I'm very new to vintage fashion so sorry if a lot of the things I say sound very wrong :P I have a tons vintage dresses that I found while thrifting and for the most part I think they're from the 80s (because of the huge shoulder pads) but some of the dresses I'm un-sure of, such as I have a dress with super thin shoulder pads and another dress with thicker-but-still thin pads and from my understanding the 80s had mostly large shoulder pads and there are only few dresses with pads in the 70s? I think the dresses might be from the late 60s or 70s, since the shape of the dresses are a little straighter but I probably have no idea what I am talking about! Can anyone help me with a little history on shoulder pads and help me with dating them? Thanks super much! The red one has a plastic zipper on the middle of the back
Hi, Kelly and welcome! i don't want to disappoint you, but while both of your dresses are cute, they both look like 90s (or possibly even younger) to me...not 60s or 70s.
I agree with Mary above. The black one might be 80s and the red one looks newer to me as well as in 90s. Neither are 60s or 70s.
That's okay, thank you! I thought my dresses would be older because I read online that if it has shoulder pads, and is made in canada or the states that it could be vintage but that's not the case here, LOL. Is it okay if you explain a little bit more about why and what evidence from the dresses that made you think my dresses are from the 90s or newer? I totally believe you but I'm super really new to vintage and want to learn more about vintage, dating them especially, so I don't make any more mistakes like this in the future! Thank you for helping me though!
If the red dress above were older it would have been more fitted to the body. This style was meant to hang a little looser over the figure. The same goes for the black, it's rather straight cut in style, there is no tapering at the waist. What can help you to identify styles is to purchase some old fashion magazines from the different decades, that will give you more of an idea of how the items fit and looked throughout the years. The magazines can be of more help than simply looking online as some sellers don't date items correctly. Many sellers do but the magazines are the best bet as they remain true to the period.
Hi Kelly, I agree with Mary Jane on the dates - the floral looks early to mid '90s, these styles were incredibly popular and were influenced by '30s and '40s dresses. The notorious shoulder pads of the '80s got bigger and bigger as the decade went on but smaller versions were available until the mid '90s, as many of us were reluctant to part with them (not me, I couldn't wait to see the end of them!). I wrote most of the Wikipedia entry on shoulder pads, you might find it has some useful points.
Thank you guys, that's really helpful! I looked a lot online but none of the information was as helpful as yours. I borrowed some books from the library but I'm definitely going to look for some magazines. Thanks again for the help
Thank you, I will check that out! As my mom was looking at some of my dresses she was telling me about how she HATED the shoulder pad trend and never understood as well haha
Oh how I hated the shoulder pad look and still If I find a piece that I like I will buy it but can't wait to take them out. They became big when the show Dynasty came out. Trying to show how a business woman could be big and powerful too. It made you look like a linebacker. Why would a woman want to look like a linebacker? Just stupid to me..
