What is you oldest item of clothing, handbags or shoes ?

I have a rust coloured pullover which I had at the age of 12. My mother bought me two a green one and a rust coloured one. I didn’t like either but a friend said the rust one really suited me or words to that effect so I wore it and wore it. Being acrylic it grew with every wash and I kept it for 59 years. After a while I couldn’t part with it so it’s worn every time we decorate and it’s covered in paint.

I've got a burgundy corduroy jacket from Galeries Lafayette in Paris which I bought in 1978!

I’ve got a fleece I bought in M&S Aberdeen in 1999. It’s been long relegated to a garden fleece for donkeys years! It’s too big really but good enough for the garden.

My red leather motorbike jacket. Got it at 18. It saved my skin when I was involved in a motorbike accident the following year. 42 years old now.

Sadly my brand new jeans didn’t make it and were cut from hem to above the knee to assess the damage 🫣

I have an A line ball gown that I made in the late 1960s for a college ball. I have a swing coat in wool made from a Vogue pattern and a cheesecloth top that I made in the mid-1970s when I bought my Pfaff sewing machine (I still use it). I occasionally wear the top. In the loft is an A-line ball gown I made in the late 1960s for a college ball and with it my wedding dress I made in 1977. And red leather knee length boots from about 1970. Still wearable.

A pair of DMs which are about 30 years old. Wear them to work a couple of times a week.

My son is 35 and I still have the jumper I bought from Mothercare whilst pregnant. It was the most expensive jumper I had ever bought but I fell in love with it and when it was reduced in a 20% off sale, I grabbed the last one. I still wear it regularly. There are lots of little snags but every so often I pull them to the back.
I also have a shirt which I have had in my possession for about the same time. It was a crinkle fabric and it hasn't got much crinkle left but that meant that even as I got bigger, I could still wear it. It was my mother's before I borrowed it off her and I have no idea how long she had it. She bought it in Marks and Spencers so it was good quality.

My DH still wears a jacket and a couple of woolly hats that I got him 34 years ago in C and A, honestly they don't look a year old !

AskAlice

My mum's honeymoon shoes that she wore in 1948. Black suede peep toe with a little platform, still perfectly wearable although I don't wear them as they are too precious!

Fabulous to have such items.

My dad gave me his lady friend’s blonde mink coat with a receipt dated 1974 when it cost £2,400 . Looked on e bay out of interest and I could get £17 for it now . It fits me but for short arms but how on earth can I wear it now a days? Should I wear it ?

LindaPat

I have a calf length button through denim skirt, bought in 1974 from a denim shop in Sheffield during my first year at Teacher Training College there. I absolutely love it, and having recently lost weight, may wear it again this Autumn. ( The cheesecloth shirt bought with it has long worn out! ).

I also have a strappy vest top, also bought in Sheffield, from a department store on The Moor. Can't remember the name of the place. I had my ears pierced there ( away from home for the first time! ), and almost passed out when the time came to change the studs. I couldn't bear to push the post through my earlobe, and my Mum had to do it for me! What a wuss!

Lovely thread by the way, bringing back lots of memories. Thank you NanKate xxx

Was the Department store Atkinsons ?

Cabbie21

My oldest item of clothing is a handbag which was my mother’s, for her wedding day in 1939. I don’t use it though.

My own items go back many years. I have lost their birth certificates. I have a blouse which makes a nice lightweight jacket, bought from C & A, Sixth Sense, however many years ago that was. I have items too smart for normal wear, going back over 20 years.

They sound gorgeous.

I like vintage clothes so have quite a few older items. Of my original clothes, I still have a couple of Laura Ashley dresses from the eighties - although I will probably never fit into them again - the same with my wedding dress from 1989, which I still have. I have bought some vintage 1990s St. Michael label clothes - principally knitwear - from eBay and Vinted in my current size and the quality is far superior to present day M and S. My very oldest item is a 1960s navy patent box handbag with the St. Michael label, which I bought from eBay. It is so smart and a classic design. I feel very ladylike when I carry it.

Haha.ive got loads,never like to get rid of anything unless i REALLY have to! 😆 I even have a cool bag for when i foodshop that my DD gave me about 16 or 17 years ago.😁

Ive got a Winter Coat that I bought so long ago I can't remember. It must be at least 20 years. Its still fine for every day its warm, shower proof, and its still got room for a nice thick jumper under it.

On 10th March 1964 I bought my first leather biker jacket, I still have that so that's over 62 years ago. It still fits too.

My graduation dress. 1968. I made it myself out of pink embroidered cotton. It was long and 'empire line'. (Think of those dresses in Pride and Prejudice with the seam pushing up the bust!)
I never liked it much -no bust to speak of - and I've never worn it again. It still looks like new.

A black Britain evening bag of my mothers, 1950s, I've used Edwardian black.lace of my grandmother's to trim a dress. I made a christening dress for my daughter from my grandmothers 1907 wedding petticoat. A beautiful Austen Reed jacket which I have used constantly and it still looks as good as new, likewise a Burberry trench coat and Aquascutum black wool coat, all mid 80s. A few Russell and Bromley leather handbags, early 80s Buy quality and make it last.

A pair of very high very sexy red shoes, only wore them twice, but felt like a million dollars in them....still in the original box, that was 50 years ago

P.s. not sure I can get picture to open.

I have a real leather waistcoat bought from a Peter Robinson department store in Brighton in 1965 approximately.

I never wear it as it’s a bit small. I don’t know why I’ve hung onto it for so long. Probably a bit of nostalgia.
Am currently trying to sell it on Vinted.

I bought a jumper for 10p at a jumble sale in 1980; I still have it

I have an unused, unopened box of face powder from the 1920s..my grandmother's. Also a crocheted evening bag of hers from the same era. I'm thinking of donating both to the local archive.

Two t shirt material stripy summer dresses bought from Grattons catalogue in the early 80s. They're a bit faded now but I can't bring myself to throw them away. I also have the Laura Ashley dress I was wearing when DH proposed in 1980 and a navy & white spotty maternity dress my mother wore when she was expecting me 67 years ago and I wore when I was pregnant with our 2 children.

Hello all. I have a lovely small leather bag which I purchased in Gallerie Lafayette in Regent Street, London - 1966. It’s beautifully soft and dark brown and I would use it but it is too small for a mobile phone……..