Hello everyone,

When writing the last blog about PipPa, my thoughts went right back to the “old days”. Unfortunately, I still know far too little about the 20s, 50s, or even 70s and 80s and the great variety of fashions from those times. A reason to get to work and find things out. Today I would like to chat about the terms “retro”, “vintage” and “fully fashioned”, especially because we constantly use these terms for our product descriptions in the shop.

Retro

Let’s start with retro. Actually quite simple, right? Retro comes from Latin and means backwards. Accordingly, it is “backward-oriented” fashion. When I speak of backward-oriented fashion, I mean fashion from a time that has already passed. Retro is therefore an umbrella term for fashion from the 20s, 50s or even 80s and I would say also the not so long past 90s.

When designers speak of retro, they mean something from one of their older collections. Vicky’s Nylons has a whole range of garter belts that are called retro, they are available in black, white and red with 6, 8 and 10 straps.

I’m not sure yet, but I would say that suspenders, corsets and nylons are all retro in themselves. In the past, these garments were all needed for everyday use, today they are fashionable lingerie, now they are something special. Hardly anyone wears nylons or a corset every day these days. If I find someone, you will of course be informed.

Vintage

Vintage is the term for something that is old and used or looks as if it is old and used. It comes from English and also means “old” or “used”. With clothing, I find the term a little difficult. The term vintage is used on every corner and mostly for clothing that is new and does not look used, but is made in retro style. Vintage and retro are often used together in the same breath or equated. In my opinion, vintage is also retro at the same time; however, retro is not vintage at the same time. Or am I seeing this wrong?

PipPa, for example, speaks of vintage and retro-inspired fashion, also a possibility… We continue with then with

Fully Fashioned

Real nylons are in themselves, as we all know, inelastic. Tights simply adapt to the leg, often I find it quite unsightly when the tights or leggings become lighter or more transparent in the thicker areas, such as the calf or thigh. Fully Fashioned is a type of manufacturing nylons, they are not simply made the same and round in places, but made in leg shape. You can see that very nicely when you lay the nylon folded at the seam. I did that once and tried to photograph it, as you can see here on the left.

I have a small example for you, take a look at the description of GIO Susan in the color teint, it is fully fashioned and retro 😉

Until then

yours Julia