What is Vintage?

Vintage clothing is a generic term for new or second hand clothing originating from a previous era. The word vintage is copied from its use in wine terminology, as a more elegant-seeming euphemism for "old" clothes. (thank you Wikipedia:)
 

A vintage garment is typically 20 years of age or older, when you get past the 1920's you start to enter antique land.  One of the few exceptions to the age rule is high end designer pieces.  Garments by designers such as Versace, Halston, Oscar de la Renta or Valentino can be considered vintage after only two or three years. 


Also....
Retro, short for retrospective, usually refers to vintage inspired clothing (ie Stop Staring, Lucky 13 etc). Reproduction, or repro, is a faithful modern copy of an older garment.  Neither of these are considered vintage clothing.


And....
Haute couture (French for "high sewing" or "high dressmaking") refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. Couture is a common abbreviation of haute couture and refers to the same thing in spirit.
However, the term haute couture may have been misused by ready-to-wear brands since the late 1980s, so that its true meaning may have become blurred with that of  prêt-à-porter (the French term for ready-to-wear fashion) in the public perception. Every haute couture house also markets prêt-à-porter collections, which typically deliver a higher return on investment than their custom clothing. Falling revenues have forced a few couture houses to abandon their less profitable couture division and concentrate solely on the less prestigious prêt-à-porter. (thanks again Wikipedia)
Thus couture is extremely rare....and not a term to be thrown around lightly.  So, please, do not ask me "where is the couture rack?"....please


Is this used clothing?

Most vintage clothing has been previously worn, but a small percentage of pieces have not. These are often old warehouse stock, and more valuable than those that have been worn, especially if they have their original tags. Referred to as dead-stock or new old stock, they also sometimes have flaws.

What is the difference between a vintage store and a thrift store?

Vintage clothing stores should not be confused with thrift stores!  Tremendous care is taken to ensure the vintage items are originals and not reproductions sold in regular clothing stores. The selections at vintage stores are generally in excellent condition and carefully restored.  Also the items in vintage stores are not donated unlike thrift stores. We hand pick every item that goes into the store. In summation, a lot of time, energy, knowledge, and creativity goes into the cultivation of the collection at a vintage clothing store so you do not have to sift through all the non-vintage, not-relevant crapiola in thrift stores.