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Help dating children’s vintage

Discussion in 'PUBLIC Vintage Fashion - Ask Questions Get Answers' started by Katieolivia, Oct 4, 2021.

  1. Katieolivia

    Katieolivia Registered Guest

    Hi, I’m new here so not sure if this is right or not. I’ve recently got into children’s vintage clothing but I’m finding it incredibly difficult to date items. Does anyone have any useful tips or websites?
    Thank you in advance x
     
    denisebrain likes this.
  2. denisebrain

    denisebrain VFG Vice President Staff Member VFG Past President

    I wonder if @Sandy Starr would be able to pop in—she is a children's vintage clothing expert.
     
  3. Midge

    Midge Super Moderator Staff Member

    Old mail order catalogs or reprints of mail order catalogs might give an idea of styles etc. for dating? Like the Everyday Fashions from the... book series that has excerpts of old Sears catalogs by decade. They include childrenswear too.
     
  4. Linn

    Linn Super Moderator Staff Member VFG Past President

    I agree with the suggestion of looking at old catalogs - and if you can post photos, depending on the items, some of us may remember when we wore that type of clothing as children - or when our children wore similar items - or we may have some old photos of ourselves.
     
  5. Vinclothes

    Vinclothes Alumni +

    I found this book helpful for dating children's clothing:
    Pink and Blue, Telling the Boys From the Girls in America, Jo B. Paoletti, Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 2012.
    It looks at the genderizing of young children's clothing from a material culture point of view, but does give a lot of dating information along the way.
    Marian
     
    Midge likes this.
  6. Katieolivia

    Katieolivia Registered Guest

    Thank you everyone! I’ll have a look at those :)
     
  7. The fabric is always a good indication of age. Polyester came out in 1960s.
    I watch the old classic movies from the 30s on up. That is a great way to determine styles.
     

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