1940s lace & chiffon dress, 1950s lace & beaded dress and 1950s cotton "squaw" dress. From the author's collection.

There is nothing like the tangible glee felt when pressing fingers against clothing-clad hangers to slide them down a thrift store rack. Or the smell of anticipation mixed with the musk of moth-balls and old-lady-smells in the back of an estate sale closet. The hunt for vintage clothing is as peril-fraught and rewarding as any archeological dig – in a sense, we are archeologists, unearthing treasures to be admired on the display of our bodies.

Finding the needle-in-the-haystack is a combination of knowledge and luck – those who do it for a living have honed their eyes to pick out minute details of stitching and construction, silhouette and print. But it’s not a secret, not some key-stone conspiracy hoarded in temples to french-seams. It’s rather basic, really. A good working knowledge of silhouettes of specific eras is the starting point – the internet is a treasure trove for this. Study the cuts and drapes of the time-period you are looking for. Become familiar with hemlines and sleeve lengths.

Once you are familiar with shape, use the following tips to help you nail down your initial hunch. Use good judgement – a polyester tea-dress, no matter how evocative of Nancy Mitford novels and pre-war cavorting, is not from the 1930s. Why? Because polyester was invented in 1941 and wasn’t used widely in clothing manufacture until the 1950s. With knowledge of specific construction details and with the help of the internet, dating vintage clothing becomes easier than ever. Godspeed on your hunt.

When it comes to vintage clothing, we are generally looking for a metal zipper. Plastic zippers were introduced in the 1920s and 1930s, but were rarely used due to a lack in durability. Metal zippers, with cotton twill tape (important!), were used heavily until the 1970s. So if you find a dress that you are fairly sure is 1950s and it has a metal zipper, you are one step closer to nailing that date to the wall.

Metal zipper at the side-seam of a pink lace & chiffon 1940s party dress. From the author's collection.

The position of the zipper can also come in handy – zippers and other closure techniques were most commonly placed at the side seam up until the 1950s. Now, this is not to say that a center-back zipper was never used before 1950 – but it was very rare. Also keep in mind that there are side-seam zippers on clothing past the 1950s, bust in most cases you will find the zipper at the center-back.

Hook & eye and snap placket at side-seam of a floral maxi 1930s evening gown. From the author's collection.


Snap placket at side-seam of a 1920s cotton dress. From the author's collection

Zippers became common fastenings in womens clothing in the 1930s. Before that, snap or button plackets were common (usually at a side-seam).

Tags from various vintage garments. From the author's collection.

Probably the most important clue in dating your vintage clothing, labels are a treasure-chest of information. Study the label – take note of design, layout and typography. Familiarize yourself with typography styles of the specific eras.

One of the best online tools for dating vintage clothing is the Vintage Fashion Guild Label Resource. This growing database lets you search by brand to view labels submitted by readers.

I have found this gorgeous wool jacket — judging by the severe nipped-waist and peplum and various construction details, I’m fairly sure it’s from the late 1940s. But to help me definitively decide, I am going to use the Vintage Fashion Guild Label Resource to help date it.

It has two different tags:


Once I have the brand name, I can go onto the Vintage Fashion Guild Label Resource and search the alphabetized list. I find the listing for Lilli Ann:

I scroll through the submitted tags and there are the exact too from my jacket!

Both help to confirm my suspicions that the jacket is from the late 1940s.

Keep an eye out for union labels – they are one of the quickest way to determine eras of garments. The ILGWU (International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union) was formed in 1900 and the labels are excellent ways to help pin-point a date. This guide is fantastic.

An ILGWU tag in a late 1940s jacket. From the author's collection.

Look for WPL and RN numbers. WPL numbers were issued under the Wool Products Labeling Act from 1941 to 1959 and RN numbers are identification numbers for American clothing manufacturers, distributors or resellers issued by the Federal Trade Commission. Be careful with these numbers – just because the RN # on a garment was issued to a brand in 1947 doesn’t means that the garment itself was created in 1947. You can search for RN numbers on the RN Database – the database was created in 1998 and any RN’s or WPL’s issued before 1998 automatically have an issue date of August 6, 1998 in the database. But this amazing guide has a handy formula that will help you determine issue date. The RN and WPL numbers are especially helpful if your garment doesn’t have a brand tag.

Keep in mind that care labels became a legal requirement in the USA in 1972.

"Pinked" seams on a 1950s circle skirt. From the author's collection.

It was unusual for seams to be serged before the 1960s – they were often “pinked” in the 1950s.

If your garment has diamond-shaped gussets at the underarms, it is most likely made in the 1950s.

The zig-zag sewing machine was invented in 1947.

Fabric content is always important:

  • Rayon was used extensively until the 1950s, when nylon superseded it in popularity.
  • Polyester became popular in the 1950s, when it was known by names like Dacron. It became known as “polyester” in the 1960s.

Always, always pay attention to prints.

(None of these tips are infallible – it is almost impossible to pinpoint an exact date on a vintage garment, but these will hopefully get you in the right ballpark.)

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Katy Jones is the Editor of The Blind Hem. She is a fashion-school dropout with a Creative Writing BA from the University of Houston. She blogs at Dirty Hems, sells vintage clothing at Moonshine Hill and is usually spilling her guts on twitter. She lives in Texas.