How old does a handbag have to be to be considered "vintage"

cocobean1793

cocobean1793

O.G.
Jun 5, 2007
1,068
114
#1
Lately I have seen the term "vintage" used more and more frequently to describe a pre-owned handbag and this made me curious about what the term really means. Does anyone know if there is a guide line or even a generally accepted rule of thumb as to how old a bag should be, to be considered vintage, rather than just pre-owned? Obviously you would not call a bag from last season vintage, but how about 5 yrs old? 10? I know in the world of antique collecting, serious collectors only consider an item a true antique when it is @ 100 yrs old ....so if there is no real rule about bags..............at what point do you think a handbag becomes vintage?
 
#2
I don't think you can really put an age on it. I mean obviously three years old is hardly vintage and over a hundred obviously is. But it depends on a lot of things, is the designer/brand still around, how popular or sought after were they, what condition is the item in, are there not five thousand others of it out there... the list goes on.

Those are some of the criteria I look at before considering something vintage. Even something fifty years old is sometimes just an old bag.
 
#6
I general for clothes I thought it was 25+ which is shorter than the 85-100 for antiques as fashoin items tend to wear quicker. Same would be true for bags.
 
#7
The usage of the word seems proportionate to someones age. If someone's 20 they think 10 years old is vintage. If someone's 50 then they usually don't consider anything less than 30 years old vintage.

I also think that sometimes when a designer's current collection's style is totally different from a bag that is less than 15 years old and it looks dated, interested parties call it vintage so that they can give it some extra value.

Very interesting question.
 
#8
It all depends on the item and the designer. I recently sold 2 pairs of Gucci sunglasses on eBay. When I first listed them I just mentioned they were 10 years old and got no bids. I relisted and called them "vintage" Tom Ford era and they sold for $40 over my BIN. Perception carries a lot of weight.
 
#10
I agree with KittyKat............when I see a listing for a vintage piece I tend to consider adding it to my collection more than something just called "used", but that is only at first glance. After my first attraction to a vintage piece, I definitely make sure it's not just something from a few seasons ago, and obviously not a piece still available in the stores.
 
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