How do we actually date the garments we sell? – A brief guide.

There are certain questions we receive repeatedly, and one of them is: How do you date your garments?
With that in mind, here is a brief guide explaining how we go about determining the age of vintage menswear – primarily suits and coats. This refers mainly to Swedish bespoke and ready-to-wear garments from the first half of the 20th century, as that is, so to speak, our main area of expertise. However, the general principles outlined here can largely be applied to garments of other origins as well.

We look at three aspects and make a combined overall assessment based on them:

• Any labels

• The cut

• The fabric and tailoring details

Let’s start with the first point – labels!
A label can tell you everything, or absolutely nothing. Let us explain. Some labels were used over very long periods of time and therefore cannot help narrow down the dating of a garment with any real precision. Below is an example of such a case.

This label, bearing the text “Garanteras Äkta Getskinn” (“Guaranteed Genuine Goatskin”) and similar variations, was used by a large number of small-scale producers of leather garments in and around the small town of Malung in the province of Dalarna. Although it appeared in updated versions over the years, it is not in itself a reliable indicator of age, as all versions were used over relatively long periods. This means that the age of the label often does not fully correspond with the age of the garment it is attached to.

Now, let’s look at a label that tells us something—but not everything...

At the far right of the bottom row on this label, we can read “Götgatan 74” - one of the addresses of the company’s two shops in Stockholm. This location opened in 1960; previously, the business was on the same street at a different number. At this time, Carl Axel Pettersson was a large and fairly prestigious outfitter in Stockholm, and no outdated labels were used. From this, we can deduce that this label is in a garment produced in the 1960s, at the earliest 1960.

Finally, let’s look at a label that provides all the information one could possibly wish for on the subject…

This label is from a bespoke suit made by MilitärEkiperingsAktiebolaget, abbreviated “M.E.A.” It more or less follows the Swedish standard for tailor labels used during the first half of the 20th century (later examples might also include fabric codes). On this label, we see at the top the tailor’s name and emblem, followed by the place and date of delivery - in this case, 25th October 1955. Beneath that, the original owner’s title and name are listed. In short - this label closes the case.

Now we move on to point 2—the cut! When dating a garment based on its cut, the approach differs entirely depending on whether the piece is ready-to-wear or bespoke. Ready-to-wear garments are generally easier to date; the reason for this is that ready-to-wear items typically followed prevailing fashion trends, often down to the details.

Bespoke garments, however, largely reflect the original owner’s specific wishes, often conservative ones, and may not align perfectly with contemporary fashion. We will look at examples of both, starting with a ready-to-wear suit that, thanks to its distinctive cut, is straightforward to date within a few years:

On the left, we see a Swedish men’s fashion illustration from 1944; on the right, a suit from our archive. This quite distinctive jacket cut became popular in the mid-1940s and remained in use for a few years before disappearing just as suddenly. Its hallmark is the low two-button fastening (rather than the three-button norm), with the top button sitting as low as the waist. As a result, the relatively wide lapels also appear long. This fastening, combined with the jacket’s roomy upper section, creates a balance that is hard to mistake. Add to this the fact that jackets and suits of this cut almost always feature a distinctive fabric. Here, we can pinpoint the year, give or take a few, purely based on the cut.

Next, we’ll look at a bespoke garment, which is considerably trickier to date solely from its cut:

By looking at this overcoat as a whole, it is difficult to draw any conclusions about its age. There is nothing in the cut that immediately hints at its era; it is cut straight and does not particularly stand out in terms of fit.

To crack this nut, we need to move on to our third point – fabric and tailoring details. Let’s take a closer look at some features that are worth noting in this regard:

1. Inner pocket with a flap. This is not a common way to design inner pockets in an overcoat, not in any decade. It is therefore almost certainly the client’s specific request, which means the pocket itself does not provide much help for dating the garment. However, there is one detail worth noting – the design of the flap itself is very typical of the 1940s and 1950s, though usually seen in waistcoats rather than overcoats.

    

2. High placement of the shoulder seam. This allows us to almost certainly rule out a production year before 1930. Another interesting detail seen in this image is the material. This often black or deep navy wool, with a subtle herringbone pattern, was widely used by men’s tailors during the 1950s and even into the 1960s. It is somewhat lighter than similar fabrics used in the 1930s and 1940s.

3. Functional buttonholes on the sleeves. This is a detail that is almost taken for granted in today’s bespoke jackets and overcoats – but it was not always so. Until around 1950, it was fairly uncommon for Swedish overcoats to have working buttonholes at the cuffs.

4. The breast pocket. Breast pockets are often seen on Swedish bespoke overcoats from the early 20th century, but we have already ruled out that it is that old. This detail largely disappeared and did not become common again until the early 1950s. After that, it remained standard; many bespoke overcoats from the 1960s and 1970s have breast pockets – in fact, most still do today. So, in all honesty, this feature is not crucial for dating the coat.

   So how would we date this overcoat then? Based on the information above, we would have placed it in the early 1950s, but we couldn’t have been more precise than that. When selling it, we would label it as 1940s/1950s, as we often do, to be on the safe side.

   Of course, you’re probably very curious to know the exact year this coat is from!

   Fortunately, neither you nor we need to remain in the dark – it has a label! Let’s take a look…

March 6th, 1950 – made here in Stockholm at the tailor AB Nilsson & Lindman.

This little guide is not intended to be a bible for dating Swedish vintage menswear – that would require a far more extensive treatment. The purpose of this text is simply to give an insight into how we work when dating the garments we sell. Here, we have mostly focused on pieces from the 1940s and 1950s, though garments from other decades naturally have their own distinctive details and characteristics. The principle behind our dating method, however, remains the same for all decades. It is the overall assessment of these three points that determines the dating. We hope you have found this reading informative.