focusing on one. Half of my large collection of dresses from the 1930s and 1940s is bereft of any tags as they were custom made, and in the article to which you refer, I mention many ways to date vintage.
Laura
August 25, 2018Very informative article! I’m learning so much about vintage fashion thanks to your blog!
Laura
Dominique de Merteuil
August 25, 2018Thank you!