how old does a coat have to be to be considered VINTAGE?

[green papaya]

is 25 years old considered vintage?

 

[Brinybay]

I don't think you can really set an arbitrary number of years for something to be considered "vintage". Rather, it's determined by other factors such as quality and representative of a past time period, as defined in Dictionary.com:

vin·tage

9. representing the high quality of a past time: vintage cars; vintage movies.
10. old-fashioned or obsolete

I've seen the term used loosely on eBay as "fluff" to try to sell something that isn't of any real value as a collector's item, just old junk. If the coat in question is still being made, then one that's 25 yo is simply an old coat. We're talking about 1983. What's so special about clothing in the 80s? I can't picture any particular clothing style that made the 80s unique, unlike the disco 70s or the psychedelia of the late 60s.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Depends. This area (defining "vintage") is a minefield. Here's my peculiar take on it. (all, of course, prefaced with "in my opinion".)

Almost every off-the-rack clothing product for males is of significantly lower quality (cut, materials, wearability, durability, value) today than it was in times past. But how to define "times past"? I think our definition of "vintage" must be fluid. In that, the quality of some garments degenerated faster than others. For example, i would argue that men's suits were pretty much junk by the middle of the 1960s, so i'd put "vintage" for suits at 40-45 years old. Denim is a different story. Denim was of generally very high quality at relatively low prices into the 1980s, so 25 years would be a good guesstimate. Underwear is about as good as it always was. Mass market "formal" hats - fedoras, etc. - have been junk since the early 70s. These are only a few examples, but the same ideas can be developed for other clothing items.

bk

 

[donCarlos]

I can't picture any particular clothing style that made the 80s unique, unlike the disco 70s or the psychedelia of the late 60s.

You really can´t? For me, the 80´s are the symbol of the worst clothing ever. It may be different in the USA, but here, it was absolutely awful.

And to the topic - does it really matter whether it´s vintage or not, if it looks good?

 

[Feraud]

And to the topic - does it really matter whether it´s vintage or not, if it looks good?

It matters if you are buying or selling such items.

 

[dhermann1]

For me the cut off is about 1956. That's when the inner lining of mens' jackets started being built differently. I wish I had some images, but before that the lining just came up along the shoulders, and sort of criss crossed at the top of the back. After that, the lining came down all the way in back. Pictures would help. As far as overcoats are concerned, I don't know. But practically everything shifted in the 1954 to 1956 period. That's why I find nostalgia for periods after that a little . . uhh . . .disconcerting. I remember the 50's as my childhood, so how could that be "historical", know what I maen.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

I concur with much that has been written here. It drives me NUTS when I type in "vintage" into Ebay and find stuff from the 1980's and 1970's. However, for many people that is now "vintage" (for me - it was my youth). It means so many different things to many people. On this forum, we all seem to share the idea of vintage being loosely between the late 1920's to the mid 1960's.

 

[aswatland]

Of course it could be a 2008 repro of a vintage design, such as a Good Wear A2!lol

 

[Feraud]

Vintage repros.. now we are getting complicated!

 

[aswatland]

Vintage repros.. now we are getting complicated!

Well its not a straightforward subject! lol

 

[Brian Sheridan]

And there is nothing wrong with "New Vintage."