Let’s pick up where we left off last week and talk about some more of my favourite brands for vintage (80s, 90s, and Y2K) fashion. I’ve tried to organize these into (semi-arbitrary) categories to help jog my mental Rolodex — that’s a reference for my fellow Gen Xers — because there are a lot of them to remember. My advice is: if you come across a vintage-looking label, it’s worth a closer look. I always check the fabric composition, and the “made in” tag, along with the overall condition of the item and the quality of its finishings; and if it’s an unfamiliar brand, I do a quick look-up on Google to see what it resells for. I am generally not expecting non-designer vintage to resell at super high prices, but if I’m seeing listings in the $30-50 range (or higher), it’s likely to be a brand with decent quality.
Department store brands
Let’s start off with one of my absolute faves: Liz Claiborne, along with its offshoots LizWear and LizSport. I have SO many pieces, including pants (my fave white pair!), tops, sweaters and vests. So many good vests! Style-wise, this brand covers a lot of bases, from cottagecore to preppy, and from casual to dressy. Lots of natural fibers, especially cotton, which is always a bonus. Along very similar lines there is Jones New York and Talbots. As with Liz Claiborne, you can tell which pieces are vintage (versus current) from the brand logos and the “made in” tags. All of these brands are good across all categories of clothing, as well as accessories.
Slightly less common to find here is Anne Klein and Anne Klein II. I haven’t done much research into this brand, so I don’t precisely know its history, but I do know that the latter was advertised a lot in Vogue and similar magazines in the 80s and 90s, so it was a relatively upscale brand — with quality to match. I would put the English brand Jaeger in the same bucket; both of these have a more classic, elegant aesthetic. Ditto Ann Taylor. For something with a little more flash and 80s pizzazz, Carole Little is also worth keeping an eye out for.
Then we have what I think of as the “catalogue” brands, including J. Crew, Eddie Bauer, and Pendleton. (Most brands on this list did catalogues back in the day, but just go with it. This is what I meant when I said my categories were arbitrary ;)). I love EB for knitwear and outerwear. Ditto for Pendleton, who also did amazing wool blazers. Vintage J. Crew is super rare here, but I would die for some of their wool and cashmere sweaters — especially some of their original rollneck sweaters.
Canadian brands
Into this category, I’m putting a bunch of brands that are of a similar type to the above only, well, Canadian. It’s not merely patriotic pride that influenced that decision; depending on your location, these brands may be more or less accessible on account of being Canadian. As far as Ports International goes, I actually only found out recently that it is; for some reason, I previously thought it was a European brand. I find the quality to be slightly inconsistent, but for the most part it’s quite good — on par with some of the higher-end brands listed above. The aesthetic is generally on the classic/ladylike end of things; I’ve had especially good luck with jackets and skirts. Braemer and Alfred Sung are also worth keeping an eye on; lots of 80s “power” suiting and blazers. I always check to make sure the shoulder pads are removable (not sewn in) because, while I love a strong shoulder, too much of it makes me look like a linebacker.
On the designer end of things, Wayne Clark did a ton of fabulous stuff in the 80s, including evening wear. I recently thrifted a velvet jacket that is absolutely stunning, but I have also come across more casual/daytime pieces as well. And since I forgot to add these to my post last week, here is an honourable mention for a couple of European designer brands: Louis Ferraud and Sassoon. I’ve got a couple of amazing jackets from both of these brands — very “lady-who-lunches” in the best way.
I would be remiss not to include Danier in this list of Canadian brands, because it’s my top go-to for vintage leather clothing. Their jackets and blazers are the most common items to be found at the thrift stores — though prices have skyrocketed in recent years — but skirts, vests, and even pants are worth a look. My Danier suede maxi skirt is an absolute stunner, the kind of thing I could easily see on a Ralph Lauren runway; something of similar quality would cost upwards of $500 these days.
Cottagecore brands
If, like me, you’re into the cottagecore aesthetic, here are some of the brands that might deliver the vintage pieces your closet needs. Laura Ashley is, of course, a classic. I don’t come across it often here in Edmonton, but it never disappoints. Their floral prints are usually amazing. Speaking of amazing prints, I like to think of Suttles & Seawinds as the Canadian Laura Ashley. They also do a lot of patchwork-style pieces, including matching jacket/skirt and vest/skirt combos. Also similar, but with slightly more hit-and-miss quality, is April Cornell. I love their aesthetic, but I don’t always love the fabrics they use (viscose for summer dresses).
For fun knitwear, Tabi and Susan Bristol are usually good bets; the latter also for patchwork stuff. Christopher & Banks and Beechers Brook are two brands to which I’ve only recently started paying attention, but I think they would fit into this category as well (although I think BB had a broader range of styles, beyond the cottagecore stuff).
Youth/Mall brands
My favourite vintage ‘mall brand’ is, of course, the Gap but Mexx and Esprit are not too far behind. These are all relatively easy to find in my local thrift stores, along with Canadian staples like Le Chateau, Jacob and Tristan & Iseut. Less common is vintage Banana Republic, though I recently scored the perfect 90s velvet mini dress with an old school BR label. For some reason, vintage Club Monaco is also quite rare at my local thrifts, but maybe that’s because it’s considered highly desirable.
Slightly more youth-oriented, there is also Mariposa and SmartSet; both are 90s throwbacks that my teenage self would have loved to wear. Their specialty was trendy clothing, which means that vintage pieces that are still kicking around will definitely reflect what was “in” 20+ years ago. I would add Jessie to this list — not to be confused with Jessica, which also appears on a lot of vintage clothing, but which I believe was targeted at an older audience.
If you have other recommendations — the more obscure, the better! — please add them to the list in the comment section. Sharing (the knowledge) is caring!
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