When does fashion become vintage?

A guide to understanding vintage, archival and antique fashion.

- WORDS BY LILAH RAMZI

In 1979, the ever-insightful fashion historian Anne Hollander captured a cultural shift bubbling under the surface. In her Vogue essay, “Boom...In Vintage Clothes”, she charted the rise of a then-nascent fascination with decades-old garments. Hollander pointed out how, historically, fashion aged poorly—no stylish woman would be caught dead in her mother’s wardrobe. “For clothes, going out of date used to be an irreversible process,” she wrote, noting that outdated garments were relegated to the realm of the “quaint”, suitable only for costume parties or comic characters. But by the late 20th century, something had changed.

Mass production, Hollywood and the magic of the motion picture combined to immortalise fashion. As Hollander observed, “We uniquely possess, intact, our ideal visual past.” Thanks to the camera's steady gaze, the sleek silhouettes and bias cuts of the 1920s through the 1950s survived not only in celluloid but in wardrobes — waiting for a new generation to rediscover them. Fast forward to 2025, Hollander’s observations feel practically prophetic. Vintage isn’t merely a niche pursuit anymore; it’s a cultural juggernaut.