Journal

• Talon Zippers: How to Read the Zip on Vintage Clothing · Nov 2026

  A Talon zipper is a zip made by Talon, the Meadville, Pennsylvania company that turned the zipper into an everyday part of American clothing, and you'll find the name stamped on...

• What Counts as Vintage Clothing? · Nov 2026

  Vintage clothing is secondhand clothing made in an earlier era, and most people draw the line at about 20 years old. There is no law or official standard behind that number, tho...

• The Chore Coat: A Short History and What to Look For · Nov 2026

  A chore coat is a plain cotton work jacket with roomy front pockets, first made for factory and farm work. There are two main lines: the French blue work jacket, the bleu de tra...

• The Carhartt Double-Knee: A Short History · Nov 2026

  The Carhartt double-knee is a heavy duck canvas work pant with a second layer of fabric sewn over the front of each leg. Carhartt says the design dates back to the 1930s and was...

• Change Buttons on Vintage Work Clothes · Nov 2026

  Change buttons are buttons that come off. Instead of being sewn or hammered on, each one has a shank that goes through a buttonhole or eyelet and is held at the back by a small ...

• Union Made Labels on Vintage Workwear · Nov 2026

  A Union Made label means the garment was sewn in a shop whose workers belonged to a union. On old American workwear that's usually the United Garment Workers of America, which r...

• What Sanforized Means on a Vintage Label · Nov 2026

  Sanforized means the fabric was pre-shrunk before the garment was cut, using a process patented in 1930, so it wouldn't shrink much the first time it was washed. On a vintage la...