Need Help Dating European Cardigan

Dronte_Thrift

Dronte_Thrift

Registered Guest
Hello,

Yesterday I thrifted this "Eileen" sweater cardigan. It's 100% acrylic, size 40, and made in Poland. I used the RN to find the brand's parent company, E S Sutton. I could not find anything else online that connected the brand to the company. I know they've been wholesaling women's clothing since the 40s, but they only have couple of brands on their website. I found just one other item online from the same brand:

https://www.etsy.com/ginasvintagesh...SMT2&utm_term=so.smt&share_time=1595890771000

The tags are slightly different though in color and placement. The seller claims it's from the 90s, but considering that they is the only mention of the brand online, I'm not sure how they determined that. I'm thinking that it probably is 90s based off of the tags, but the style of sweater itself seems so 80s to me. Also they have a different style and placement of tags that is missing the sizing number.

The only other clue I have about this sweater is that it has a tiny tag on the inside that says "150". It looks like there was another tag right above it but it was cut off. This is the first European sized item I have ever picked up, so I have no idea what significance that 150 could have. I don't think it's old enough to be a lot number or style number, but I don't know what else it could be.

Here are some pictures:

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hello! I'm Polish so maybe I can help you. I couldn't find any information on that brand in Poland.

But I think it would be impossible to have a not communist country brand made in PL before 1989, when communism ended and the iron curtain fell.

Maybe this is very early 90s. I found one Polish knitwear manufacturer PPH SETIN est. in 1989.
Other Polish knitwear manufacturers working since the 90s : ANMAR-TEX, Mirwal, Stanpol. Chemeks est. 1987. Teofilów SA is 50 years old.

The cardigan was probably made in city Łódź - which is historically a textile hub.
In the late years of communism Poland was bankrupt, so booming capitalism and low prices would bring foreign clients in in the early 90s.

I think this knitwear might look "old" because Polish manufacturers were not fashion forward due to decades of communism. Also their way of work could be "old school" as well. Especially if it was older company like Teofilów that was used to making clothing only for the Polish market.

attaching a picture of a top made in Poland by a clothing manufacturer in the 70s/80s. as you can see it looks even older.
 

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Same thought here too that it must be post-1989 and probably some time into the 90s, as they wouldn't have produced things for export outside the Eastern Bloc before that. I can't consciously remember when we started seeing things being produced in Eastern Europe, but then I didn't read the tags as carefully as I do today... I seem to remember buying things at H&M in the late 90s that said made in Romania on the tag.
 
That's a really fascinating insight! I didn't consider the effects that communism could have on determining the time period and style. I was suspecting 80s because the style is so 50s to me, and the 80s loved to mimic that. Your explanation makes much more sense though. Katarzyna, you just taught me so much, and I really appreciate it. That top from the 70s/80s honestly blew my mind a little. Thank you for taking the time to make such a detailed and informative post about this. I didn't expect to get much feedback, so I greatly appreciate everyone who posted here and helped me learn more!
 
Vintagiality said:
The 150 is a quality control tag of some sort and I agree completely with Katarzyna, being originally from an Eastern bloc country myself. I would say mid 90s because even after the collapse of communism, it took quite a bit of time to establish economic and production relationships with the West
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I actually think in Poland it was "overnight" capitalism. Early 90s were a wild west here. Anyone could make a career, often making millions very quickly. And there were very few regulations as they were writing the law as it was all happening, so I think it was in the interest of brands to jump on that wagon quickly
 
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Dronte_Thrift said:
That's a really fascinating insight! I didn't consider the effects that communism could have on determining the time period and style. I was suspecting 80s because the style is so 50s to me, and the 80s loved to mimic that. Your explanation makes much more sense though. Katarzyna, you just taught me so much, and I really appreciate it. That top from the 70s/80s honestly blew my mind a little. Thank you for taking the time to make such a detailed and informative post about this. I didn't expect to get much feedback, so I greatly appreciate everyone who posted here and helped me learn more!
Click to expand...
You're welcome. :)
 
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