About the Label
It is good for vintage buyers to know about the products that they carry and the history that makes each item unique.
Find out about old clothing labels from the past and present, learn about different clothing labels and manufactures, how they got started and what they are doing today. From classic vintage dresses to hip urban sneakers each brand has and image and each image has a history.
Patagonia Steps it Up Even More
The clothing company Patagonia has always been one of our favorite brands. For years they been environmentally conscious through their ethical business practices. Not only do they make great outerwear for men and women, but their wetsuits are some of the best in the industry and have changed the way surfers around the world view cold water waves and sustainable products.
Patagonia continues to lead the pack with their sustainable approach in their 2011 collection of outerwear for both men and women, even children. All of their threads are recyclable through their Common Threads Recycling Program plus more than half of their collection is made by using environmentally conscience fabrics.
Patagonia has always been known to merge fashion with function even in their past Vintage Patagonia collections. The latest 2011 collection is no exception, take a look at some of their latest pieces:
This season, Patagonia has revamped their merino wool collection with a new blend of 80% merino wool and 20% recycled polyester that are Bluesign-approved and chlorine-free. Patagonia claims that the garments provide odor control and are breathable. The merino comes from farmers in Australia who practice sustainable land management and do do not perform mulesing.
Patagonia’s iconic Synchilla Snap-T Pullover and Re-Tool Hoody make a comeback this season with vintage prints and retro colors, drawing inspiration from the brand’s archives.
Visit Patagonia for more Information.
Seventies Fashion Revisited
“Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.” Henry David Thoreau.
There are a few designers from the seventies that set the trends for decades to come.
These designers were cutting edge for their time and their creations and designs are still being used today by contemporary designers around the world. With the eighties moving by, the seventies is looking like it is going to be the next big thing in Vintage Clothing.
Let us take a look at some of the movers and shakers from this era:
Vintage Seventies Designers
Halston
Roy Halston Frowick was a definitive designer of the seventies who created nearly every popular dress that you saw on the dance floor. His draped and free moving construction of his garments without buttons or zippers made them perfect for the dance floor. The halter and the shoulder style dress were hands down his most replicated pieces. Halston designed for many of the celebrities back in the seventies and was one of the first major designers to license his name, making his clothes more accessible tot he masses.
Missoni
Italian Fashion Designer Ottavio Missoni was best known for knitwear with their bold, bright space dyed weave patterns.The Missoni zig zag pattern knit is easily recognizable in today’s fashion. It is used on everything from scarves, caps, dresses and outerwear.
Diane von Furstenberg
Von Furstenberg will most likely always be noted as the designer who invented the jersey wrap dress which soon became a wardrobe necessity. The Kimoni inspired wrap dress is Von Furstenberg trademark dress, she was influential to all dress designers establishing a standard for the ease and comfort in woman’s clothing for decades to come.
Thea Porter
Thea Porter is a half English, half French clothing designer that was inspired by traveling the world when she was young. She translated her multi cultured ethnic experiences into her designs that inspired the bohemian look that was popular in the mid seventies. Her career as a designer began with her own extensive clothing collection and a middle eastern import store on the fashion streets of London. There she designed a number of different caftans, maxi dresses that were all very accessible and stylish.
Bill Gibb
Bill Gibb was famous for mixing prints, textures and embellishments with ethnic, medieval, and romantic flare. This made Gibb a tremendous influence of the “hippie” style of clothing that became popular in the 70′s. Gibb was influenced by a close friend and artist/textile designer Kaffe Fassett who inspired the wild use of colors and patterns that you see in his designs.
These designers all left their mark on fashion for years to come. Many of the vintage pieces that we collect today from the seventies were inspired by these designers. If you ever run across and origional piece I would recomend holding onto it, you never know when you will have the opportunity to get an item like that again.
Screen Stars : About the Label
Screen Stars is a T-shirt label that you find in a number of Authentic Vintage Tees dating back to the 70′s and 80′s. Screen Stars was purchased in the 80′s by BEST, which was later taken over by Fruit of A Loom. The remnants of the Screen Star style can be found today in the Fruit of Loom BEST style tee. Many vintage tees were printed on the 50/50 screen star t-shirt blank with the paper Screen Star tag. The lightweight comfort and feel of the screen start blank is desired by current collectors in the industry world wide.
Super Screen Star Paper Tag “Late 70′s”
Super Screen Star Paper Tag “Late 70′s”
Best Screen Star Tag “Late 80′s”
LEE : About the Label
LEE Mercantile is one of our favorite vintage clothing labels from the past.
LEE mercantile has been manufacturing denim jeans, jackets and attire since the beginning. Setting themselves aside as one of the hottest vintage brands around. They have always been cutting edge and even a little controversial, and example being this Lolita ad that they did in 2006. There is no doubt that some of their vintage jeans and jackets are still being knocked off by contemporary designers today.
A little Bit about Lee’s History:
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Lee Mercantile Company was founded by Henry David Lee back in 1889, when Lee opened his first garment factory in Salina, Kansas, producing dungarees and jackets. In 1913, the Union-All work jumpsuit was created, followed by the first-ever “Overall” in 1920 – laying the foundation for Lee’s early growth. Also in 1920, the Buddy Lee doll was launched for promotional use, but quickly became a popular play doll. Through the ’20s, Lee introduced many new innovations to manufactured denim, most notably the zipper fly. Throughout the ’30s and ’40s Lee continued to build on their brand, becoming the nation’s #1 manufacturer of work clothes. The decade of the ’50s was a time of intense expansion for Lee as the company ventured into casual wear. Lee expanded its presence throughout the ’60s, spreading to 51 countries and consolidating with VF Corporation in 1969. Source and Images Courtesy of http://lee.com |
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