Customer Reviews

Valuable Vintage: The Insider's Guide to Identifying and Collecting Important Vintage Fashions

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

_Valuable Vintage_ is primarily a price guide listing sale prices from a handful of prominent auction houses and the author's vintage boutique. The author's definition of "valuable vintage" is couture and high-end designer garments dating from the 1920s into the 1990s. This is not an ID guide, because the items are not illustrated, except for a few photos in the center of the book that don't seem to be of any garments listed. The price guide is organized alphabetically by designer. Brief bios of design houses are given after the price guide, but don't entirely match up. For example, even though Ralph Lauren and Perry Ellis are mentioned in the bios, no prices are given for any of their garments, so presumably those are not selling at high-end auction houses. So much for my making a fortune off those 1980s designer clothes I never gave to Goodwill!

Much of the 66 pages of prose that precedes the price guide is devoted to asserting that vintage couture and high-end designer garments are worth very high prices, because they are worn by celebrities and pictured in the media. Readers are told that the most "realistic" prices come from auctions. (My experience is that auction prices are higher than other venues because competition, the need to make snap decisions, and the feeling of a one-time chance causes many buyers to bid high and later, feel they overpaid.) Almost the sole reasons given for acquiring this type of vintage clothing are that it's trendy and can sometimes be resold at a profit.

Although this book seems to be aimed mostly at aspiring and beginning vintage clothing dealers, very little solid information is given outside the price listing. Readers are told how to buy at high-end boutiques, but not how to make a profit on reselling garments bought at high prices. They are told to buy garments only in excellent or good condition, but not what flaws to look for and which are repairable. (Let alone how to repair them; the assumption is vintage clothing buyers always hire someone to do repairs.) There are brief sections on such subjects as stain removal, but at least some information seems untested. For example, readers are told, "hair spray is said to remove ink from washable fabrics," rather than that this technique actually worked for the author.

If you're a high-end vintage clothing dealer, this book may be worthwhile. If you're a low-end collector, who buys for personal use or interest at modest prices, pass it by.

This book has it all (or has nothing, depending on how you look at it): Unhelpful "advice" on how to find and sell vintage clothing, a price guide for clothing that isn't even illustrated in the book (come on... Pucci made a million of those now famous "mod" dresses... a vague description isn't going to cut it!), pictures of only HER clothing with no estimated value next to them, and an overall arrogant tone throughout the entire book. She basically states in so many words that you will fail in this business unless you can open up a posh boutique in L.A. (like her) and cater to the Hollywood elite. There is a nice short biography section on various designers, but that's not the point of this book, now is it? This book is nothing more than a 350+ page advertisement for her own store's clothing. She shouldn't include retail sales (from her store and a couple of others) in her price guide. Some values go back as far as the early nineties, that's too far back, and she also includes Christie's Oscar Dress Auction, which was a media-hyped charity auction from the late nineties. It's not a reliable source for pricing. I give this book two thumbs down, WAY down.

... and if you like price guides, then you'll like the book. Honestly, I was expecting something with a little more "Meat" to it. The lack of illustrations and meaningful information is a real minus.

But I guess my real problem with the book is that the title seemed to change from the time it was first posted here on Amazon almost a year ago, until it was published and released last week. The word IDENTIFYING has been changed to PRICING. Well, there is a big difference in the two actions. I thought that this book would help me sort through all the different labels, brands and designers of the past 50 years. Instead, I get short descriptions of clothing that has sold at auction and at Ms. Mason's store.

Know what would have been really useful? Photos of all the different labels of each designer, with the "good" ones identified. Or how about distinctive design details that could help identify a label-less garment?

I was also puzzled by the clothing chosen for the few photos. Of the 12 garments shown, 3 had been "redesigned" for sale especially in the author's store.

The most useful part of the book, and the reason I'm not returning it, is the biographical glossary. It gives short bios of many of the highend designers, and these are quite useful. Even so, I've found what I think to be 2 errors in the listings, and I've just begun to read through them.

So, vintage fans, we still do not have a good identification guide. Buy the book for the glossary, but if you are an online auction seller, don't read the price guide or you'll choke at the prices!

This rag trader is merely airing her laundry. Mason has compiled auction results --and they're not all that recent (none from this new century)-- slipped in some high-handed advice from a "seasoned professional" and called it a guide. If you are interested in old price lists, then this is your book. If you want comprehensive advice for caring for, buying and selling vintage clothing, then try another. Particularly unattractive is Mason's tendency to condescend to her reader. Perhaps she is less arrogant when removing stains from other people's clothing. Then again, maybe not. She is tenuous in describing her cleaning techniques; as though she has never tried some of them herself. Save your money. You'll get a better idea of prices by ordering catalogues from current auctions.

While this book purports to be an informative guide for collectors, the real purpose of this book is to inflate the market for the vintage clothing that Elizabeth Mason, the author, sells in her store. The main section of this book is a price guide that lists the selling price of vintage clothing. The majority of these price quotes come from Ms. Mason's shop, and are grossly inaccurate of the going rate for these items on the open market. Take for example vintage Emilio Pucci. Ms. Mason offers his clothing on her website for [money]. These are the prices she represents in her book as typical for these items. Go back to her website in several months, and you will find all the same items unsold. If you want an accurate measure of fair market value for vintage items, go to ebay and search completed auctions. You will find that for excellent condition vintage Pucci pieces, the actual market value is between [money], a fraction of what Ms. Mason claims it to be. Caveat emptor!

Wow, I have to say I have been waiting a long time for this book. I have been collecting for many years, but never was able to find a satifactory referrence guide to important designer vintage. This book has it all! I just wish I could afford all the wonderful vintage that is out there in the world. This book sets you straight on the vintage industry as a whole, from the fashion design business to the little girl collector like me! The value listings are very helpful and the hundreds of biographies on the designers simply cut to the chase....where were they and when, as well as the puntuation marks of their careers. I also found the referral to the best vintage businesses worldwide very useful, now if the book only came with a plane ticket to Paris I would be thrilled! In my oppinion a must have for any serious vintage collector.

I love your book! (Valuable Vintage) I've been collecting designer vintage for some years now because I love to wear it! After filling all closets in my home I decided to establish my hobby and passion into a profitable business. I recently picked up your book and have happily discovered unfamiliar labels in my collection listed in your book! How fun! It has been a super reference-thanks!

Graciously,
Tina

I have purchased many books about vintage which are somewhat "Dated" in style, and yes Mason dresses big name celebrities, and that seems to be the major driving force behind the vintage industry today, as well as the designers who are using vintage to inspire their latest incarnations. If you are interested and have the money to shop at this level then this is a terrific book, with great photographs and wonderful biographies on important designers from the past who carved the way for the new designers from Zac Prozen, to Rick Owen or Imitation of Christ. It looks like there was a lot of hard work poured into this reference guide and I have found it to be extremely valuable at setting the record straight, giving great insight to an industry and lifestyle I can only dream of. This is not `Goodwill Shopping' or for the person with a `Beer Bottle Pocket', this is vintage for the Privilege class. I have seen Ms. Mason interviewed on television many times and she seems to be speaking from the heart with an abundance of knowledge and true passion, you can really tell she loves what she does and it certainly comes through in her book.

This book was written to promoter herself and to drive up the cost of vintage clothing. Save your money, do your research online and go buy a dress at a thrift shop!