Good ol’ Wikipedia has this to say about the definition of vintage clothing.

“Generally speaking, clothing which was produced before the 1920s is referred to as antique clothing. Clothing from the 1920s to 1975 is considered vintage, and clothing manufactured from 1975 until twenty years ago is referred to as retro clothing.”

I think “the internets” has redefined the word when used to describe clothing. With eBay in particular, the keyword “vintage” or “vtg” in the title of a listing is a staple for getting traffic towards clothing items dated from the early 1900s up until the 1990s. And with millions of people posting and searching with that keyword and criteria in mind….isn’t that kinda how a dictionary word is defined? Webster is probably rolling around in his grave right now. Not only was he an extremely small and talented sit-com actor, he was also a stickler for diction. Put away the tissues, I was just kidding – the little feller is still alive and could care less about grammar.

In the eBay game the term “retro” is usually used for items that are vintage “style” – produced to look vintage. What happens when something that was produced to look vintage actually becomes vintage? I’m sure retro-vintage will be all the rage sometime in the future.

The bottom line? If the item is at least 15 years old, I’ll describe it as vintage.

Our guides:

Vintage T-Shirts 102: Say NO to Repro

Vintage T-Shirts 103: The Brand Gallery

Vintage T-Shirt 104: How to “Spot” a Fake

20 Best Spots to Buy a Real Vintage T-Shirts on eBay