Retail Therapy for Your Eyes
100+ clothing labels of yore
Hey everyone!
I hope spring is hitting so hard it feels like a slap in the face (same but for fall for the southern hem friends!). I am bringing you another Fun Email™ this week. It feels like I just wrote one but that was somehow last month and it’s already mid-April! It’s shocking, I know!!
This month’s Fun Email™ is all about clothing labels. It’s no secret that I love clothes! In the past, I loved to shop but shopping is super unfun now because everything has become cheap and boring!! And don’t even get me started on the exploitation of workers and the devastation the clothing industry has caused the planet (I know, I know, this email is supposed to be fun!)!
Today, we’re going to take a look back to when brands had personality/character/charm/etc. This email is proof of two things: First, that you can do a lot with a little and second, that sans serifs should be the accessories and not always the main event!! Let’s use some funky script typefaces, blackletter/medieval fonts, or just have lil mascots for brands again! Give me color! Give me joy! Give me life!!
All these labels were found on the Vintage Fashion Guild’s label archive. There are literally hundreds more that were awesome and that I couldn’t include. If you want the highlights, my favorite ones were the novelty label pages one, two, three, and four! Enjoy!
Side note: Sorry for all the yelling! I just care a lot about this!
Hank and Audrey’s Corral (1950s) | H Bar C (1940s) | Sears (1940s) | Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors (1950s) | Levi Strauss (1960s, 1930s) | J.C. Penney (1940s) | Wrangler (1970s) | Kistler-Collister (1950s) | Rockmount Ranch Wear (1980s)
Juniors By Jove (1970s) | Max Raab (1960s) | Marboré (1970s) | McGregor (1950s) | Key West Hand Prints (1970s) | Bob Mackie (1970s) | Enro (1950s) | Kennington (1960s) | London Fog (1960s) | Marshall & Snelgrove (1940s) | Arpeja (1960s)
Lettie Lee (1930s) | Beard & Co (1950s) | Hilton (1950s) | Jackpot (1980s) | Workers For Freedon (1986) | Zelda (1990s) | Hale-Niu (1966) | Hot Dog (1970s) | King Louie (1950s) | Original Champagne (1960s) | Green Bay Specialty Co (1940s) | Keith Scotland (1930s) | Tower Isle (1950s) | Zelda Wynn (1940s)
Pappagallo (1960s) | Schwestern Flöge (1910s) | Eva Gabor (1970s) | Holly’s Harp (1970s) | Victoria’s Secret (1977) | Miss Stella (1950s) | Koret of California (1940s)
Ruth McCullough (1950s) | Krist (1960s) | Gay Gibson (1930s) | Jeannette Alexander (1960s) | Lee Herman (1960s) | Pat Premo (1950s) | Hickey’s (1960s) | Eisenberg (1930s) | Bernetti (1940s) | Al Rosenthal’s (1950s) | Glentex (1940s) | Gunther Jaeckel (1950s) | Jean Desses (1950s) | Lilli Ann (1950s)
Frances Henaghan (1970s) | Cathy McGowan (1960s) | G. Girvin Seattle (1970s) | Vivienne Westwood (1981) | Victor Costa (1960s) | Norma Kamali (1980s) | Loopy (1970s) | Frederick Starke (1940s) | Young Elegants (1960s) | Kandahar Designs (1970s) | Lassie Junior (1970s)
Mary Quant (1960s) | Ludy Designs (1960s) | Tina Leser (1960s) | Lilly Pulitzer (1970s) | Poupée Rouge (1960s) | Petite Lady (1930s) | Susan Kosovic (1960s) | Dorothy Schoelen (1970s) | Lila Bath (1960s) | Yvette (1970s) | Lanz (1940s)
Harari (1990s) | Granny Takes A Trip (1970s) | Cole of California (1960s) | Michael Mott (1960s) | Betsey Johnson (1980s) | Martha Levine (1940s) | Peggy Moffit (2003) | Marion Donaldson (1970s) | Issey Miyake (1982)
Kahala (1950s) | Hilo Hattie (1970s) | Surfriders Sportswear (1950s) | Kawaihau (1950s) | Anjac Fashiosn (1960s) | Surfrider Men’s Shop (1960s) | Bunny’s Casuals (1950s) | Waltah Clarke (1950s) | Nu-Mode (1960s) | Liberty House (1960s) | Fredericks of Hollywood (1940s)
Lysm,
Libbie
Very very inspiring ✨
Drooling!