There are many ways that vintage clothing dealers analyze garments to determine their age, including label information, fabric, and elements of construction, in addition to style and silhouette. Here are some tips on identifying and dating vintage women’s and men’s clothing from the 1930s to 1990s. For specific tips on dating vintage t shirts and sweatshirts, click here.
Metal zippers/zipper placement
A metal zipper (particularly on dresses) generally means the item was made in the 1960s or before. Plastic zippers first became available in 1963 and began to be used in most garments beginning in 1968. The location of a zipper on a dress can also help you date the item. Zippers on the back were most common in the 1950s-60s (and continuing until the present day), while side zippers were common in the 1930s-40s.
Talon zipper
Talon was a popular brand of zipper most commonly used from the 1930s-1970s. Click here for a photo resource to identify the age of a Talon zipper. Talon zippers were made of metal up until the late 1960s, and then they started to make plastic ones.
Seams
The types of seams used in clothing (french, pinked, or serged) can help identify the date of production.
French seams: pre-1940s - these are neatly finished seams where the raw edges of the fabric are enclosed
Pinked seams: 1950s - the raw edges are cut with pinking shears into a zig zag shape to prevent fraying, most common in the 1950s though they did exist before as well.
Serged: 1960s and later - a serged seam has an overlock stitch to secure the fabric edge. They also existed before but use of the serger machine became more affordable and widespread during the 1960s.
Lining
Before the 1970s, women would usually wear slips under their dresses, so dresses from the 1960s and before are often unlined. Making dresses with built-in linings was more common in the 1970s, and became even more popular in the 1980s.
Handmade clothing
A lot of vintage clothing up until the 1970s was handmade, rather than mass produced. Particularly, in the 1950s-1960s there was a boom in popularity of sewing clothing at home. If an item doesn’t have a tag and looks like it was handmade, it could be from that era.
Tips for dating vintage clothing using tags/labels
Made in USA
Typically, if an item’s tag says made in USA, it is likely to be from the early 1990s or before.
Copyright
If there is a copyright date on the graphic of a t shirt or sweatshirt, or on a tag itself, the garment was likely made that year or a couple years later. However, this date can sometimes simply refer to the copyright date of the brand or graphic, and not when the garment was made.
Boutique address with no zip code
Tags that include an address with no zip code are likely to be from before 1963, which was when zip codes were invented.
“Of California”
Many clothing brands from the 1930s to 1970s were called “____ of California.” It is especially common today to find these brand tags on items from the 1970s.
Fabric names
Certain fabric names on tags can help identify the age of an item based on when they were invented and in popular use.
Polyester: First used commercially in 1953, but was most popular to use for clothing in the 1970s. Dacron polyester specifically was common from 1958-1970
Nylon: First used commercially in 1939. Qiana nylon specifically was common from the late 60s-1970s.
Acrylic: First used commercially in 1950. Specific types include Orlon and Creslan.
Lycra (also known as spandex): Invented in 1959
Woolmarks
Some clothing made from wool will have a Woolmark logo, which can be used to date the item. This logo began to be used in 1964, and different versions of it were used starting in different years. Note that this logo is licensed, so not all wool clothing will have the logo.
Lot numbers
If a tag has a lot number (ie “Lot 14”), it is likely to be from the 1970s or earlier. Lot numbers were used to track the production of garments in factories, but stopped being used around 1979.
RN numbers
RN numbers began to be used on tags in 1952, and the system was changed in 1959. You can’t tell the exact date of an item from the RN number, but can get a good estimate. If an item has an RN number between 00101 to 004086, it is from before 1959. If an item has an RN number that is above 13760, it is from 1959 or later. RN number that are 5 digits are likely from the 1960s-70s, while RN numbers with 6 or more digits are likely from the 1980s or later.
Half sizes
Between the 1940s-1960s, some manufacturers used “half” sizes (i.e. 14 1/2) for shorter women.
Odd number sizes
During the 1970s and before, odd numbers (i.e. 3, 5, 7, 9) denoted junior sizing - which unlike today, was for petite women rather than teenagers. Around the 1980s, many clothing brands began to create separate petite lines, and odd number sizing stopped being used. Later, it because common for odd number junior sizing to be used for teenagers.
Other size discrepancies
Sizing standards have changed a lot over the decades up until the present day. If the tag size of an item seems way off from how it measures, that is likely due to the changes in sizing over the years.
Care tag
If an item has care/washing instructions, it is likely from the 1970s or later. In 1971, a law was passed requiring clothing manufacturers to include care instructions on tags.
Union tag
Labels from the ILGWU (International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union) and other unions typically indicate the item was made pre-1990s.
IGLWU AFL: 1900-1936
IGLWU CIO: 1936-1940
IGLWU AFL: 1940-1955
IGLWU AFL-CIO: 1955-1995
Made in Mexico/Made in Hawaii
Hawaiian styles were very popular from the 1930s-1960s, so there is a lot of vintage clothing from this era made in Hawaii. The brand tags will often have a Hawaiian city or island as part of its name or as its place of production. Travel to Mexico was also very popular in the 1950s, and Mexican styles became a trend. If a tag says made in Mexico and you can identify other markers of the item being vintage, it may be from the 1950s.