Spending time with my 17 yr. old granddaughter during her family’s visit this month was a wonderful way to get to know her. I was especially interested in talking with her about her hunt for vintage clothing. I took her to the local antique co-op to check out a few racks of clothing on display. I was curious about the styles that appealed to her and finally took her to JoAnn’s to look at patterns. She was able to point out various dresses and fabric designs that looked interesting to her.
So, of course, we picked up a pattern and fabric. I agreed to make her a dress! The next post will be the details about that!
Because the pattern was labeled Retro ’52, I knew I needed to understand the definitions of “antique”, “vintage” and “retro”. This is what I found.
Antique: At least 100 years old
The only “antique” clothing I have saved is the Lowry family baptism dress, worn by my mother in 1912. It has been used by various babies in the family over the last 100 years.
Worn by my daughter in 1978.
You can read more about the dress at https://marykisner.com/the-travels-of-the-lowry-baptism-dress/
Vintage: From a specific year from the 1920s to 2000 (or 20 years ago).
Examples of Vintage clothing by Era include:
1920s: Flapper dresses, heeled Mary Jane shoes
1930s: Puffed and fluttery sleeves, peep-toe shoes
1940s: Straight tweed and wool plaid skirts, platform shoes
1950s: Full skirts and petticoats, shirtwaist dresses, twin sweater sets
1960s: Elegant box-jacket suits and pillbox hats (like Jackie Kennedy); and bell-bottom jeans and flowing tops
1970s: Flare jeans, khaki, boots
1980s: Blazers and sweaters with strong shoulder pads, stilettos
1990s: Leggings, big sweaters, baggy flannel shirts
(List above from Ashley Kane, https://www.liveabout.com/definition-of-vintage-clothing-3420100/ )
If you want to buy vintage clothing, look in shops that have vintage in the name or description or in second-hand shops.
The most important piece of information I found is a word of caution about sizing! Women’s dress sizes have changed significantly over time. I measured my granddaughter. She said she buys size 6. When I looked at the pattern where it lists measurements, I needed to make a size 12 for it to fit! I’ll make the size 12 dress…then we’ll see if it works for her. Too bad she lives in California…I think we may be mailing the dress back and forth until we get it right!
Read about sizing changes over the years at https://www.eonline.com/news/687475/a-brief-history-of-women-s-clothing-sizes-and-why-you-just-went-up-a-size/
Retro: Made recently to look like vintage style.
Clothing that has been made recently with the intention of imitating the fashion of the past is considered “retro”, thus the label on the pattern we chose…Retro ’52.
I recall making clothing during the 50s and 60s so just reading the pattern was enough to give me heart palpitations! Cotton fabric (no stretch), fitted sleeves, side zipper!! Yikes! I had forgotten even how to read a pattern this complex!
My granddaughter and I agreed that this first dress would be for “practice” in case it didn’t turn out, or fit right, or I messed up. I’m still working on the dress and hope to post the details in a few days.
That is soo precious and reminds me of all the stories my mom told of going to your mother to have her create just the right dress she envisioned. It tickles me that a kid in this modern generation has a love and taste for fashion that is so historically feminine and beautiful ! I can’t wait to see what you come up with! It makes me miss your mom😘👍.
I certainly continued after Grandma Ruth passed to keep up with your Mom’s creative ideas! I miss them both terribly!