I make some of my own clothes, and this past winter I made a coat that had some special personal touches. At the Met Gala this year, Lewis Hamilton, the race car driver, added a patch inside his bespoke Burberry jacket to commemorate the inspiration for the design. When I saw that I thought I should add such a thing to my coat — but just as quickly forgot. Your very lovely post reminded me again that my coat, which I intend to wear for years to come, should by signed and dated! So that’s my project for my Sunday afternoon. Thanks so much for the inspiration, as well as the enjoyable read!
Incredible story! This bit stood out to me, “After some digging I found a personal blog that had published the entire city of Viipuri phone book from the year 1938.” What a delightful rabbit hole!
I love this story! Please wear at least part of this suit!
I actually have a pair of pants that I had made about 10+ years ago with the tag of the woman who made them for me. And they were made from left over material from Roman shades I had made for my kitchen about ten years before that!
And not who actually made the clothes, but a small shop where I bought so many things had the label with the shop owner sewn in, much like the “ better” stores like Saks and I Magnin used to do.
Bill is dead now but I think of him and his wife, who is now a close friend, every time I put on an item with his name sewn in…
I love that there are still sewists, tailors and retailers who do personalized or interesting tags. That's so special! It always adds a little something to a garment. I love the vintage tags that have the city of the manufacturer, or a phone number of a boutique. Even union tags give us some information. Just anything that's not just the boring "made in this or that country"!
That is so amazing, I loved reading this story! Also, as a complete side note, I feel the same way about names written with sharpie in clothes. When my oldest child started daycare I embroidered his name on his sheets because I couldn’t stand writing it in ugly, expedient marker! It felt so throw-away and anonymous. (That being said, I now write on his preschool things in marker because I can barely keep up with mending! But still think “one day…”)
I hadn't thought about kids' clothes! I guess kids grow out of their clothes so quickly that it would be almost impossible to embroider everything nicely and neatly. I guess the textile marker is not the worst thing in the world after all!
I love your deep dive into this history. i was at Tokio 7 in NYC and with Trinny Woodall and she determined via a label that a suit with an incredible flower on it had been Yohji’s own suit, his private suit maker had made it. It fit Trinny perfectly. May your suit sing and speak to you forever. 😘
Oh this was such a pleasure to read, and made me feel so many feelings about objects, time, meaning - thank you for sharing the entire research project/process with us 💗 I have a sweater hand knit by my mother’s neighbor when she was young, and now I am thinking I need to add some tag/label to show the history of it’s transatlantic travel!! This is a VERY different train of thought but I just watched Oddity, an irish horror movie where the main character can “read” personal objects that are close to someone and see what they see. Silly concept but god, don’t I wish I had that when at a vintage shop!!
"an irish horror movie where the main character can “read” personal objects that are close to someone and see what they see" --- I love that idea! Also I'm a fan of silly horror films so there's that!
I wish I knew more about the clothes I sell at my shop. Sometimes when I buy something directly from an individual they'll tell me a story about who the piece belonged to or where they wore it etc, and I always pass the story on to the next owner of the piece.
Ahaha in that case - if you like horror movies, it was a fun time (very atmospheric!) and filled with some VERY pretty antiques that the director sourced himself and filmed in this gorgeous old home 💯
This is such an interesting and profound article that highlights the importance of material culture! Plus getting into the “vintage detective” mode is exhilarating. I also keep vintage I don’t wear and have a little spreadsheet with basic info plus an additional folder with all the info I can find about the item. I do the same with newer pieces that are special to me and feel like they could be “future vintage”.
I love your idea of keeping a spreadsheet for your special pieces. I'll have to start one, too. Or maybe even tag the hangers for the really special ones that I wear.
"Future vintage" is such an interesting concept. I think about it a lot: what's the best of our current era? A lot of modern clothes are simply not all that great, even at a high price point.
Love this amazing bit of sartorial sleuthing. I rarely come across antique clothing in person and your story was such a joy to read. I am drawn to vintage denim and museums of people's old things (I wish I had a better term for this...but think folk museums and such) for a similar reason: "the visible presence of the human hand". They make me reflect on my present-day experience and what people might see if anything of mine survives into the future.
When my mother died, I realised that with the exception of a few items, so many of her belongings felt "anonymous". No matter how vividly I remember her tearing up on the morning of my sister's wedding, I don't feel much attachment to the COS dress she was wearing. Yet we kept nearly all her old handbags from the 1980s and 90s, her mesh purses that belonged to her mother, and old costume jewellery we played with as kids. These items managed to conjure up a certain lost era (our childhoods?) that a fast fashion dress from 2017 could not, and I can't help but think it's because we see such brands as disposable.
I recently took a book out of the library called Vintage Menswear -- A Collection From the Vintage Showroom, and it made me think of you! It has all these many amazing old workwear type clothes that have been collected by The Vintage Showroom owners in London. So much wear and tear on these clothes, and real history, touch of the people who wore them. I'm thinking of buying the book for myself. It's a real treat.
Thank you for sharing your feelings about your late mother's old clothes. I'm glad you have been able to keep the pieces that have stories and meaning to you. My mom has given me some of her old clothes that she wore when I was a child, and some of her jewelry she no longer wears herself, jewelry I used to play with, and those pieces are so, so special to me. I can't imagine feeling the same way about the clothes she wears now (leggings with long t-shirts and tunics, outdoorsy fleece jackets, sneakers).
I follow the Vintage Showroom on IG and it's just bliss..somehow I missed the fact that they had a book, am going to look it up right away! It's a bit of a pity that vintage workwear is something I rarely get to see in real life, so books are really the next best thing. Thanks for the rec!
Re: old clothes vs new clothes belonging to our loved ones...I'm still mulling on the power of old things, eg a pair of polyester trousers from the 1980s vs one from the 2000s. Sad to think that corporates and modern day clothing production have devalued clothing so much :(
Thank you, Alison! I'm wondering whether I should make name tags for some of my most special clothes. I kind of love the idea that maybe someone, somewhere, one day, might try to find out stuff about me in 100 years' time because they find and buy my old clothes in a vintage shop...
This was wonderful to read - and fascinating to be able to go back in time to find the history/origin of the jacket. It gives such life and personality to garments.
I make some of my own clothes, and this past winter I made a coat that had some special personal touches. At the Met Gala this year, Lewis Hamilton, the race car driver, added a patch inside his bespoke Burberry jacket to commemorate the inspiration for the design. When I saw that I thought I should add such a thing to my coat — but just as quickly forgot. Your very lovely post reminded me again that my coat, which I intend to wear for years to come, should by signed and dated! So that’s my project for my Sunday afternoon. Thanks so much for the inspiration, as well as the enjoyable read!
I love that you made your own coat and that it will be signed and dated! It will be special forever.
A garment worthy of having a story. Such a treat to read this. And a powerful reminder for me that the bar should be very high to acquire an object.
Thank you for reading!
"the bar should be very high to acquire an object" -- well said. Time and time again I seem to forget this, but hopefully I'm making progress!
Incredible story! This bit stood out to me, “After some digging I found a personal blog that had published the entire city of Viipuri phone book from the year 1938.” What a delightful rabbit hole!
I couldn't believe my luck when I found the phone book! I love all the strange things one can find online!
I love this story! Please wear at least part of this suit!
I actually have a pair of pants that I had made about 10+ years ago with the tag of the woman who made them for me. And they were made from left over material from Roman shades I had made for my kitchen about ten years before that!
And not who actually made the clothes, but a small shop where I bought so many things had the label with the shop owner sewn in, much like the “ better” stores like Saks and I Magnin used to do.
Bill is dead now but I think of him and his wife, who is now a close friend, every time I put on an item with his name sewn in…
Thank you, Josanne!
I love that there are still sewists, tailors and retailers who do personalized or interesting tags. That's so special! It always adds a little something to a garment. I love the vintage tags that have the city of the manufacturer, or a phone number of a boutique. Even union tags give us some information. Just anything that's not just the boring "made in this or that country"!
That is so amazing, I loved reading this story! Also, as a complete side note, I feel the same way about names written with sharpie in clothes. When my oldest child started daycare I embroidered his name on his sheets because I couldn’t stand writing it in ugly, expedient marker! It felt so throw-away and anonymous. (That being said, I now write on his preschool things in marker because I can barely keep up with mending! But still think “one day…”)
Thank you, Alicia!
I hadn't thought about kids' clothes! I guess kids grow out of their clothes so quickly that it would be almost impossible to embroider everything nicely and neatly. I guess the textile marker is not the worst thing in the world after all!
I love your deep dive into this history. i was at Tokio 7 in NYC and with Trinny Woodall and she determined via a label that a suit with an incredible flower on it had been Yohji’s own suit, his private suit maker had made it. It fit Trinny perfectly. May your suit sing and speak to you forever. 😘
Thank you, Rachel!
And oh wow, what a find and an amazing treasure for Trinny to have! I wonder how the suit ended up in Tokio 7. So fascinating!
This edit is another level
Thank you so much!
Oh this was such a pleasure to read, and made me feel so many feelings about objects, time, meaning - thank you for sharing the entire research project/process with us 💗 I have a sweater hand knit by my mother’s neighbor when she was young, and now I am thinking I need to add some tag/label to show the history of it’s transatlantic travel!! This is a VERY different train of thought but I just watched Oddity, an irish horror movie where the main character can “read” personal objects that are close to someone and see what they see. Silly concept but god, don’t I wish I had that when at a vintage shop!!
"an irish horror movie where the main character can “read” personal objects that are close to someone and see what they see" --- I love that idea! Also I'm a fan of silly horror films so there's that!
I wish I knew more about the clothes I sell at my shop. Sometimes when I buy something directly from an individual they'll tell me a story about who the piece belonged to or where they wore it etc, and I always pass the story on to the next owner of the piece.
Ahaha in that case - if you like horror movies, it was a fun time (very atmospheric!) and filled with some VERY pretty antiques that the director sourced himself and filmed in this gorgeous old home 💯
This is such an interesting and profound article that highlights the importance of material culture! Plus getting into the “vintage detective” mode is exhilarating. I also keep vintage I don’t wear and have a little spreadsheet with basic info plus an additional folder with all the info I can find about the item. I do the same with newer pieces that are special to me and feel like they could be “future vintage”.
Thank you Ana!
I love your idea of keeping a spreadsheet for your special pieces. I'll have to start one, too. Or maybe even tag the hangers for the really special ones that I wear.
"Future vintage" is such an interesting concept. I think about it a lot: what's the best of our current era? A lot of modern clothes are simply not all that great, even at a high price point.
What an incredible endeavor! This was so beautifully written and so much work went into your research. Brava!
Thank you so much!
Love this amazing bit of sartorial sleuthing. I rarely come across antique clothing in person and your story was such a joy to read. I am drawn to vintage denim and museums of people's old things (I wish I had a better term for this...but think folk museums and such) for a similar reason: "the visible presence of the human hand". They make me reflect on my present-day experience and what people might see if anything of mine survives into the future.
When my mother died, I realised that with the exception of a few items, so many of her belongings felt "anonymous". No matter how vividly I remember her tearing up on the morning of my sister's wedding, I don't feel much attachment to the COS dress she was wearing. Yet we kept nearly all her old handbags from the 1980s and 90s, her mesh purses that belonged to her mother, and old costume jewellery we played with as kids. These items managed to conjure up a certain lost era (our childhoods?) that a fast fashion dress from 2017 could not, and I can't help but think it's because we see such brands as disposable.
I recently took a book out of the library called Vintage Menswear -- A Collection From the Vintage Showroom, and it made me think of you! It has all these many amazing old workwear type clothes that have been collected by The Vintage Showroom owners in London. So much wear and tear on these clothes, and real history, touch of the people who wore them. I'm thinking of buying the book for myself. It's a real treat.
Thank you for sharing your feelings about your late mother's old clothes. I'm glad you have been able to keep the pieces that have stories and meaning to you. My mom has given me some of her old clothes that she wore when I was a child, and some of her jewelry she no longer wears herself, jewelry I used to play with, and those pieces are so, so special to me. I can't imagine feeling the same way about the clothes she wears now (leggings with long t-shirts and tunics, outdoorsy fleece jackets, sneakers).
I follow the Vintage Showroom on IG and it's just bliss..somehow I missed the fact that they had a book, am going to look it up right away! It's a bit of a pity that vintage workwear is something I rarely get to see in real life, so books are really the next best thing. Thanks for the rec!
Re: old clothes vs new clothes belonging to our loved ones...I'm still mulling on the power of old things, eg a pair of polyester trousers from the 1980s vs one from the 2000s. Sad to think that corporates and modern day clothing production have devalued clothing so much :(
What a beautiful story, and what impressive research!
Thank you, Nancy!
What a wonderful story - and so sad to think as you said our clothes will forever be anonymous.
Thank you, Alison! I'm wondering whether I should make name tags for some of my most special clothes. I kind of love the idea that maybe someone, somewhere, one day, might try to find out stuff about me in 100 years' time because they find and buy my old clothes in a vintage shop...
outstanding!
Thank you so much!
quite a beautiful story.
Thank you, Susan!
This was wonderful to read - and fascinating to be able to go back in time to find the history/origin of the jacket. It gives such life and personality to garments.