Early Vintage Clothing

How to Begin Collecting Early Vintage Clothing

Perhaps you have a love of the Victorian era. You like the corsets, the beautiful gowns, and the handmade accessories. How do you turn that joy into an understanding of collecting vintage clothing? Begin by making purchases.

Buying Small Pieces

Most collectors start with a piece they find and love. This piece may not be worth much in terms of money, but it gives the collectors a taste for what it is like to land a great find. Would-be collectors can begin by visiting auction houses and local antique shops. Many of these shops will have clothes for only a few dollars each. This type of clothing may be found at vintage stores as well, but these stores usually carry newer clothing. Early vintage pieces will be more likely to show up in someone’s dusty attic.

Researching Online

The Internet gives the opportunity to understand better what clothing is valuable and authentic. Edwardian era and Victorian era pieces are among the most common early vintage clothing. Searching online can give descriptions of what pieces are authentic. It also opens up the buying options if you are in an area without significant antique shops.

Storing The Clothes

Most of these clothes should be kept in acid-free boxes. Learning how to store them properly early in your collecting hobby will help give your garments greater value. They should be stored most of the time and taken out only when being worn or examined briefly.

How to Determine Value

The value of these pieces of clothing ultimately depends on what someone else is willing to pay for it, but there are a few ways to ascertain the potential value of a vintage piece.

Rarity

Without factories of workers, clothiers had to make everything by hand. Early clothing, then, may be one of a kind. More affluent members of society commissioned their clothing, and most designers made only a few designs. The number of designs by a designer and the number of intact pieces known to be in existence will affect the price.

Beauty

Some clothing is cute during its time but does not last much longer. For vintage pieces to retain value, they need to have a lasting, universal aesthetic appeal. Vintage dresses should be appealing to women today to have higher value.

Condition

As with all collectibles, better condition indicates a higher value. Clothing that can be worn or only needs slight repairs made will be of the highest value.

Current Influences on Collecting Vintage Garments

The value of an investment like clothing is hard to determine on the surface. Unlike stocks or mutual funds, there is no historic average to consider. Some pieces skyrocket for one reason or another while others dwindle. In general, vintage clothes increase in value over time, but certain factors affect those increases.

Increased Constituency

The Internet makes research easier but also makes the value of the garments increase. The constituency refers to the number of people who have the potential to be customers for the pieces you are considering. In the days before the web, people had to live in hot spots, such as New York, or be able to travel extensively. Now people can purchase from their home computer, which means the value increases as demand goes up.

Women’s Income

Women are by and large the bigger purchasers of antique clothing. More women now have their own incomes, and most families have some disposable income. These two factors increase the number of people willing to consider purchasing vintage clothes.

Hard Assets

In financial terms, vintage pieces are hard assets. Like real estate, they are not tied with the performance of stock but increase in value naturally over time. As inflation increase, people turn to these tangible items for financial investments.

Few people who collect these clothes do so solely for their financial benefit. The fun of collecting the clothing is the joy they bring. The hunt, the purchase, and the lasting enjoyment from owning these pieces excite the collector. The financial benefit is just an added bonus.