If you’ve been following the blog over the last few years, you will have noticed that much of my thrifting focus has shifted to vintage. Why is that and why now?
There are a few reasons for my loving vintage now. I sometimes think regretfully about all the cool vintage stuff I probably missed over the past decade because I wasn’t looking for it. But the reality is that my personal style had not yet evolved to a point where vintage made sense. I first needed to develop a very strong sartorial identity, and only then figure out how vintage could play a role in that. I have no interest in looking like I’m wearing a costume; for me, the key is to incorporate vintage in a way that feels, if not necessarily trendy/contemporary, at least unique and personalized.
It also just so happens that quite a lot of pieces from the 80s and 90s — though by no means all, hello neon legwarmers! — blend easily into my current style avatars. Some of my favourite designers, like Ralph Lauren, have maintained a consistent aesthetic over the years which makes older pieces highly desirable. 90s stuff is also currently very trendy, and I prefer thrifting the originals over buying the current version in stores, generally at a considerable premium.
And, of course, there is the question of quality. In most cases, the quality of even mall and department store brand clothing from before, say, the mid-2000s is better than mid-tier designer clothing now. While acrylics and polyester were not uncommon, natural fabrics like cotton, linen, and wool were used a lot more than they are now. Construction and finishes are also often (though not always) better in vintage clothing than contemporary stuff.
Ok, so I’ve told you all the reasons why I love thrifting for vintage. If you want to give it a try for yourself, here are some of my tips for thrifting clothing from the 80s and 90s.
What To Look For
When it comes to stuff from the 80s and 90s, some of my favourite things to thrift are, in no particular order:
- Skirts – wool, linen and silk skirts; common silhouettes include: pleated A-line midi or maxi skirts; full (twirly) skirts; tube (long) skirts; leather pencil midi skirts; lots of plaids and florals.
- Sweaters – wool and cotton sweaters in fun patterns as well as neutrals; chunky fisherman-style sweaters as a special favourite.
- Blazers – oversized blazers and long-line blazers (but beware of shoulder pads if, like me, you have broad shoulders already, as these tend to create a linebacker silhouette) in fun plaids and checks; cashmere and camel hair blazers; and leather blazers (late 90s and early 2000s silhouettes are the best).
- Vests – wool or silk waistcoats and vests in a variety of colours and patterns (including embellishments like beading and embroidery); wool sweater vests; denim and leather vests.
On the flip side, I don’t tend to buy vintage pants. Tapered silhouettes for dress pants were popular in the 80s and 90s, and that’s not a style I personally gravitate towards these days. I like high-waisted jeans, but I find that a lot of vintage styles are not “curvy” cuts, which I need because of my waist-to-hip ratio. (I won’t invest in tailoring for denim because I can easily find current jeans that fit me off the rack.) Vintage denim also tends to be less stretchy. I know some people love vintage Levis, but I have not found a pair that worked on my body. That being said, these could be things that work for you.
I also don’t tend to buy a lot of vintage dresses, but 80s/90s styles that I commonly see are prairie/cottagecore-style dresses in cotton and ramie; tube, tank, and slip-style dresses in velvet and rayon (silk is more rare); and chambray and denim button-up or pinafore-style dresses. Most of them are midi and maxi lengths which, if you’re like me, is a big bonus — plus, it fits current trends.
Sizing
I think most people know this, but it bears repeating: vintage sizing is smaller than contemporary equivalents. For example, my vintage size in skirts and other bottoms is one or two sizes bigger than in modern clothing (depending on how snug I want the fit to be). For jackets and tops, it’s usually a one size difference, but keep in mind that the cut of blazers, in particular, tended to be oversized. Again, we are talking about clothing from the 80s and 90s; earlier vintage will generally fit even smaller.
What I have noticed is that vintage sizing tends to be more consistent than modern sizing. I can reliably buy the same size across different brands and be fairly certain that it will fit. That isn’t often true for contemporary clothing, where sizing can be all over the place. However, if you’re buying vintage online, it is still a good idea to check measurements to avoid surprises.
Brands
When it comes to 80s and 90s vintage, I love looking for what some people might consider “old lady” brands: Talbots, Liz Clairborne (including LizWear and LizSport), Eddie Bauer, Laura Ashley, and Tabi. These brands can be overlooked because of associations with “dowdy” or boring clothes, but the quality is fantastic (materials and construction) and individual pieces can look surprisingly contemporary. Shoulder pads are my personal bugbear, but in many cases, are easily removable. Some of my favourite vintage pieces come from this brands; if you read my weekly outfit recaps, you will have noticed most of these names pop up regularly.
I also love finding 90s clothing from mall brands like Gap (my absolute fave), Mexx, Esprit, Le Chateau, J. Crew, and Club Monaco. Early 2000s Banana Republic is also great. The quality of these pieces is far superior to their current equivalent. These days, brands like Gap and BR are putting out clothing that is, essentially, a replica of these older styles … at much higher price points than what the originals can be bought at the thrifts.
Vintage designer is much harder to find, although I have regularly come across brands like Ralph Lauren, MaxMara, Escada (fantastic blazers), Ungaro, Louis Ferraud, and Donna Karan. I’ve used my vintage fashion magazines as a resource to learn more (or refresh my memory) about designers who used to be popular in the 80s and 90s but have since receded from the fashion front lines — think Romeo Gigli, Rifat Ozbek, Todd Oldham, Nina Ricci, etc. I don’t see a lot of those in the thrifts but they are on my BOLO list.
Dating vintage
How can you tell if something is vintage? Unless you’re an expert on fashion history, it might be challenging to date a piece based purely on design and construction. But I find that clothing labels can provide clues even for the layperson. Union labels are a reliable indicator of vintage, but they tend to be rare in clothing made in the 80s (and even more so in the 90s). There are online directories for clothing labels where you can look up a specific brand and see how its labels changed over time. This will give you the most accurate idea of dates, assuming you can find information on the specific brand/label. If you don’t have the time for extensive research, the place of manufacture can provide a more general time frame. The offshoring of clothing manufacture followed certain geographical patterns from the 1960s onwards. Clothing made overseas in the 80s and early 90s tended to come from Korea, Taiwan, Eastern Europe and Hong Kong, as well as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and India in the latter 90s.
I hope this gives you a starting base to give thrifting vintage a try. Share your tips and fave brands in the comments!