When we say something is vintage as in Vintage Jackets, what does that word suggest to us? What do we associate the word with? Cars, port, champagne, clothes, cheese to name a few. We could put the word old or older before all these examples, but old doesn’t convey quite what we mean. I would put vintage in the same group of adjectives as the words – elegant, classy, stylish, has value.

Lets look at some definitions of the word:

” A product of a particularly high standard” (Chambers twentieth century dictionary)

Wine is given the title ‘vintage’ when the grapes that it was made of are all grown in the same place or were harvested in the same year.

A performer’s performance may be described as ‘vintage’ that is, a performance of high quality, characteristic of the best period of their work.

The two common adjectives therefore appear to be the quality of the product and the year in which it was manufactured.

There seems to be a consensus of opinion that clothing (lưới an toàn ban công) manufactured during the 1920 to 1980 period can be described as being Vintage. Anything prior to the 1920s would be Edwardian, Victorian and Antique. Anything after the 1980s has been referred to as being modern or contemporary.

But what are we buying when we buy an item described as a ‘Vintage Jacket”? Are we buying the real deal – the original viking hoodie or are we buying a viking hoodie made after the 1980s?

I have been giving this some thought and have come to the conclusion that once something has been created in a particular year and that year has passed then that is it. You can’t create an article (for example wine) in 1999 and say that it was made in 1980.

Now I have no problem if the seller is saying that the article is made in 2010 in the style of a 1930s Vintage Jacket, you know where you stand. What I have a problem with is when sellers market their jackets as original rather than a reproduction.

It is not that easy to verify the provenance of a Jacket but one way is to check to see if it still has its original tags. The most valuable pieces are those with the original tags, no evidence of actually having been worn and wrapped in their original packaging. (This last point is extremely rare but it can happen)

If Vintage Jackets remain popular there will be a market for manufacturing them today because there is only a finite supply of the original out there even if there are a few attics which have still to be raided.

Be careful though. If you are looking to buy Vintage Jackets as an investment, in the hope of selling for a profit at a later date, insist on proof if the seller is claiming the viking hoodie is an original,otherwise you will be buying a reproduction.

write by Mitchell Sandson