I discovered 3 large boxes of 70s and 80s clothing stored away

[sinkingfeeling]

in a closet yesterday. I must have packed it up to donate and then just forgot about it. So, I went through all of it and carried it upstairs to wash.

As I was reading the care instructions on a piece, I noticed the "Made in USA" tag. That got me looking at all the tags.

Most was made in the US and some from Hong Kong and Japan. Many had a union label as well. All the Bobbie Brooks things were made in America. None was from China, India, or Vietnam.

Things have sure changed since then. I sincerely doubt that what we get today would last 30 years in storage and survive machine washing.

[TeamPooka]

1. anyone else want pictures of these clothes too? :)

[ProudLib72]

2. +1

Some of them may be collector's items worth some dough! Last month I went in an 80s only clothing store. I had nightmares afterwards, but the prices!

[Different Drummer]

3. Me!!! n/t

[area51]

5. Me too. n/t

[htuttle]

12. YES!

Skinny Ties?
Bell Bottoms?
Paisley?
Denim Everywhere?

[TeamPooka]

26. The vintage clothing stores here in Ventura County and down in LA are always busy

[denbot]

14. Me two, too.

If the 70’s collars were long enough to assist in a slight glide slope, I may have worn a similar shirt.

[Bluesaph]

29. I do too!

Heck I would probably wear it.

[ms liberty]

34. Yes! My first thought. n/t

[kimbutgar]

4. I still have clothes that were made in the USA that haven't faded and still wearable

Unfortunately I am no longer a size 4 or small. Cleaning out my late mothers home all the clothes that are made in USA are still intact and wearable. Clothes from 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. I found this sweater my Mother wore that she brought in the 80’s and a jacket from bullocks with the tag both made in the good old USA.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. Yeah. I keep holding the jeans and skirts up to my waist and

can't believe I was ever that small. The additional 40 years show more on me than they do on the clothes.

[Raine]

11. I found that too

when I come across clothes from awhile back the irony/sad thing is at that time I thought I needed to lose weight!

[Elwood P Dowd]

9. I still have some of my Army uniforms that were made almost 50 years ago.

I wear them, except for the dress greens, to do yard work. Wear the field jacket with a liner when it's cold as hell outdoors.

[SoCalDem]

31. I still have two pairs of Italian shoes I bought in 1967

They do not fit me now, but they were beautiful and I paid over $40 a pair for them waaaay back then..so I kept them still in their boxes..My boys used to laugh at them whenever we stumbled across them thru the years

[Lochloosa]

7. They may be worth more than you think.

Check out retro clothing online

[sinkingfeeling]

13. Guess I shouldn't have donated my 42 business suits (IBM 1973-2003).

But nobody wears women's suits anymore, especially with those shoulder pads!

[Lochloosa]

18. Oh really?

https://www.rubylane.com/clothing?cat=Vintage%20Fashion%3AWomen%27s%3ASuits%20%26%20Sets

[tymorial]

8. Reminds me a married with children episode

Al hid cases shoes in the 70s because he didn't want to do inventory. He discovered them in the 90s and sold them when 70s fashion made a comeback.

[BigmanPigman]

10. Saving my clothes since 1979 has been hard on my lone, single closet

but it keeps me on a lifelong diet since I still like wearing them. Most have the original labels and half are from thrift stores so they are pre-1979. The ones from India fall apart first since they are made of silk or cotton. They don't fall apart from wear but from age/disintegrating and moths.

[babylonsister]

15. I bet you dredged up

a lot of memories. Sounds like fun.

[Solly Mack]

16. And then you took the clothes?

Some thrift/clothing shops specialize in "retro" clothing. Vintage and all that.

I like thinking the clothes went on to live another life. So to speak.

[sinkingfeeling]

17. I just finished cleaning everything tonight. I put 3 pieces aside that I

might take to a vintage shop. The rest I will donate to family shelter thrift shop on Tuesday.

[Solly Mack]

20. Excellent! They'll go on to have new adventures.

I read a book as a child where the story was told from the point of view of the clothes. From one child or adult to the next and all the different adventures they had together.

It's a wonderful thought. To me anyway.

Don't recall the title sadly.

[uncle ray]

35. i reccomend taking nearly all of it for consideration to vintage clothing stores.

like others have said, don't underestimate the value of that old stuff. don't rely on your own judgement as to the value of any piece. you might just be surprised. get more actual cash from the vintage store, and donate cash to the charities you support.

[Kajun Gal]

19. Vintage now. Keep them. Good treasures!

[demigoddess]

21. I've seen that difference in fabric stores. They used to have american made fabric

that sewed well but now it is all foreign crud. It shrinks more, wears out faster, and hardly ever feels good on the body. Sometimes it itches like crazy or smells.

[lunasun]

23. Often the smell in fabric or clothing can be formaldehyde

It is added in foreign countries to prevent the clothes / cloth getting moldy during shipping to the US

[demigoddess]

25. if that is so, formaldehyde now smells like a sewer exploded in the building.

I actually complained to the company. for a couple of years now every time I go to our fabric store, it smells like a dirty diaper or worse. And we only have one because they drove all the others out, or bought them out. We used to have many sewists in the area. I am considering buying sheets to make my projects in future.

[Hugin]

22. Must've been your voting clothes.

Only worn once...

[dem in texas]

24. Bobbie Brooks!

Used to love that line of clothes. I wish I still had some of my clothes from the 70's, they'd remind me how thin I was back then.

.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

27. I'm still wearing clothes from that time frame.

I can attest that they hold up well.

My "time capsule closet" is apparently full of cool clothes again.

[Leith]

28. Anyone else remember this?

[Buckeye_Democrat]

30. I 'member.

I remember those commercials.

The unions around here agreed to new contracts that would've paid Generation-X'ers like me around minimum wage if I'd accepted those jobs, while their older members were paid like professionals. I remember that too.

[Vinca]

32. On another topic, you might have a gold mine in your boxes.

"Vintage" clothing is hot, hot, hot. (Kind of disturbing to realize we're "vintage," isn't it? LOL.) I go to rummage sales and thrift shops looking for clothing for resale. Designer duds and "hippie" clothing are what I look for.

[TheBlackAdder]

33. Oh, yes. They survive washing really well. My brother gave me 5 large totes of late 70's & 80s stuff

.

What I also notice is the sizing is quite different. A Medium then is a Large now.

There were major textile sweat shops in NYC and other cities, where undocumented labor would work 12-14 hours a day, sometimes they would get paid, other times they wouldn't. Many were beaten and sexually abused, with threats of INS calls if they spoke up. It was quite horrendous. Now, we source that to India, China & Vietnam, where the work is so bad, many parents become disabled in their thirties and their 10-year-old children have to support the household, doing the same type of labor that disable their parents. All while the child's joints are still developing.

.