What's Vintage? What's Old?

This topic has been brewing in my mind for a while. I kept thinking about what my definition of vintage is. If I see a piece old clothing, does that count as vintage? or is it an old piece of clothing? There's a line from an episode of "The Rachel Zoe Project" (when Rachel took Brad to his first Paris fashion week and they went to this vintage clothes and Rachel said "Now, this is vintage" (or something like that) :p) and it really stuck with me. What is vintage? Is anything and everything old automatically considered vintage? So after weeks of deep thinking and some research, I've finally come up with my own definition of what vintage is to me.

According to Wikipedia, vintage clothing is "is a generic term for new or second hand garments originating from a previous era. The phrase is also used in connection with a retail outlet, e.g. "vintage clothing store." It can also be used as an adjective: "This dress is vintage." The word vintage is copied from its use in wine terminology, as a more elegant-seeming euphemism for "old" clothes."

What does that mean? It means, not everything old is considered vintage.Let's take an example of an old beat up t-shirt, it does not count as vintage. Now, an old oh, let's say, dress from the 70s with minor fix ups needed, now that counts as vintage. Also, vintage means clothing from another era, so that old beat up t-shirt from the 90s do not count as vintage. But that dress from the 70s would definitely be considered vintage in my book. It is also harder to find vintage clothing because unless you know the brand, it's hard to tell when exactly was the clothes made, thus you can't determine whether it's vintage or not. The only places that sell vintage clothing will be vintage clothing stores or thrift stores! Because they are hard to find and they are most likely no longer produced, vintage clothing are usually pricier than in trend clothes.

Here's a couple of "vintage" examples:

Vintage Chanel

Vintage Azalea

Vintage Dior

Now, to define vintage clothing even more, what does vintage inspired clothing mean? It means, the style they're trying to portray is from another era in the past. So that 70s, 60s inspired top or dress would actually be like the clothes people from the 70s or 60s would wear.

Here's a couple of "vintage inspired clothing" example:







Stores that sell vintage inspired clothing:
http://www.lulus.com/
http://www.melrosevintage.com/
http://www.modcloth.com/

Blogger with vintage style:
http://houseofharps.blogspot.com/


**Please keep in mind, these are just my personal opinions and i do NOT own these photos!**