Blog

VFG member Kerry Taylor is holding one of her Antique and Vintage Fashion and Textiles auctions on October 27 in London. As usual with Taylor’s auctions, there are lots (no pun intended) of wonderful examples dating from the 1700s through the 2000s. Especially rich is 1920s and 30s evening wear, and 1960s through current British design. Men’s designer fashion is also on offer.

If you are not in London, or even if you are, there are a number of ways to bid. Find out How to Buy. Even if you aren’t planning to bid, a stroll through the online catalogue is informative, and frankly thrilling.

Members of the Vintage Fashion Guild bring new listings of “true” vintage clothing and accessories to the public every week. Every Thursday the “Fresh Vintage” thread starts in the public forums. HERE is this week’s selection.

Below is one clickable image of a new listing from each participating member. If you are looking for clear photographs, detailed and accurate descriptions, and excellent communication, you are in good hands with a VFG member.

Vintage tuxedos, 1950s Mexican circle skirts and a 1920s mannequin hat display are among the many items that have just been listed by members of the Vintage Fashion Guild. One clickable image from each member participating in the “Fresh Vintage” thread is shown below. Or click HERE to see many more new true vintage listings.

Vintage Gucci scarves, a 1940s bombshell dress, a 1950s Miss Elliette cocktail dress and an antique art nouveau scarab brooch are the among the many authentic vintage items just listed this week by members of the Vintage Fashion Guild. To see more “fresh vintage” click on HERE . Below is one item from each contributing member and each image is clickable for more detailed information.

Vintage coral jewelry, little black dresses, gowns and sewing patterns are among the many items offered in this week’s “Fresh Vintage” thread HERE . Below is one image from every participating VFG member. Each image is “clickable” for more information on that piece, or go to the “HERE” link and see many more new listings of authentic vintage clothing and accessories.

This week’s “fresh vintage” includes vintage Hawaiian shirts, 60’s turban hats, 1940’s sewing patterns and
vintage men’s silk robes. Below is one image from every participating VFG member. Each image is “clickable” for more information, and you can go HERE to see all the new items listed by members of the Vintage Fashion Guild.

Burda Moden (or Burda Style as it’s called today) may not be as well known everywhere in the world—certainly in North America its rivals like Simplicity, Butterick and McCall’s are better known—but in Europe, and especially in German-speaking countries, the name Burda has long been synonymous with sewing patterns and making one’s own clothes. And it has long since outstayed its competitors like Beyer (which started several decades before), Neue Mode and Ullstein.

So how and where did it start? Burda’s origins are in the small city of Offenburg in Germany—not one of the big metropolises like Frankfurt, Munich or Berlin. And with one woman: Aenne Burda. She was married to Franz Burda, the owner of a printing business. He regularly had affairs, and when Aenne found out he had financed a small fashion publication for one of his mistresses, she knew what she wanted. She was 40 years old then, a mother of three boys, and had been looking for something to do. That something had to be an endeavor where her husband couldn’t tell her what to do. In exchange for not asking for a divorce, she asked for this publishing business to be given over to her.

In October 1949, Aenne Burda published her first fashion magazine, Favorit Moden. In January 1950 it appeared for the first time under the name Burda Moden, with two sheets of sewing patterns included. Aenne had always appreciated fashion and the finer things in life, knowing she wanted to better herself from the circumstances in which she had grown up (though she admitted she herself never sewed!). This is what she wanted to give her readers: a chance to dress well, even if money was tight, by making their own clothes.

Antique Chinese robes, vintage tuxedos and 1950s dresses are among the many authentic vintage items you will find just listed by members of the Vintage Fashion Guild. New items can be seen HERE in the VFG forums. Below is one item from each member participating in the “Fresh Vintage” program. Every image is clickable to get more information.

A 50’s poodle skirt, a 60’s Hawaiian barkcloth dress, a 70’s blue velvet bridesmaid dress and an 80’s body-con cocktail dress are among the many great vintage pieces turning up on the Fresh Vintage thread HERE in the Vintage Fashion Guild forum. One item from each contributing member is shown below, and you can click on the image for more shopping details.

Vintage 1950s clip-on bow ties and 50s mens woolen shirts are among the “fresh vintage” listings HERE this week on the forums. And women shoppers can find a dead stock 1950s wedding dress or a 50s purple velvet skirt set to attend that wedding. On this blog one example from each contributing member of the Vintage Fashion Guild is shown and the images are clickable for more details.

This pretty linen clutch purse has a big carved shell button on one side. There is no maker’s label in the bag, but it does have the National Recovery Act Ladies Hand Bag Code Authority label, which dates it to 1933-35.

What’s inside is a small time capsule: A mirror, hairpins, a blotting paper, 2 hat repair tickets, a milliner’s card, two store cards with furniture and drapery notes jotted on their backs, one flower shop receipt and a pretty extravagant bar tab. The dates are all 1940 and ’41.

For a fine selection of quality “true” vintage clothing and accessories, visit the “Fresh Vintage” thread HERE at the Vintage Fashion Guild’s forums. Below is one clickable item from each member listing in the forum.

A vintage 1960s Oleg Cassini cocktail dress, scatter pins from the 1940s and a 1980’s novelty tiger print mens shirt are among the many items listed this week by members of the Vintage Fashion Guild. The “Fresh Vintage” can be seen HERE . One item from each contributing member is shown below. Click on the images for details.

This week members of the Vintage Fashion Guild have listed vintage dresses from the 1930s through the 1950s along with lots of vintage patterns, hats, shoes and accessories. To see them all, look HERE. Below is one clickable image from each member participating in the weekly “Fresh Vintage” thread on the public forums.

1920’s purses to 1960s dresses, there’s loads of fresh true vintage HERE on the Vintage Fashion Guild’s forums. Here are highlights from each contributing member. If you click on the image you can see more details about each item.

Ever wonder when a vintage fashion item was made?

(Who hasn’t?)

There are many tips for helping you to determine the era of your item. You can consult the VFG article Quick Tips for Dating Vintage and you are always welcome to visit our forums to ask for assistance.

Another tip is to go from the fabric perspective. Do you know the fiber used for the fabric of your vintage article of clothing? Here’s a helpful summary of how to burn test small swatches from an inconspicuous place on your item to determine the fiber.

Natural fibers (cotton, wool, silk and linen) have all been used to make fabric for a very long time. For instance, the domestication of wild sheep took place sometime before 6,000 B.C.E., and the earliest wool fleece and fibers positively identified date from about 4,000 B.C.E.