All these names! Vintage, Antique, Retro…or is it just old?

They seem to mean different things to different people. One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure!

One Man's Rubbish is another Man's Treasure

Sometimes being a ladies size 16, the outfit we love from our favourite vintage stores will just not fit us, so we have to make up a vintage look from more modern clothing and lovely vintage accessories.

Vintage Inspired but in our minds, not strictly vintage – so just what does ‘vintage’ actually mean?

Vintage clothing is normally anything that is at least 20 years old. However, when it comes to the 1920’s and before, most of this clothing may have moved beyond wearable quality and this is where it could be collectable and often considered antique.

When it comes to vintage furniture, this is slightly different. Antique furniture is normally any item more than 100 years old whereas vintage furniture is not an antique but more than 30 years old.

Vintage furniture and antique furniture alike tend to have distinct features in their design and construction that are iconic of an era and enable us to place them in time.

So, that’s vintage and antique, but what about ‘retro’? Most stores seem to class retro as anything (clothing, furniture and accessories) from the 1960’s and 1970’s. Generally speaking its normally used to denote an item that is at least 15-20 years old.

So there we have it, a brief explanation – what do you think? Have we missed anything?