Vintage & Designer
The Modern Heirloom, Found Secondhand
This autumn's trend lists want you to buy future heirlooms new, at four figures. The charity shop has been selling the past ones all along. What to feel for on the rail.
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Vintage & Designer
Dating, authentication and pricing for designer pieces that have already had one life.
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- 21 Oct
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Vintage & Designer
Dating vintage denim when the label is gone
Selvedge, thread, hardware and care labels each answer a different question, and none of them dates a garment on its own. Here…
Vintage & Designer
Authenticating a designer bag: the checks that work
Stitching and hardware are the checks everyone repeats and the ones counterfeiters have beaten. Date codes, construction and material logic are harder…
Vintage & Designer
Vintage labels by decade, and what each is worth now
From Norell to Margiela, the names that reliably lift a garment above its fabric value, which decade each belongs to, and the…
Vintage & Designer
Vintage tailoring: judging a jacket and its alterations
Shoulder fit decides whether a jacket is worth buying and canvas construction decides whether it is worth altering. Here is the pinch…
Vintage & Designer
Designer resale: what holds value and what doesn't
Retail price momentum, not beauty or craftsmanship, decides what a designer piece resells for. The categories that hold, the ones that collapse…
Vintage & Designer
Vintage jewelry: gold-filled, plated or solid?
The mark inside the band answers most of the question and the wear points answer the rest. A working test sequence for…
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