Decade Hopping

Here at The Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair we want to reignite the debate around 'What is Vintage?'. Clothing made before the 1920's can now be considered to be antique, while clothing made in the 80's to mid 90's is now considered retro. Some rule makers believe that to call clothes vintage they must be at least 20 years old. Are we locked into a never ending cycle of fashion rotation? Last season it was all about bodycon skirts and shoulder pads power dressing straight from Thatcher's heyday. Topshop had it in abundance.

Topshop chain skirt

Topshop power shoulder dress

This season we can all look forward to glam-jersey referencing urban luxe sportswear from the Nineties. With designers like Missoni, Versace, Balenciaga, Marc Jacobs and Christopher Kane all nodding towards 90's trends with their Spring/Summer campaigns, does it mean we can all dust off our bum bags? Now that the people in the know are taking inspiration from bygone era's can the fashions of the 1990's be classed as vintage? As we have now left the noughties and entered the 'teenies' we've been thinking... are the 90's the new 80's?


The meaning of the term vintage is now emerging as a hotly disputed topic. It's certainly firing us up at the AVF. What do you consider as vintage? Class of 2010... Discuss.