Labels on Fashion Clothing

I totally agree with Mary and Anne. Home sewing was huge and it's not that difficult to discern the age of some garments owing to fabric, construction details, etc. With regards to the vintage clothing market, RL has far fewer clothing shops than sites like etsy and I think improved listing rules would help with attracting new sellers. One of the reasons I got into selling clothing was that it seemed like the competition was wide open on RL whereas the jewelry and collectible fields were sewn up tight. In fact, it only took me about 50 listings to crack the top 10 in the category.

Now about those swimsuits....:cheer:

Thanks for listening Carol. I've often said the only reason I've maintained my cool through this RL server mess and other issues was because I knew we had you in our corner. :)
 
Amanda, the rule is

"If the manufacturer's original labels have been removed from a post-1945 garment, that item cannot be listed."

so, for example, if an item is listed as being 1950 but does not have a tag in it, it is not allowed. Period. it doesn't matter if it is custom sewn or not: no label? not allowed.
 
oh, and i also heartily agree that the swimsuit (and vintage panties) rules need to be re-assessed. As it stands, the rule for them is:

Specifically excluded from being listed in Vintage Clothing & Accessories Lane are: Used or previously worn underwear or swimsuits.
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I listed a pair of petit pants (they were one of a zillion pairs that my mom had) that were animal print. They were given to her as a gag gift, she never wore them, they were too "wild" for her. Anyway, they're adorable, so I listed them, they were flagged and since i had no "proof" that they had never been worn (except my word) I had to remove them from our shop.

All of us here at the Vintage Fashion Guild KNOW what a fabulous market exists for vintage swimwear, but Ruby Lane simply doesn't allow it. So, we now list all swimwear and most of our lingerie on Etsy instead.

Thanks for bringing that up, Foofoogal and Rita!
 
As I've said, it's been awhile since I was selling on Ruby Lane, but originally you could sell home-sewn or custom-made (by a tailor or seamstress) garments, since, of course, regardless of the dating, they would not have labels. You had to be sure you noted in your description that it was home-sewn or handmade. So, this rule was changed, then, it looks like? Ah, a shame, because as Amanda points out, there are some wonderful home-sewn or custom-made vintage garments out there. I have a dynamite one listed right now....

And I totally agree with the others about swimwear and lingerie--big market out there for vintage swimwear....
 
I should clarify.... you could sell home-sewn or tailor-made garments as long as they met the 20 years and older rule; they could not be newer items made from vintage fabric.

Yes, Sandy, I hope Carol re-visits this thread. It sounds like not only is there valuable input here, but I think there's also some confusion over just what their existing policy is. I know the "rules" were posted, but they don't specifically address some issues that have been raised here.
 
hello carol, thanks for running your questions by the vfg, and considering a change in policy on ruby lane.

i agree with everyone else that showing a shot of a label is very important for a number of reasons. the fonts and graphics used help a prospective buyer confirm the decade, and if a designer piece, helps determine if it's high end, ready to wear, or licensed, which determines value.

i also agree that many, many vintage garments have no labels. either none were sewn in to begin with by the manufacturer, or they were home sewn or seamstress sewn. i think revisiting your current rule about this would be a great advantage to ruby lane, as well as allowing vintage swimwear and underwear.

Then as well, there are the unfortunate cases in which labels are sewn in, to mislead; that is another issue however, but even then, it's helpful to see that, from a buyer's perspective, as that tells me which sellers to avoid.
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while there are those unfortunate cases, there are also instances where the label fell out (they're usually just tacked in) and the original owner sewed them back in herself, often enough clumsily. i had a donald brooks where this was the case, but it was easy enough to see it was a brooks by the quality of workmanship, the design, and the textiles used. just mentioning this to show a resewn label doesn't necessarily mean anything's amiss. but i would expect the seller of such an item to point out the other features of a garment to assure prospective buyers that the item really is by that designer.
 
Am I reading this right? Ruby Lane does not allow pre 1945 vintage garments to be listed unless they have a label? Boy that certainly eliminates a lot of wonderful vintage. To me that's akin to eliminating unsigned vintage costume jewelry.

Posting a picture of a label is good practice (and smart sales practice) IF there is one, but it should not be a requirement. Like a number of folks have said, there are many ways to date a vintage garment, just like there are ways to date costume jewelry. Also it's really easy for someone to put a vintage label into a garment so that guideline does little to protect the customers, it just eliminates choices.

Melody
 
Sorry folks! I have been up to my eyeballs with work. Here is the final ruling, which is pretty much what is before. Not exactly what some of you hoped for..... This is for Vintage Clothing and Accessories
In addition to the Common Requirements, we require Vintage Clothing & Accessory items, i.e. those that begin with the word Vintage Clothing & Accessories in the category string, to meet these quality standards:
  • Vintage Clothing & Accessory items must be at least 20 years old, of high quality, authentic, and not reproductions.
  • Minimum sale price for any Vintage Clothing & Accessory item is $10 USD.
  • Listings for post-1945 manufactured clothing, shoes or accessories must include clearly readable images of the manufacturer's original labels. Pre-1945 items are exempt from this requirement.
  • If the manufacturer's original labels have been removed from a post-1945 garment, that item cannot be listed.
  • Clothing listings should disclose whether the item has or has not been cleaned.
  • All clothing and fashion accessories items must be listed in Vintage Clothing & Accessories Lane.
  • Examples of items that can be clothing or fashion accessories: belts, blazers, blouses, boas, boots, caftans, capes, cardigans, chatelaines, cloaks, coats, crowns, decorative hair combs, dresses, garters, gowns, hats, headscarves and decorative scarves, hosiery, jackets, jeans, kimonos, knickers (knee length pants), neckties, purses, robes, shawls, shirts, shoes, skirts, stoles, suits, suspenders, sweaters, tiaras, trousers, tunics, tuxedos, uniforms, veils, vests, vestments, waistcoats.
  • Specifically excluded from being listedin Vintage Clothing & Accessories Lane are:
    • New items purchased or available for retail purchase in the past year.
    • Items handcrafted within the last 20 years, even if the materials are old.
    • Used or previously worn underwear or swimsuits.
    • Jewelry of any type; jewelry pieces should be listed in Antique & Vintage Jewelry Lane or Artisan Jewelry Lane.
    • Fabric and textile items or any other types of items that are not specifically an article of clothing or a finished fashion accessory.
 
For Antique Clothing and Accessories
Additional requirements for Vintage Clothing & Accessories: Antiques subcategory:
  • Vintage Clothing & Accessories: Antique items must be high quality pieces that are 100 years old or older.
  • Minimum sale price for any Vintage Clothing & Accessories: Antique item is $50 USD.
 
And finally one paragraph our FAQ about swimsuits:
"Only vintage swimsuits or underwear with original point of purchase store tags, referred to as 'NOS' (New old stock), meet the Vintage Clothing & Accessories Lane requirements as stated."

I would also love to see used - no point of purchase tag vintage swimsuits on the site. They are a very popular vintage item. But, trust me when I say, we have seen it all. Although most shop owners who deal with primarily vintage fashions and others, make sure a garment is cleaned and ready to wear before shipping it to a customer, some just send any old unclean swimsuit and underwear. Like I said we have seen or 'heard' it all. It is very unfortunate.
 
rather than penalizing the majority of vintage clothing sellers, why not disallow those few, select sellers who have been reported for selling an unacceptable garment? i mean, if you're getting complaints from buyers? you should be contacting the seller they purchased from, and "settle a dispute" from there rather than simply turn (many) sellers to other venues.

that just doesn't make any sense.
 
Hi Amber: Here is the answer to your question:

"If it had labels inside it that are now removed, it can't be listed. If it never had labels inside it, only the hang tag that is still with it, that can be listed."
 
Hi there. That actually wasn't my question.
Ruby Lane allows vintage clothing yes? And the guidelines you posted are that clothing post 1945 cannot have had their labels removed, correct? I'm sure your vintage experts know that many manufactured garments didn't have actual labels sewn inside the dresses. So if there was no label to begin with, then there was no label to remove. So this still fits your requirements and they can still be listed since no label was ever removed, yes?
 
Mary, We did that years ago. It just didn't work out which is why we have the rule in the first place. It is a problem after the customer receives the item. We don't know who those shop owners are until they send out a nasty garment, then that one customer is turned off and may never return to Ruby Lane or at least never buy that type of vintage fashion item from a seller on RL Not to mention every shop owner who specialized in 'something' would want an exemption from 'something'. It is just too much to try to handle. Carol
 
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