Okay, so I was digging into this whole “vintage” thing today, you know, trying to figure out what makes something truly “vintage” and not just old junk. I mean, I love a good thrift store find as much as the next person, but is that old t-shirt from the 90s really vintage, or am I just hanging on to my youth?
I started out, as usual, by going down an internet rabbit hole. Searched for things like “vintage fonts”, “vintage fashion”, and just plain old “what is vintage?” And let me tell you, the results were all over the place.
First, I checked out some font websites. You see, I am a designer and I need to find suitable fonts for my work, so I looked for some bold vintage fonts. It seems that any font that looks a bit old-timey can be called vintage these days. There were a million different fonts all labeled as “vintage,” but they were definitely not created in the same age. I downloaded some of them, it was pretty cool, but that didn’t really answer my question about what makes something vintage.
Then, I started looking at vintage fashion. Now that’s a whole other can of worms. I saw everything from those fancy dresses from the 1920s, all beads and feathers, to crazy printed shirts from the 70s. Each time period definitely has its own style, which I guess you could call vintage, but it’s more about the specific look of each decade, rather than the age itself.
I also read that some people say “true vintage” stuff is from before the 1950s. They call it “old school”. I guess that makes sense, but it also means that most of the stuff we call vintage now is actually more recent, like the 1960s and 1970s, right? There are some items from the 1920s that are hard to find.
I spent a good chunk of my afternoon reading about what people define vintage. Some say it’s just a way to describe old stuff in a fancier way, like how they used to say “retro.” Others are really serious about it, with all these rules about what year something has to be from to be considered vintage. Like, if something is over 100 years old, it’s not vintage, it’s an antique. Who knew?
I even found an article about some soup that used canned carrots and corn, and they called it “vintage.” I mean, come on! It’s just soup made with canned veggies! I made one following the recipe, and it was not so bad.
So, after all that, I’m still not totally sure what to think about the word “vintage.” It seems like it can mean different things to different people. Maybe it’s more about the feeling or the style of something, rather than a strict definition of its age. I guess I’ll just keep using the word how I want, and if someone wants to correct me, they can go right ahead.
- Vintage is cool.
- It is confusing.
- I like old things.
- I will use it anyway.
That’s it for my vintage adventure today. I’m off to make some dinner now, maybe something “vintage” like canned soup. Just kidding! Or am I?
