The charm of deadstock vintage clothes
Deadstock vintage garments have never been worn and come with their original labels and tags. There is something magical about them, they are a time capsule, they feel like museum pieces, they are a testimony to their era. The problem is, they often smell, should they be washed? They become 'one wash' and therefore no longer 'deadstock'.
A couple of months ago we shared a photo of these three fabulous Lafont workwear shirts on our Insta. They came from a village in Eastern France, the daughter already in her sixties was selling her dad's belongings - it sounded like the siblings were selling the farmhouse. Having been stored in an attic for decades, they had a strong stale smell, so we asked on Insta whether we should wash them or not - indeed it would be heartbreaking to remove the original paper labels.
We followed people's advice and left airing them on a clothes line for days and days over the summer. Now they still smell, but much reduced. They are ready to go to their new owners.
However, one comment was very pretty negative, from someone who had a fair point, the person sounded disgusted, why would you leave it smelly.
As we said, the clothes that can be old - sometimes eighty, ninety years old - yet intact, never worn, but they feel very special. You see these garments don't have a sewn-in brand label inside, once the paper label is removed, you have nothing, maybe just a small fabric tag. The original paper label feels like a small gift, and gives you an insight into the brand.
So when do you decide to remove the label and wash the garment? Well the state of stains and storage markings as well as the smell are the deciding factors for us, whether a garment should stay 'deadstock' or become 'one wash'.
Anyway, this is an excuse to share some of the fab garment labels we have sold over the years, they tell you so much about the culture of each of these brands. Le Fort-Beau clothes that are solid like a fortress but dynamic and sporty, Le Populaire with their fabulous rooster, animal emblem of the country. 'La Chaîne des Vosges' playing on words: the 'chain' (range) of Vosges mountains, but also the chain of generations and trades wearing the workwear and appearing on the label. We could go on and on, and no doubt will do in the future.
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