Not Just Old Clothes

January 13, 2010 | by Leah | Comment

By the end of the Second World War, the mass-production of clothing had been honed into almost the same machine it is today. Over the next 20 years, fashions in stores became more and more alike and people began turning to thrift stores and yard sales to find what they really wanted. The first vintage clothing stores opened in the 1970s. From then on, used clothing has become completely commodified, blurring the line between a garment that is “authentic vintage” and one that is just plain used.

Today’s vintage market perfectly juxtaposes old clothing with modern commercialism. That vintage sweater from Screaming Mimi’s or Nasty Gal wasn’t always cleaned and styled and packaged up so nicely for you. It didn’t carry a $100 price tag either. No; after its first life in the 80s or 90s, it was pulled, crumpled and damp, from a bail of clothing in a rag house, worth only pennies.

A rag house is a used clothing retailer: unsold thrift stock is compacted into bails and shipped into their warehouse. They can receive bails of apparel, shoes, belts, bags, fabric remnants, etc.