I was wrong about the 2000s.
In August I wrote a post about denim by era, and under the heading "The denim to skip" I put this line: "Vintage" denim made post-2000 unless the brand is specifically collectible. It is still there, in the denim post, and I am not taking it down.
Then I counted what had actually sold, and the decade I had waved away was level with the 90s at the top. I had the era backwards and the cloth right. This post is about telling those two apart.
What actually sold
In the last twelve months the 2000s and the 90s were joint top of what left this shop. The 70s, which I had written two posts about, had become a small corner of it. The typical 2000s piece went for about €35; the typical 90s piece for about €40.
On the rail today there are 114 blouses tagged Y2K or 2000s, and 91 of them are under €40. Most of that decade on my rail is under €40. They are at Y2K vintage blouses, and the whole decade is at Y2K vintage.
What I got wrong was the decade. What I did not get wrong was the cloth, and I will not pretend otherwise to be tidy. More on that at the end.
The version I would wear
There are two readings of the 2000s. One is the butterfly clip, the low-rise jean, the belt holding nothing up, the top that stops above the navel. That version is a costume, and it was a costume the first time.
The other is quieter. A lace camisole with a cardigan over it. A bias-cut skirt that stops at mid-calf. A sheer blouse with a slip under it, and I mean a slip, not a hope. A kitten heel. A cropped cardigan with one button done up.
There is no costume in that version. There is a camisole and a cardigan.
If you buy one thing from that list, buy the sheer blouse and the slip together. The blouse on its own asks a question. The slip answers it. The camisole is the other safe start: under a cardigan now, on its own in June, and it is where the under-€40 prices live.
The lace is at vintage lace. The slips and camisoles that count as lingerie are at vintage lingerie, and lingerie and slips are final sale, so read the measurements twice before you buy.
1993 or 2003
The same blouse, ten years apart, from the ones that have been through my hands. This is what I notice, not a rule for dating anything. The left-hand column is the 90s I wrote about in the minimalism post; the right-hand column is what came after it.
| 1993 | 2003 | |
|---|---|---|
| Shoulder | Square, often with a small pad; the seam sits out past the shoulder bone | Fitted and set in; the seam sits on the bone or inside it |
| Seam | A French seam or a clean overlocked edge, with no give in it | Overlocked, and the thread stretches with the cloth because the cloth has some stretch in it |
| Cloth | Rayon, viscose or silk; matte, cool, heavier than it looks | Viscose with elastane, poly-satin or stretch lace; lighter, with a faint sheen |
| Hem | Straight, hip-length, made to be tucked | Cropped or shaped, made to sit out over the waistband |
| Fit on the body | Skims: the cloth moves and the body is a suggestion | Holds: the cloth follows and the body is the point |
How to use it. If the listing says stretch, expect the right-hand column, and when it arrives pull the hem gently and check the recovery; if it stays pulled, it is tired. If the listing says rayon or silk and gives a hip-length measurement, expect the left.
Either can be the blouse you want. Only one of them will tuck.
Neither column is better. The 1993 blouse forgives a bad day; the 2003 blouse does not, and some days that is what you want from a blouse. The 90s pieces are at 90s vintage if the left-hand column is yours.
What stays on the skip list
The low-rise jean stays exactly where I put it in August. The cut aged badly, and a good year for the decade did not change my mind about one cut in it.
The cheap unlined viscose slip stays too. It pills, it clings where it should not, and the minimalism post said so in July. Being from 2003 rather than 1996 does not fix any of that.
What comes off the list is the decade itself. A 2003 blouse is not a lesser thing than a 1993 one because it is younger. It is a different thing, and on my rail it is the one more people wanted.
The pieces listed most recently are in new arrivals, right-hand column included.
— Victoria