So, pertaining to the last post, I had my last day at work this Monday past to give me time to organise the move and pack up the house. As a farewell gift my colleagues were ever so thoughtful and gave me this book - Shopping for Vintage by Funmi Odulate. Thank you so much FHIP friends!What a great little book - information about designers and their decades, tips on vintage shopping and an international vintage store directory. Furthermore, many of the textile illustrations are fabulous.
What the term 'vintage' actually means, as opposed to antique, retro or second-hand has received some attention of late. Odulate defines the terms thus:
antique - any garments that pre-date 1920
vintage - anything that dates after 1920 and up to the very early 1980s
retro - mainly Sixties' and Seventies' casual wear
secondhand - anything post early Eighties (so not strictly vintage)
I had always thought that antique referred to items that were more than one-hundred years old (which makes it a movable feast really - as each year passes more things in the world are considered antique and as we hit upon one hundred years since mass production surely the numbers will soar). Vintage - yes, anything that comes after antique. Retro - hmm, more recent than vintage but not necessarily mutually exclusive and could be stretched out to cover 1950 to 1980. That is, a 1950s sunfrock could be both vintage and retro.
What do you think?
1 comment:
another divine-looking book, and yes, I am again judging it by its cover. What thoughtful colleagues you had. To weigh in on the antique debate, according to the Antiques Roadshow, anything over 100 years can be called antique. But I like the ring vintage has to it - it implies stylish and desirable as well as old. Antique is just plain old!
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