Vintage fashion

Vintage clothing is a generic term for garments originating from a previous era. The phrase is also used in connection with a retail outlet, e.g. "vintage clothing store." Today vintage dressing encompasses choosing accessories, mixing vintage garments with new, as well as creating an ensemble of various styles and periods. Vintage clothes typically sell at low prices for high end named brands. It has been part of the world since World War I as an idea of reusing clothing because of the textile shortage. Vintage clothes help the environment by re wearing the clothing and repurposing them into alternative items. Vintage clothing can be found in cities at local boutiques or local charities, or also on the internet (e.g. eBay, esty). Goodwill and Salvation Army are the top two charites to donate or shop for vintage clothing. Vintage clothing is used as a muse for new designs and is known to be retro clothing.

Generally speaking, clothing which was produced before the 1920s is referred to as antique clothing and clothing from the 1920s to 20 years before the present day is considered vintage.Retro, short for retrospective, or "vintage style," usually refers to clothing that imitates the style of a previous era. Reproduction, or repro, clothing is a newly made copy of an older garment. Clothing produced more recently is usually called modern or contemporary fashion. Opinions vary on these definitions.

Vintage clothing is a form of ease in a fast moving world. Re-wearing clothes from a personal wardrobe and wearing newly acquired vintage and retro clothing, can be understood as a desire to recreate familiarity, or felicity, in a world that is rapidly changing and increasingly impersonal.

Most vintage clothing has been previously worn, but a small percentage of pieces have not. These are often old warehouse stock, and more valuable than those that have been worn, especially if they have their original tags. Referred to as deadstock or new old stock (NOS), they nevertheless sometimes have flaws. Vintage clothing may be either commercially produced or handmade by individuals.

In the United States, due to changes in clothing sizes, vintage sizes are often smaller than the corresponding contemporary size. For example, a garment from the 1970s labeled as Medium (M) might be similar in size to a 2010s Extra Small (XS). As obesity was relatively uncommon prior to the 1980s, larger sizes are typically rare. Vintage sewing patterns offer an option for those who want a historically accurate garment but cannot find one in their size.

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Wikipedia